Match Report

So near and yet so far! In last Saturday’s third fixture of the season, Old Penarthians were within touching distance of the crucial victory that is now still needed to light the touch paper of ambition for the campaign ahead. Indeed, it might well seem a cruel twist of fate that Scott McCarthy’s men had led from the penalty kick landed by the Skipper only 6 minutes into the game until 43 minutes of the second half play were showing on the watch of Referee Jason Ludgate.

Visitors St. Albans had, only minutes earlier, seen outside half Nathan Hide fail with an ambitious penalty attempt from the 10 metre line and it seemed that their final chance had gone begging. Nevertheless, the visitors maintained the position within home territory that they had established for much of the second session and, when the hosts crucially failed to safely dispatch the free kick that was subsequently awarded to them, the black and gold jerseys mounted one final attack. Suddenly a gaping hole appeared within the hitherto packed defence and, in an instant, replacement wing Laurence Evans made the most of the opportunity to streak in for a touchdown just to the right of the posts. In normal circumstances, the conversion would have been something of a formality but, knowing that success or failure would determine whether his side won or lost, the pressure on Hide was enormous. To the delight of his colleagues, however, he proved equal to the task and St. Albans had broken Penarthians hearts by the single point victory reflected in the 24 - 23 score line.

Yet the Old Boys will be left with the abiding memory that this was a game that should have been won long before the end. McCarthy’s early strike was supplemented just two minutes later when Richard Moir’s opportunist following up of a clearance out of defence saw the winger harry the opposition into error before a favourable bounce put the winger into space and away for the thrilling dash that led to a fine try converted by outside half McCarthy. That lead was further extended by two more penalty goals from the Skipper, either side of a well taken try from winger Liam Hide for the visitors that was converted by Nathan Hide to open the “Buns” account.

Fierce forward exchanges saw the Referee single out Lee Brennan as being in need of cooling down his fiery approach, a state of affairs that left the prop forward’s colleagues convinced that the accusation was a clear case of mistaken identity! Not that they were deterred for the Old Boys ended the half with another fine try, Paul Langley, Gareth D. Jones, Tim Naylor, and Tom Draper all combining before unleashing Richard Moir in a dash for the touchdown that was again converted by the in-form Scott McCarthy.

Ahead by 23 points to 7 at the break, Penarthians should have spent the early part of the second session consolidating their advantage. Instead, sloppy defensive play conceded an early penalty that enabled St. Albans to set up camp inside the home half, creating pressure that was not eased until Tom Draper managed a fine clearance. Even so, the lead was reduced in the 11 th minute when outside half Liam Hide landed an excellent penalty goal from the 10 metre line.

Then followed a crucial incident when Penarthians broke out of defence in the 14 th minute. A delicate chip

was aimed to the left hand touchline and Richard Moir was on to it in a flash. Having gathered the ball in full flight, the winger rounded his opposite number and was well on his way to a sensational third try when Referee Ludgate recalled play, decreeing that the player had been in front of the ball when it was first kicked. Shrugging off this narrow escape, the visitors disrupted a lineout deep inside the 25 and, when the ball was won at the ensuing scrummage, prop Gareth Evans went charging for the touchdown that was converted by Hide to reduce the home lead to just six points.

Penarthian changes saw David Mason take over from Rhys Jenkins whilst Paul Rapley replaced Ben Russon and Mark Sadler stepped in at full back for Tom Draper. Mason, however, was immediately in trouble when, having produced a high tackle as his very first contribution, found himself consigned to the sin bin before he had had time to break sweat. An almost identical kick and chase involving Richard Moir revealed Referee Ludgate as probably the only man on the ground believing the winger to be offside, a decision that was vociferously but unsuccessfully challenged from the touchline.

This proved to be the final scoring opportunity for the hosts but numbers were levelled when the St. Albans hooker became the next player to upset the referee and followed David Mason into the bin. Even so, this did not prevent the lively visitors from taking charge of proceedings and creating the pressure that did, in the end, ensure that they took the match spoils.

Post match discussions centred on the way in which the Old Boys had failed to maintain their early momentum at any stage during the second session and it is clear that this is an area that must now be addressed urgently. For all of that, the overall performance did represent a marked improvement on a week ago, a factor that probably made the final defeat the less palatable.

Certainly, the set scrum was much better with Lee Brennan, Dean Pratt, and Tony Kemp battling hard against durable opponents. Despite the efforts of Ben Russon, Paul Langley, and, latterly, Paul Rapley, the linesout still failed to function fully, thus denying the backs of possession that could well have been usefully used. Back row forwards Scott Hill, Adrian Penny, and Rhys Jenkins might well have been short of physical presence but all spared no effort with Hill emerging as top tackler as well as being named Man of the Match.

Behind the scrum, Gareth D. Jones had another fine game whilst Skipper McCarthy again kicked expertly with centres Tim Naylor and Steve Mohring trying hard but not necessarily successfully to break down a resolute opposing defence. Play decreed that wing Gareth E. Jones saw little of the ball but such was not the case for Richard Moir who had probably his best game for the Club as well as scoring both tries. Full back Tom Draper contributed several good runs in a lively display whilst Mark Sadler also looked sharp in the final quarter.

On the adjacent pitch, the Seconds also suffered last minute disappointment when a silly penalty conceded in the last minute allowed opponents Llandaff North to kick the penalty goal that put them into the next round of the S.A. Brain East District Cup through the 20-17 winning score line.

The visitors largely dominated the forward exchanges with two of their tries coming from driving mauls after linesout. Nevertheless, there were encouraging displays from youthful locks James Beaton and Tom Rogers whilst the experience of veteran Matt Turner was always in evidence.

Behind the scrum, it was good to see Simon Davies and Huw Williams back in action after injury whilst the side was also well served by a lively contribution from wing Dave Owen. Nevertheless, although the whole squad showed commendable determination, it was a lack of composure that told against them in the end.

Penarthian try scorers were Matthew Turner and Huw Williams whilst Jonathan Crimp kicked two conversions and added a penalty goal.