Fixture

Following the hard-fought victory against Penarth on Boxing Day it was back to league action for Old Penarthians last Saturday in an away fixture against Llantwit Major.  It was again to be a physical encounter and after the exertions three days earlier the Llantwit side proved to be far stronger on this occasion and won by 31 points to 8

The game could not have started in worse fashion when the Llantwit Major kick off was not caught cleanly be Tom Sidford and Penarthians were under pressure for the next ten minutes.  To the credit of the team the defence was again physical and numerous Llantwit forward drives were repulsed. One particular tackle in the corner by Fearghas Gough and Dan Watts saving a certain try.

The defence however came at a cost with numerous penalties conceded and from a scrum option from one of those penalties the Llantwit forwards created a platform for Josh Austin to score under the posts.  Lawrence Howley converted for a seven-point lead

Four minutes later Llantwit scored again through Gareth Watts after more good work from their forwards.  This time the kick was unsuccessful.

At this stage it looked as if the score could be a rout but captain Rhys Lakin, despite playing with an injured ankle, rallied his side to fight back and with forward drives prominent, territory in the opposition half was achieved and retained.  All the forwards contributed with Joel deClaire, Louis Chandler, Tom Sidford and Scott Mackie to the fore. 

From the pressure Llantwit gave away a number of penalties and eventually the referee showed a yellow card to the Llantwit hooker. Penarthians continued to attack and from a dominant scrum by Sam Hall, Watts and Gareth Boulton a penalty was awarded 8m from the Llantwit tryline.  Quick thinking by Tomos Hillman saw the ball passed to Lakin who handed off immediately to Chris Poole who crossed under the posts for his eighth try of the season.  Nathan Facey kicked the conversion and the deficit was reduced to five points.

deClaire caught the ensuing kick off and beat a couple of players before going to ground in contact however the supporting players were deemed to have sealed off the ball and a penalty was awarded.  The kick was however missed, and the half time score was 12 – 7 in favour of the home side.

The first half however was taking its’ toll on the players and Nathan Smith, Poole and Lakin were all carrying leg  injuries limiting their movements. In fact, within ten minutes of the restart Poole and Smith would be replaced by Stuart Clarke and Rowan Allcock respectively.

This was after Llantwit had increased their lead from a line out on the 22m line that was taken cleanly and driven at pace the distance to the tryline where Rob Carter emerged with the ball.  Howley converted and Llantwit Major led 19 - 7

Further substitutions were made by Penarthians and James Roach, Josh Allcock and Danny Godfrey were all given opportunities.  Like their teammates they all gave 100% but the bigger and more direct Llantwit forwards dominated the close quarter exchanges and Howley used the wind to keep the Old Pens pegged back in their own half.

Clarke, Watts and Roach all made ground on individual occasions, but the coordination could not maintain the pressure. 

Whilst the Llantwit forwards may have set the platform the try of the match was a move across the backline from a lineout on the right-hand touchline that passed through all the threequarters hands at speed in very wet conditions for Jack Austen to score in the opposite left-hand corner.

Another Llantwit attack after 38 minutes was only stopped by a very good tackle by John Patterson, but this was only a small respite as with the last play of the game a well worked move on the blind side of a scrum saw replacement winger Evan Holloway score in the corner.  Howley converted for a final score of 31 points to 7

Llantwit were worthy winners and move up to fourth in the league whilst Old Pens remain eighth. Penarthians will now have to regroup and put the win against Penarth into their memories as they refocus on the league matches in January that lead up to the Six Nations matches that start in February

This Saturday Old Penarthians entertain second placed Treherbert in the next round of Division 3 South East (B) matches.  Kick-off is at 2.30pm.