Fixture

Match Result: Caerau Ely 38 Old Penarthians 3

Last Saturday Old Penarthians returned to league action in Division 5 East Central in an away fixture against Caerau Ely.  The last time the teams met it was in a higher division but both sides were relegated last season and the rivalry was reconvened.  Trelai Park has never been a happy hunting ground for Old Pens but it was unfortunately an indifferent performance from the visitors that saw Caerau Ely run out the winners by 38 points to 3.

Old Penarthains had already been disrupted by injuries and a late withdrawal from Elliot Dyment-Salmon, stranded on a Greek Island, did not help the cause but the team was still sufficiently experienced to have given a better account of themselves than the result proved. It was however perhaps not experience or effort that let the side down but a lack of desire to do the hard yards in the face of some aggressive, but fair, Caerau forward play supported by some opportunist threequarter interventions.

In fact, Old Penarthians had sufficient possession and territory in the first half to have had more points on the board than the solitary penalty from Josh Preece in response to a Caerau winger’s try after twelve minutes.  Too many times visits to the home team twenty-two were squandered with turnovers at mauls and rucks that denied any chance of sustained pressure and it was notable that the usual efficient lineout drives were disrupted through miscommunication and ball retention.

Good aspects of the half were the defensive work which withstood the Caerau forward thrusts with notable tackles from Chance Marsden, Chris Greenfield, Jon Crimp and Richie Moir (twice) although the latter tackle left Moir with a leg injury that saw him leave the field to be substituted by Mark Sadler.

An attacking move from Connor Christie (before he too left the field with a dislocated finger) supported by james Reynolds nearly brought a try and Crimp and Sadler nearly manufactured a length of the pitch breakaway but support was not on hand.

Further disruptions in the half saw Scott Hill depart with serious ankle ligament damage, replaced by Rhys Thomas, and Latham Coombes succumbing to an existing shoulder problem to be replaced by Jon deClaire. None of these changes should have significantly affected the team but mistakes added to an ever-increasing penalty count never allowed any momentum

The second half could not have started in worse fashion when from a kick off well taken and driven up by Tom Sidford which resulted in the home team infringing, a quickly taken tap penalty was passed wildly into midfield and was pounced upon by a Caerau threequarter who scored under the posts for an easy conversion.

Six minutes later Old Penarthians were on the attack on halfway with Matt Stingl when a strong tackle dislodged the ball which was hacked ahead.  Rhys Lakin, making his debut for the season, did admirably in turning and chasing back but as he dived to prevent a try he was deemed to have taken out the opposition back and a penalty try was awarded and Caerau Ely led 21-3

Old Pens returned to the attack with two strong runs from Rowan Alcock but again final passes went astray and even when a line out was awarded to the team five yards from the Caerau tryline the throw was misdirected putting the threequarters under pressure. A missed pass was again kicked up field and from a penalty award and a series of forward surges Caerau scored their fourth try earning a bonus point.  The conversion was unsuccessful.

Caerau were now in full control and even the luck was with them when a cross-field kick which looked to be going safely into Sadler’s arms bounced on the point of the ball backwards into the arms of a delighted Caerau player who raced over for a converted try. Even that was not the end of the Old Pens disappointment when with eight minutes remaining a further try and conversion was added to the scoreline and a very dispirited and well beaten team left the pitch after a 38-3 defeat

Next Saturday Old Penarthians return to Cwrt-y-vil for a home game against Hirwaun, who sit bottom of the division without a win, but it will take a much more concentrated effort to maintain an unbeaten home record than was evident last weekend. Kick-off is scheduled for 2.30pm.