Saturday 31st January 2026
Old Penarthians 24 v Treherbert 26
It was with much hope that Old Penarthians hosted Treherbert in a Division 5 East Central basement battle last Saturday after a hard-fought victory against Glyncoch the previous week. The weather during the week had again been terrible and the Cwrt-v-vil pitch was unplayable but in order not to have a logjam of fixtures later in the season the team management decided to transfer the fixture to the 4G pitch at Ysgol Gymraeg Bro Morgannwg.
The decision was fully justified as the game was entertaining from start to finish with some adventurous rugby from both sides interspersed with errors and poor decision making which ensured a close contest. The pitch was obviously in first class condition, the sun was shining, the wind had dropped and Old Penarthians started with impressive threequarter play and a lead of 12 points inside 20 minutes. What could spoil the old Penarthians day? Unfortunately, missed opportunities, indiscipline and a converted try by Treherbert with the last play of the game left the home team disappointed as the spoils were taken by the visitors by 26 points to 24.
This result never looked on the cards when on 7 minutes from a scum under pressure in their own twenty-two the ball was passed to Ieuan Harris (playing in an unaccustomed centre role) who broke clear on a 60m run. He kicked ahead as the opposing fullback approached and the ball was collected by Richie Moir. He set up the ball and the forwards carried it into midfield where Cae Williams went over for the try. A relatively easy conversion was missed by Jon Crimp.
Five minutes later Steffan Davies broke out of his own twenty-two. He found Harris and James Reynolds in support and this time he kicked ahead. Unfortunately, Moir and Tyler Carter failed to communicate and pick up the ball close to the line and a try opportunity was missed.
But the Old Pens continued to play with adventure and from another scrum under pressure inside their own half No 8 and captain, Joe Francis-Oaten picked up and passed to Ethan Galsworthy who sprinted clear into the opposition twenty-two before giving an inside pass back to Francis-Oaten who scored. Crimp converted this time and Old Pens led 12-0
Scrummaging throughout this period had been a problem for debutant Sam MacListon, Liam O’Brian and Liam Brooks in the front row and on 25 minutes Brooks was yellow carded for repeat infringements. From the resulting penalty Treherbert took a lineout and drove to the tryline. Crimp made a desperate attempt to stop the try but was injured in the process with a hematoma over his right eye which required a visit to local A&E. Not the way he would have wanted his 254th appearance for the 1st XV to have ended.
Play resumed with Ollie Moir at outside half and on 37 minutes a defensive knock on led to a Treherbert scrum and the No 8 picked up to pass to the winger to score an unconverted try. Then to make matters worse a break in midfield from a lineout saw the Treherbert flanker in support to cross for a converted try and a 12-12 half time scoreline.
It should be noted that the effects of the scrummaging had left Penarthians with two injured front row players and the need to go to passive scrums at the end on the first half and the team reduced to fourteen players. This did not seem to matter however when a misdirected kick out of defence by Treherbert was collected by Richie Moir who scored wide out.
It was then Treherbert’s turn to attack from deep and when Old Pens were penalised the visitors went on the offensive and despite initial good defence a converted try was conceded and the score was 17-19. In the aftermath of the try Richie Moir was shown a yellow card further reducing the home team numbers on the pitch. To freshen the team Jac Davies and Josh Alcock were introduced for Carter and O’Brian.
Penarthains continued to attack but on too many occasions the final pass went astray and chances were not taken. A second yellow card shown to Brooks did not help the situation which was upgraded to red for a second offence so the team were again down to thirteen players. However, when Treherbert again tried to run the ball out of defence on 34 minutes Harris intercepted and scored a try converted by Ollie Moir and Penarthians were back in front 24-19.
A very nervous crowd then hoped that the day would end well, but when a kick up-field was caught in space by the Treherbert fullback he took full advantage and raced back with his winger in support. He beat the cover in the corner but Penarthains naive defence allowed to saunter under the posts to touch down to make the conversion a much easier proposition which was duly accepted by the Treherbert kicker to make the result on the referee’s final whistle a 26-24 victory to the visitors.
Old Penarthians may have gained a bonus point for four tries and another bonus point for being within seven points of the winner’s score but the team must start winning games if they are to challenge Glyncoch, Cardiff Saracens and Llandrindod Wells who are all within a point of each other
There is no game for the Club next week as the England v Wales Six Nations clash takes centre stage but on 14th February the 1st XV travel to Caerau Ely looking to for a win to lift morale and their position out of the relegation zone.