Fixture

Last Saturday Old Penarthians travelled to the northern reaches of the Ogwr Valley to play Ogmore Vale in their latest Division 5 East Central fixture. Whilst the air temperature there may have been a few degrees colder than in subtropical Penarth, by the end of the match the mood in Tom Sidford’s team was very frosty as they knew they had not given a committed enough performance and lost the match by 31 points to 12.

It was a near full strength team that took to the field with sufficient experience to have made the contest a lot closer, but the absence of strong will power and determination gave a good, but not outstanding, Ogmore Vale too much respect and they were deserved winners.

The game stated well and inside 5 minutes an attacking line out from a Josh Preece penalty kick to touch led a clean throw from Chris Greenfield to Rhys Thomas taken down and driven on by Chance Marsden and Sidford into the opposition twenty-two.  The ball was released to the threequarters and Rhys Lakin broke through the defence but the cover tackle knocked the ball forward out of his hands and the attack floundered.

Ogmore Vale were then on the attack and a high tackle inside the Old Pens twenty-two saw the home side convert the resulting penalty for a 3-0 lead. Ogmore Vale continued to press through their forwards and an outside half who kicked well for territory, seeming to mistrust his outside threequarters. It was a ploy that worked well and old Penarthians did not enter the opposition twenty-two for the next 25 minutes.

It meant that Penarthians were forced to attack from deep on a very heavy pitch and on one occasion a ‘wrap-around’ move that seemed to have created space out wide was well read by the opposition centre and he greatly accepted an interception pass from the unlucky Lakin to run under the posts for a try that was converted and an Ogmore Vale lead by 10-0.

Lakin was to make amends later in the half when he led a breakout with a powerful run through defenders before releasing Mark Sadler and James Reynolds.  Unfortunately, ball retention was a problem and with the defence realigned the opportunity was lost

Sadler, making his 200th appearance for the Old Penarthians 1^st XV, was again involved a few minutes later in a defensive role when he made a diving catch in his own half to thwart another Ogmore attack from their outside half’s kick upfield, but his pirouette and offload to no one in particular lost him all the style points he had initially gained.  Fortunately, his forwards got him out of a tight spot by winning a line out against the throw in.

Ogmore Vale ended the half again on the attack through their forwards but good goal-line defence from Old Pens through James Greenfield, Mark Smart, Sidford and Marsden ensured their line was not crossed. Unfortunately, the home side were not to be denied and with three minutes of the half remaining a well worked move off a line out gave room for the Ogmore Vale no 8 to break the defensive line and set up a ruck from which quick possession saw the flanker score in the corner.  With the conversion unsuccessful the half time score was 15-0.

Changes at half time saw the introduction of Charlie Wheatley and Henry Kynaston for debutant Nathan Harris and Rhys Thomas and Wheatley had an immediate giving some much needed aggression in a thrusting run into midfield.  The action seemed to encourage those around him and from a line out fellow sub Kynaston and Marsden drove from a line out.  The ball was recycled and Josh Preece disguised a pass to Lakin who passed to Ieuan Harris who ran in to score in the corner. Jon Crimp was unsuccessful with the conversion.

The good feeling was short lived when Old Pens failed to release the ball in the tackle and the penalty was converted.  From the kick off the ball was knocked on by the competing Penarthian forwards and from the scrum the under pressure Ogmore Vale forwards managed to release the ball to their backs and for the first time in the match the no 10 threw a wide adventurous pass. Good tackles were made by Crimp, Reynolds and Harris but the offload at pace on each occasion was successful and the Ogmore Vale winger scored under the posts for a converted try and a lead of 25-5

The try prompted further changes with Gareth Clancy and Chris Greenfield being replaced by Rory Hone and Matt Stingl with Preece moving to scrum half.  Again, the changes brought a more direct approach and Hone made two incisive breaks and gained territory.

Th momentum gained led to forward pressure on the Ogmore Vale line and Wheatley eventually crossed to score a try that was converted by Crimp ad the lead was reduced to 13 points with 20 minutes remaining.  Scoring two tries for the victory was a long shot but any chance was lost three minutes later when the referee adjudged that another high tackle was made and the penalty in front of the posts was converted.  In the dying minutes Ogmore Vale wrapped up the game with a drop goal to make the score 31-12 but Richie Moir has one last chance for glory when he raced down the touchline from inside his own half only to look back for support when close to the tryline and with no one available the ball was lost and the full time whistle was blown.

Next Saturday Old Penarthians play host to table topping Pontycymmer hoping to rekindle some fire and maintain their unbeaten home form.  The kick off is scheduled for 2.30pm.