Fixture

Last Saturday Old Penarthians visited bottom of the table Glyncoch in their latest WRU Division 3 East Central (B) league fixture and despite the high expectations of a full-strength squad the match was initially in doubt due to the non-arrival of the appointed referee.

A replacement official was however located and after a 30-minute delay the match commenced.  Old Penarthians received the kick-off and scored with their first possession of the game through Tomos Hillman and it was to be the first of ten tries scored in a 64 – 0 victory.

The second try was to follow immediately when the next kick off was caught by James Roach and the ball was passed to outside half Nathan Smith.  Unlike with the first possession when Smith ran with the ball, this time he kicked deep into Glyncoch territory.  The opposition fullback ran the ball back but was crunched in the tackle by Jon Crimp.  The ball spilled forward and was picked up by John Patterson, who ran 45m to score in the corner.  Nathan Facey missed the conversion after his first success and Penarthians led 12 – 0.

Patterson scored again in the same corner after 13 minutes when a move which went from one side of the pitch to the other and back again eventually saw Adan Cole, Dan Watts and Crimp set up a ruck from which Patterson picked up to score

Cole was back in the action again after 25 minutes when a dominant scrum from 5m shoved Glyncoch backwards for him to pick up and score.  Facey converted for a 19-point lead

Then came the best try of the half when James Beaton won a lineout on the left-hand touchline.  Cole drove forward, passed to Hillman and on to Smith.  Rhys Lakin went on a dummy rum and the ball was passed instead to Crimp.  Smith wrapped around and took a return pass before throwing a long pass to winger Matt Sutton.  Sutton made ground before offering an inside pass to Facey who crashed over for a try which he then converted.

The last action before half time unfortunately saw yellow cards awarded to Hillman and a much bigger Glyncoch forward after an altercation at a ruck.  The interval score was 31 – 0.

At the restart Chris Poole returned to rugby on the wing for the first time since 29^th December when he replaced Joel deClaire which meant Sutton moved up to the pack.  Gareth Clancy was also introduced after the Hillman suspension but not before Scott Mackie and another Glyncoch forward had been dismissed for ten minutes for another ruck incident. 

It meant that for 15 minutes there was little rugby played as both sides were dragged down into a forward battle.

Eventually Penarthians got back to what they do best and started to play with some composure and moving the ball into the wide channels with forwards in support.  One such backline move from a lineout spread the ball across the pitch and found Luke Crockett, on for the previously unsubstituted Sam Hall, in support and with interpasses between Clancy, Tom Sidford, Sutton and Beaton they put Cole through for his second try.  Facey converted for a 38 – 0 lead

On 20 minutes Louis Chandler replaced Mackie and after a break and run from Poole Chandler’s first possession was to make ground but instead of passing to the tree-man overlap he went for the try where he was tackled short of the line.  There was still an opportunity to score but instead of releasing the ball he held tight and was penalised.

Lakin was the next scorer when a move off the training field put him into space and he crossed under the posts from 25m.  In the absence of a kicking tee Facey missed the conversion

The kick off was then caught by Clancy who passed to Smith.  He ran at a tiring defence and broke through before passing to Poole. Poole sprinted hard for 30m and as he was tackled, he off-loaded inside to Crimp who scored the try.

Glyncoch were now in disarray and from the next kick off, ground was again made in mid-field through Watts, Sutton and Crockett before Sidford finished with a try.  There was however still time for self-proclaimed man-of-the match Sutton to score a try and for Facey to convert for a personal tally of 19 points.

This was the best Old Penarthians points haul since their 85 – 0 victory against Whitchurch in March 2016.

There are no fixtures this weekend as all eyes will be on the Scotland v Wales international in Murrayfield.  All spectators not travelling are welcome at the club where complimentary food will be on offer.