Saturday 8th November 2025
Old Penarthians 28 – Caerau Ely 31
After a week of rain the Cwrt-y-vil pitch was deemed fit to play on and it provided a very entertaining Division 5 East Central league encounter between Old Penarthians and Caerau Ely, which was unfortunately to lead to disappointment for the home team as they squandered a winning position in the last three minutes to lose by 31 points to 28.
The starting line-up for the match showed changes from the missed opportunity of an away victory against Treherbert the previous week with the return of vice captain, Connor Christie, in the centre, and Ieuan Harris at full back, meaning Jon Crimp moved to outside half. Zac Gilbert came in at hooker instead of the injured Liam Brooks, and there were starting roles for Will Davies, Steffan Davies and Luke Ingram. Matt Stingl also made his senior team debut of the season.
The game started, after a respectfully observed two minutes of silence to recognise Armistice Day, with Elliot Dyment-Salmon catching the kick off and driving into the opposition which resulted in a penalty and positive intentions. Those attacking options were much in evidence for the next ten minutes as was some aggressive defence led by Stingl and Will Davies in the forwards and Cae Williams and Christie in the threequarters.
However, in these initial stages the Old Pens scrum fell foul of the referee’s interpretation of the laws and several penalties were awarded against the home team allowing Caerau to release the pressure.
On 18 minutes the deadlock was broken when a 5m lineout was caught by James Reynolds and, unlike last week, the forward drive was well organised and Zac Gilbert scored the try. Crimp was successful with the conversion despite falling over in the act of kicking
Four minutes later an aggressive Williams run into opposition territory resulted in a quick release from Ethan Galsworthy to Crimp, who in turn passed to Christie who released Ieuan Harris on an arcing run to the tryline from 25m. The conversion was unsuccessful but Penarthians led 12-0
Caerau were however still competitive, mainly through their forwards, and after 30 minutes a 5m line out, which was not thrown in straight but was uncontested by Old Pens allowing play to continue, resulted in an unconverted try.
Soon afterwards a heavy collision in midfield saw captain Joe Francis-Oaten injured and he had to leave the pitch to be replaced by Tyler Carter. The injury resulted in a scrum to Caerau and they returned to the attack through a series of close-range forays. These were initially repelled by valiant defence but with an overlap created, Steff Davies stepped in from the wing and was adjudged to have deliberately knocked the ball forward earning him a yellow card and the award of a penalty try to Caerau Ely. The scores were now level at 12 points all.
The ensuing kick off was caught by a Caerau defender and he kicked up field. The ball was caught by Galsworthy and he showed attacking intent by running back 15m. He found support from Harris who sent an inside ball to Crimp. Gilbert was then on hand to take the movement under the Caerau posts. The forwards were in support and two quick passes sent Luke Ingram into the corner for an unconverted try and a 17-12 half time lead to Old Penarthians.
The second half started in a scrappy fashion with neither side finding a rhythm but on 10 mins Reynolds won a penalty at a ruck and with backchat from the penalised team the penalty was moved 10m nearer the posts and Williams stepped up to add three points.
Then came the moment for Steff Davies to make amends for his earlier indiscretion when from a line out won by Will Davies a threequarter move saw him come in from his blindside wing and take an inside pass from Christie and outrun the defence to score a try from 30m out.
This score stirred Caerau however and their forwards were soon back in the ascendancy and they were rewarded with a converted try after 25 minutes to make the score 25-19. Not to be outdone Penarthians forwards returned to driving the ball from a lineout and won a penalty for offside and Willimas kicked the goal for a 28-19 lead with 10 minutes remaining.
At this point Penarthians were well within range of completing their second win of the season but their composure and perhaps lack of experience saw them concede two tries, both from the efforts of the driving Caerau forwards and with one of the tries converted Caerau were the eventual winners by 31-28. The two bonus points gained in defeat by the Old Pens were scant reward for their efforts in the first 70 minutes, but rugby is an eighty-minute game and the team will have to ensure that in future matches better tactical nous turns such performances into victories.
Penarthians position in the league table after five matches looks like this
The 1st XV now has a four-week break with time to regroup before they travel to Cefn Coed for their next league fixture on 6th December.