Fixture

Old Penarthians v Clwb Rygbi Cymru Caerdydd Match Report

Saturday 9th January 2016

The weather brought a premature end to the league ambitions of both Old Penarthians rugby teams last Saturday with intended away fixtures cancelled by Whitchurch and Pontyclun.  Sterling work by fixture secretary Jon Vaughan on Friday evening did however secure home fixtures for the first team against Clwb Rygbi Cymru Caerdydd and the seconds against Llantrisant.

An 11.00am pitch inspection on Saturday morning proved the pitches to be wet but with no standing water and therefore the visitors were informed the matches were ‘On’.  Unfortunately by the time of the kick offs the pitches had received two hours of rainfall and puddles were beginning to form.

All the sides had arrived and with a willingness to play under the watchful eyes of the officials the friendly fixtures commenced under further heavy clouds and driving rain.

The first XV game started brightly but not for the Old Penarthians who would have hoped to have dominate their Cardiff opponents.  It transpired however that there were a spattering of first team regulars amongst the opposition who play in Division 2 of the National Leagues.  The organisation of the visiting forwards was quite evident and from two well managed lineouts on opposite sides of the field driving mauls resulted in tries and after fifteen minutes Clwb Rygbi led by ten points to nil.

Penarthians did however have the advantage in the three-quarters and Tim Naylor, Simon Davies and Charles Gore all had opportunities with one particular move taking Davies free from a (rare) Lloyd Davey pass only for the defence to cover the attack.

Territory gained did however lead to a penalty to Old Pens that was quickly taken by scrum half Gareth Clancy.  He made inroads into the defence and passed to Liam Union.  He managed to pass to Jon Crimp who gave an inside off-load to Tom Sidford who still had work to do but used his (albeit dry-January reduced) bulk to fall over the line from eight metres to score a try converted by Crimp.

This brought an end to a 30 minute half of rugby and with everyone considering the warm showers a quick turn-around ensued.  This time it was the home forwards who got off to the better start and drives from Dave Hosking, Alun Haines and Chad Wilson almost resulted in tries.

Scrummaging throughout was strong and the ball provided by the front row was well used by Joel deClaire at No 8 to set the platform for some adventurous play.  Too often however the support did not arrive in time and the ball was lost.

This was not the case however for what was to be the deciding try when another break by Hosking with support from Danny Godfrey and deClaire saw the ball recycled quickly near the try line and Clancy picked up the ball to be driven over the line by substitute second row, Paul Rapley.  Crimp converted to give Old Penarthians a winning score of 14 points to 10.

Both sides should be complimented for their efforts in the poor weather conditions but it was Old Pens who would be most pleased as they returned to winning ways after their Boxing Day defeat to Penarth.

On the adjoining pitch the second XV held their strong opponents Llantrisant to a scoreless first half but the visitors’ extra experience was to tell in end when the strength in the aging legs of the Old Pens team was sapped by the heavy mud.  Llantrisant were the eventual winners by 38 points to nil

Old Penarthians first XV returns to league action next Saturday with an away trip to Tongwynlais.  The seconds do not have a scheduled fixture but are looking for a home fixture.  Both games will kick off at 2.30pm.