Match Report

Deri’s Parc Newydd might well have been a marvellous scene of autumnal beauty on Saturday last but it was the hosts who made hay whilst the sun was shining as they put their visitors to the sword, a 7 tries to nil margin making a mockery of Old Penarthians pre-match hopes for the first win of the season needed to put the new campaign on track.

With Skipper Scott McCarthy returning to lead the side for the first time together with Mark Sadler and the welcome re-appearance of Tom Draper for his first senior outing since September of last year, the Old Boys had every reason to believe that they could achieve a repeat of the 18-5 victory of last term. Certainly, the back division had a potent look to it whilst the presence of former Llanishen Skipper Paul Langley suggested that the absence of the unavailable Stuart Gunnarsson in the powerhouse was scarce to be missed.

Brilliant sunshine ensured perfect conditions as Penarthians opened towards the dressing room end of the ground and the opening exchanges were even. The Broncos, however, drew first blood when the visiting midfield was found wanting following a scrum on the 25 and just off centre. The ball was moved sharply to the right and centre Alex Pritchard shrugged off two ineffective tackles before touching down at the posts for outside half Wayne Booth to add the conversion points in just the 12 th minute.

Good work by the visiting forwards achieved a solid position within the home half and a penalty award enabled Scott McCarthy to narrow the gap as he kicked an excellent goal from the 25 but wide out. The hosts, however, stormed back into the attack and it took the combined efforts of Gareth D. Jones and Mark Sadler to put paid to the threatening run from left wing Harley before David Mason brought relief with an unexpected clearance kick.

Trouble was, however, not far away. James Evans was clearly in trouble with a shoulder injury and was forced to retire just 24 minutes into the game. Limited front row resources saw Paul Langley switched to prop, a position that he had never previously occupied in a long career, Stuart Clarke taking over in the second row. At first, all seemed well with Scott McCarthy putting Richard Moir away on the left and Clarke making further progress into the 25 before the move was halted. Thereafter, Penarthians found themselves under intense pressure as the hosts sought to take advantage of the inexperienced set scrum format posed by their opponents. The possession so gained soon after proved crucial and the Old Boys were well and truly on the back foot as Pritchard again made short shrift of disorganised defence to cross half way out for his second try.

To their credit, the visitors did fight back with some spirit and earned three useful points when a defensive nix-up allowed Skipper McCarthy the chance to slot a 25 yard penalty. Almost at once, Stuart Clarke, Scott McCarthy, and Tom Draper all combined in a fine move that stretched the defence and achieved the penalty award that was again dealt with clinically by McCarthy who kicked his third goal to reduce the deficit to just 3 points.

Half time was now beckoning but the Old Boys made the mistake of losing concentration as they sat back on that scoring success. Not so the Broncos who swarmed to the attack, driving the visitors deep into the 25 before releasing the ball for Alex Pritchard to cross for his hat-trick try, Booth adding the extra points to stretch the interval lead to 19-9.

Penarthians were dealt another blow during the break when the Referee determined that Paul Langley could not continue in the front row as he had not so been named in the team list. This meant that Dean Pratt was brought into the side with Langley returning to the second row as Ben Russon was forced to the touchline. It also brought to an end to any effective contribution to the game on the part of the disrupted visitors.

With scrum deficiencies now allied to a lineout game that was devoid of accuracy, the Old Boys were forced to rely on occasional scraps for possession and this was simply not enough against opponents who were now on a high. A length of field breakout would have brought yet another score but for the last ditch tackle from Gareth D. Jones whilst Adrian Penny brought some relief with a clearing kick from the back of a scrum. Sean Leech was then brought on as a replacement for David Mason but the flanker was immediately subjected to the drive that saw Deri storm fully 25 yards in the maul that produced a touchdown for number 8 Greg Watkins, Wayne Booth claiming the conversion points.

Brief relief for the visitors came when Scott McCarthy slotted a penalty into the corner only for his forwards to lose possession at the ensuing lineout. The final quarter saw Tim Naylor, having returned from the West Indies less than 24 hours earlier, take over from Steve Mohring whilst Lee Brennan finally succumbed to the injury that had troubled him for much of the game. This prompted the recall of Ben Russon with Paul Langley returning to the front row position from which he had been banned at the interval. Farcically, the Referee refused to heed pleas for uncontested scrums.

This enabled the well drilled and direct running hosts to take control and, now well beaten, Penarthian heads began to drop, allowing Pritchard to race in for his 4 th try. Within minutes, wing Cai Davies cut in from a beautifully judged angle to score one of the best tries of the afternoon before a fine break from Richard Moir ended with the Referee halting play to award the visitors a penalty for verbal abuse from the hosts! Adding insult to injury in the final move of the game, prop Craig Jones stormed in from 25 yards having capitalised on a mix up in the Penarthian defence. Wayne Booth converted both final tries to take his match total to 12 with Deri comfortable 47 points to 9 victors.

Whilst scrum half Gareth D. Jones was well worth his award as Penarthians Man of the Match and Steve Mohring emerged as top tackler, this was a game that the Old Boys will wish to forget. Nevertheless, there are a number of lessons to be learned and it is to be hoped that these will be addressed during the week’s practice sessions.

It was a different story at Cwrt-y-vil where the Seconds produced their best performance for quite some time in deservedly defeating a strong Barry side by 33 points to 19. The side comprised a mixture of youth and experience that was right up the street of Mark Bow who vocally controlled operations as assistant to Skipper James Williams. The result was a game that was as good as the summer sunshine, strong enough to require the ebullient Bow to take on a liberal coating of factor 30 at half time.

Outstanding for the Old Boys was young Louis Chandler, newly returned from Spain and clearly revelling in the touchline support from two more senior generations of his family. Scott Hill and Matt Turner were the other members of an excellent back row with Turner taking full advantage of a Rhiwbina association with Referee Tony Bartlett that meant he was never once seen to be off side!

James Beaton was another youngster to catch the eye up front with a fine display in the second row whilst Chris Poole was particularly to the fore behind.

The home try scorers were Louis Chandler, Dave Owen, Scott Hill, Chris Poole and Andi Morris, the latter’s touchdown meeting with the approval of his delightful Latvian supporter. Jonathan Crimp added the icing to the cake by kicking four conversions from five attempts.