Fixture

Following a fine performance in their victory at Treherbert the weekend before it was a shame that the standard of rugby could not be maintained by Old Penarthians 1^st XV in their fixture against Caerau Ely last Saturday. 

The trip to Trelai Park resulted in a 29-10 defeat and was a rude awakening to any ambitions the team may have of promotion, with the players knowing there will be a lot of hard work and commitment required to achieve that success.

Scrummaging was a problem throughout the match and with very little ball from this phase of play the threequarter line had limited opportunities to show their skills.

That said, the forwards competed well in the other phases of the game and showed parity with the bigger Caerau forwards.  Louis Chandler was nominated as the CJCH spectators’ man of the match for his doggedness throughout.  He was ably supported by James Roach, playing some of his best rugby for the club, Luke Crockett and Joel deClaire.

The game itself was dominated by the Caerau scrum and it was no surprise that their first points came after 6 minutes from a penalty by Mike Hurley awarded after a collapsed scrum.  Penarthians responded two minutes later, following a late tackle on Tomos Hillman, when Nathan Facey kicked a penalty.

On 23 minutes Caerau scored again when scrum half Morgan Louch, perhaps using the referee as a screen, scored a try converted by Hurley.  Old Pens did however continue to attack and when Crockett found his way through a ruck, he passed to Josh Allcock in support and he sprinted away.  Unfortunately, his final pass to brother Rowan, with one defender to beat, was misdirected and the chance was missed.

Rowan was in the action a couple of moments later when he caught a defensive kick and ran back, swerving outside his opposite number before placing a deft kick ahead that just went over the goal line.

It was however Caerau who finished the half the stronger when a free-flowing move across the field let Louch run free before finding an inside pass to Hurley who scored the try and converted.

Penarthians attacked from the kick-off and Roach, Tom Sidford and Sam Hall all carried into the opposition.  Unfortunately, just as Dan Hobson had broken the defence he lost the ball in the tackle in the opposition 22 and Caerau launched a counter attack which went the length of the field.  Despite a fine cover tackle in the corner by Jon Crimp, Louch was on hand to take a short pass and score in the corner.  The conversion was missed and the half time score was 22-3.

Half time saw the introduction of Gareth Mathias for Hillman and not long after Sidford was injured to be replaced by Owain Thomas. Caerau also made some changes but it did not diminish their scrummaging power and after three reset scrums a penalty try was awarded after 15 minutes.

This was however to be the last of the Caerau scores and it was Old Penarthians who were the more adventurous in the latter part of the game.  On two occasions Chris Poole nearly broke the defensive line and when the same player charged down a kick and dived on the ball over the tryline everyone at the ground except the refereed considered he scored.  The referee was however unsighted and could not award the try.

Penarthians did however score a try when Crimp sidestepped past three defenders to touch down under the posts for Facey to convert.  It was however too late to affect the result and Caerau were worthy winners, if somewhat flattered by the points difference in victory.

There are no fixtures scheduled for this Saturday and the  1^st XV will not return to action until Saturday 28^th December in a home match against current league leaders, Llantwit Major.