Fixture

After three days of heavy rain in South Wales the away fixture for Old Penarthians at Gwernyfed in WRU National League Division 4 East Central on Saturday 14^th January was in doubt until mid mor-morning.  But the home team declared the game on, so the 1^st XV made the arduous 90-minute trip to Talgarth in time for the 2.30pm kick off.

In fact the pitch, whilst heavy underfoot, was playable and the worst of the weather stayed away to allow the match to go ahead.  The muddy conditions did however favour the home team’s forward orientated game plan and they were rewarded with a 31 points to 3 victory.

The Old Penarthians pack was probably just as heavy as the hosts at the start of the game with the presence of Josh Mellor, Tom Sidford and Gareth Boulton but with lack of weight in the remaining members of the pack and the lack of size amongst the replacements eventually the home team gained the upper hand with a dominant scrum and lineout

It could of course have been quite different if the play in the first three minutes could have been maintained when a kick off from Steffan Crimp was well directed and bounced into touch.  The Gwernyfed lineout was then stolen and Tomos Hillman launched Josh Mellor into the defence.  The ball was recycled and both Rhys Lakin and Jonathan Crimp made ground against a backline who were adjudged to be offside.  With no real advantage gained the referee awarded a penalty and from in front of the posts Steffan Crimp kick was successful. Old Penarthians led 3-0

From that time forward in the half it was however to be a defensive effort with few attacking opportunities. The defence was well organised with Rhys Thomas outstanding but Gwernyfed scored four unanswered tries to earn a bonus point.  The first was scored by flanker Kyle Davies that was created by the  Gwernyfed half backs and the second try soon followed after a series of penalty kicks towards the corner leading to rolling mauls and a touch-down for Cellan Skyrme.

The third try was the pick of the bunch when a scrum on the left hand touch line was won and with direct running in midfield which was repelled, the recycled ball found the winger, Ryan Meredith, in space and he scored in the corner The final try was scored by scrum half Gerwyn Williams who pounced on a loose ball that had popped out from the rear of an Old Penarthians retreating scrummage. Williams also converted two of the tries.

The half time whistle blew with Gwernyfed leading 24-7.

Despite injuries and the need for replacements Old Penarthians were resilient in the second half and did create chances with Joel deClaire and Lakin going close but the final passes went astray. It was still the defensive efforts that were to be applauded with Rowan Allcock and Thomas always in the action supported by Sidford, Rhys Morgan (playing on permit from Penarth), Craig Haines, Gareth Clancy and Amir Sultan-Edwards, making his debut on the wing.

Man of the match was rightly named as Josh Mellor for his work in both attack and defence but even his efforts could not prevent the only score in the second half when prop Skyrme broke through from 20m to score under the posts for Williams to convert and make the final score 31-3 to Gwernyfed.

On Saturday Old Penarthians play their only home fixture in January against Treherbert with a scheduled kick off at 2.30pm.