Match Report

The sorry saga continues. With the sogginess of the Graig Park surface clearly reflecting the extent of the overnight rains, Old Penarthians produced a performance as grey as the afternoon itself when they stumbled to their sixth defeat in seven league outings in last Saturday’s away fixture at Penygraig. Lacking the enthusiasm and commitment that enabled their hosts recover from the 13-5 half time deficit and run away with a convincing 37 points to 13 victory, the Old Boys now find themselves firmly ensconced in penultimate place in the 12 team division with only perennial strugglers Canton saving the side from the ignominy of the very bottom spot.

Almost inevitably, the game began well enough. Penygraig opened the scoring after 17 minutes when number 8 and Skipper Liam Davies broke to the blindside of a scrum close to the 10 yard line. He linked with scrum half Curnell in the first of a number of similar moves that were to be the bane of the visitors and the sprightly Curnell released winger Will Middleton on the 40 yard sprint that produced a fine try in the left hand corner. But the visiting response was immediate with Steve Mohring and Tim Naylor making good progress before the hosts infringed just 15 yards out and Skipper McCarthy made no mistake with the shot at goal.

Five minutes later, Penarthians could well have taken the lead when Richard Moir broke clear on the left and appeared to have the legs on the opposition in what might have been a 60 yard dash to the line. The winger did not, however, have the confidence to back himself and his kick ahead afforded the opposition the chance to clear the danger. The relief was, however, only temporary and Moir was put in the picture once again when full back Mark Sadler kicked cleverly to the left. On this occasion, young Moir showed much better composure and essayed a delicate chip that took the ball beyond the cover, enabling himself the opportunity to gather on the run and cross for a fine try that was well converted by the reliable McCarthy.

A 35 yard penalty then followed from the Skipper and the Old Boys led by 13 points to 5 with the hosts reduced to 14 men when hooker Williams was sin binned on the half hour. Then followed a moment of temporary glory for Lee Brennan who surprised even himself with the dive pass that set up an attack on the right. Unfortunately, the shock of getting his knees dirty meant that the prop had to have medical treatment before he was able to continue. Sadly, too, the blustery showers that were now making kicking the more difficult resulted in a brace of chances go begging before the break as McCarthy fired wide from positions that would normally have been within his range.

Despite having to face up to the elements in the second session, Penarthians were hopeful that their 8 point advantage would be enough to build upon whilst keeping the opposition at bay. Those hopes were immediately dashed when the side failed to secure the ball from the restart whilst a loose pass then set Penygraig hell bent for the line. Gareth Jones did ever so well with the tackle that ended the initial thrust but flanker Chris Pritchard wormed his way over for the try that was converted by fly half Gary Parsons to narrow the gasp to a single point.

Worse was to follow. Hands in the ruck saw the Old Boys penalised with Parsons on hand to land the simplest of kicks before the hosts set up a superb move that involved five players before full back Derwyn Nicholas crossed for an excellent try that was not converted. The hosts now threatened to run riot and Penarthians had no answer when Liam Davies and Scott Curnell worked their sleight of hand again before releasing Chris Pritchard on a 35 yard sprint for another fine try, Parsons adding the conversion.

Both sides now rang the changes with Simon Davies, Scott Hill, Adrian Penny, and Lee Brennan making way for David Owen, David Mason, Sean Leach, and Dean Pratt respectively. It was, however, to little avail for Penygraig continued to call the shots with number 8 Davies forcing his way over from a scrum that had seen the Old Boys shunted backwards. The final blow came as the game went into injury time, the damage again being done by Davies who raced to the posts for his second touchdown only to see Parsons fluff the conversion by putting the simplest of kicks under the crossbar.

With the side once again living up to the increasing reputation as one half wonders, the major disappointments to emerge from this latest set-back were the failure to secure even their own share of set piece possession allied to the woeful defence that allowed albeit lively opponents to run in the half dozen of tries that takes the total conceded to 26 in just 7 league games.

The absence of James Evans was particularly crucial up front where the whole-hearted endeavour of Taz Rosoman could not make up for the pin point accuracy of the regular hooker’s set piece delivery. As a consequence, locks Paul Langley and Alun Haines were doomed to an afternoon of frustration although Stuart Gunnarsson was of sufficient back row influence to earn the Man of the Match accolade. Neither Adrian Penny nor Scott Hill could get on top of excellent opposite numbers, a situation that was shared by the front row trio of Tony Kemp, Taz Rosoman, and Lee Brennan.

Pressure on scrum half Simon Davies was not eased by an almost total reliance on pick and drive tactics from the forwards so that the attacking abilities of Scott McCarthy and his midfield duo of Tim Naylor and Steve Mohring were extremely limited. This was particularly disappointing given that wingers Richard Moir and Gareth D. Jones together with full back Mark Sadler had, early on, shown an eagerness to run with the ball.

There was disappointment, too, for the Seconds who found themselves up against much better opponents in Cardiff H.S.O.B. and were well beaten by 33 points to 5 in the CADRU league contest at Cwrt-y-vil. Sadly, the match itself came to a close some 15 minutes early when a visiting centre had the misfortune to dislocate an ankle and was rushed to hospital after a considerable ambulance wait.

Penarthians had no quarrel with the margin of defeat achieved by visitors who were clearly well drilled and made the most of the chances that came their way. Nevertheless, there are signs of increasing steel in the make up of Andi Morris’s men and they deserve credit for the way in which they stuck to a difficult task until the final whistle.

Up front, there was an outstanding performance from young James Beaton in partnership with the very experienced Colin Langley whilst the steadiness of veteran Nigel Edmunds at scrum half enabled James Evans to come to terms with an unlikely transition from first team hooker to second string outside half! Evans it was who secured the Penarthian points with a try that stands up to description only when the words are provided directly by the player himself! How dare the opposition be critical of his sylph like figure.