Fixture

Old Penarthians 1^st XV hosted unbeaten league leaders Llantwit Major last Saturday and in an enthralling match came up just short in a 16-13 defeat.  It was the first time that the Llantwit team had not recorded a four try victory in their Specsavers Division 3 East Central (B) campaign and the result was in the balance right up until the final whistle

Unfortunately, the Penarthians scrummage was again under pressure throughout but thanks to the resilience of number eight Joel deClaire, who was presented with the spectators Bernard Cody sponsored man-of-the match award, the damage was limited.  deClaire also had a fine all-round game in the loose where he weas ably supported by Louis Chandler, Josh Allcock, Stuart Clarke and Luke Crockett

In fact, the combination of the forwards and threequarters in the first ten minutes was some of the best play of the season as Penarthians dominated.  The pressure eventually paid off when Nathan Facey slotted a penalty kick from 30m to open the scoring.  A mistake by Facey from the kick-off did however hand Llantwit an advantage immediately at a line out 15m from the Old Pens tryline. .  Their forwards caught the ball and drove closer.  Solid defence by James Roach, Chandler and the others prevented further progress and when Llantwit released the ball a crunching tackle in midfield by Chris Poole (one of three exceptional tackles in the match) dislodged the ball and the pressure was relieved

The visitors returned to the attack and after 19mins and a trip in midfield resulted in a penalty and three points for Laws Howley. 

Llantwit scored further points 5 minutes later when after initial trusts at the Old Pens tryline that were again repelled by good close quarter defence the visitors spread the ball across the pitch Evan Holloway to score near the corner.  The conversion from Howley was good and Llantwit led 10-3.

From the kick-off good pressure from Rowan Allcock distracted the catcher and Penarthians took possession.  Peter Bennett carried the ball forward and after a snipe from Tomos Hillman the defence was adjudged to be offside.  Facey stepped up to kick the penalty

Llantwit responded by shoving the Penarthians pack off the ball at a scrummage and another penalty kick to Howley gave a score of 13-6

With the half ending Penarthians gained some possession and Jon Crimp kicked cleverly for territory.  Matt Sutton harried the defence and a five-yard attacking scrum was awarded.  Whilst not stable, possession was retained and drives into midfield applied pressure.  The reward was a line out 15m from the Llantwit tryline.  The ball was caught by Roach who spun around to pass to deClaire. He in turn changed the point of attack with a pass to Josh Allcock, who immediately passed to Liam Bevan who when tackled stretched out to score a well-engineered try.  Facey converted for a 13-13 half-time scoreline.

The second half followed the same pattern as the first with both teams trying to play attacking rugby which was often thwarted by robust defence.  In the case of Chandler this was too combative by the referee and he was shown a yellow card.

On Sutton’s return it was stand-in captain Poole’s turn to meet the referee’s displeasure for a deliberate knock-on and for him to spend ten minutes on the sidelines.  Howley kicked the resulting penalty for what turned out to be the deciding three points.

The player disadvantage gave Llantwit the ascendancy for the remaining part of the game and Penarthians did well to maintain their defensive discipline to prevent further scores.  At the final whistle it was a disappointed Penarthians team that left the field knowing that they had performed well in a highly contested game well refereed by Ian Morris

This Saturday the 1^st XV make the trip to Ynysowen for their next league fixture with a scheduled 2.30pm kick off