Fixture

After a two-week international break, in which Wales were crowned Six Nations Grand Slam Champions, Old Penarthians returned to action in a WRU Division 3 East Central (B) league fixture at home to Ynysowen.  The team put in an all-round satisfying performance and were rewarded with a 33-5 point victory.

The match started well for Old Pens when the Ynysowen kick-off was collected by Adan Cole and driven back into midfield.  The other forwards were in support and with a quick release Tomos Hillman was able to bring the threequarters into play.  The speed of the attack and continuity of the play caught Ynysowen off guard and in quick succession they conceded three penalties.

On the first two occasions captain Rhys Lakin opted to kick to the corner for attacking line outs.  However, both opportunities were squandered so after the third infringement Nathan Facey was called upon to kick three points.

Penarthians maintained the pressure even when Ynysowen were in possession and from a turnover at a ruck on half way by Dan Watts after 12 minutes the ball was passed to Nathan Smith.  He passed to Lakin who beat two defenders.  A good pass found Joel deClaire in support and as he was about to be tackled, he timed a pass to John Patterson.  The winger rounded his opposite number and raced to the corner to score

Facey converted from the touchline and Old Penarthians led 10-0

Ynysowen were however determined and launched attacks of their own to secure territory in Old Pens twenty-two.  Pressure mounted but resilient defensive tackling by Josh Allcock, Tom Sidford and Scott Mackie, aided by verbal indiscipline by the Ynysowen forwards ensured that the tryline was not breached.

Penarthians were then back on the attack and one break out of defence by Smith gave Chris Poole the opportunity to run clear.  With Allcock in support the move was stopped 60m upfield with a tackle into touch.

The territory gained brought about another penalty to Penarthians and from in front of the posts after 35 minutes Facey slotted his third successful kick for a 13-0 lead that was maintained until half time.

The Old Pens kicked off the second half and were soon defending an Ynysowen forward drive.  A tackle from Sidford of man and ball with support from James Roach and Sam Hall ensured that  a maul was called and the scrum awarded to the home team. From the scrum deClaire broke forward and found Jon Crimp in support. He was well tackled but possession was retained and Penarthians were back on the attack.

Ynysowen were continuing to infringe at the loose ball contests and after 7 minutes Facey kicked another three points for a 16-0 lead.

Ynysowen returned to the offensive and won a lineout ten metres from the home team try line. At the set piece however, a flare up occurred and eventually one of the Ynysowen second rows was dismissed for throwing punches.  This seemed an isolated incident in an otherwise combative game played by two committed teams but the referee could only apply the laws as he saw the situation.

From the resulting penalty Penarthians kicked to touch on half way. The lineout was caught by Roach who fed Hillman.  He passed to Smith who put Lakin into space.  He powered through a defender and passed to Poole on the wing who accelerated away from 35m to score near the posts.  Facey converted.

Penarthians were now in the ascendancy and from a scrum Smith made 25m from a powerful drive in midfield.  As he was tackled, he gave a reverse pass to Hillman who raced over from 20m to score.  The conversion was Facey’s only miss of the day and his last action of the match as he was replaced by debutant Morgan Smith.

Hillman was also replaced by Gareth Clancy as the bench was utilised by coaches Simon Hurley and Anthony Davies.  Other replacements were Louis Chandler, Peter Bennett and Danny Godfrey.

With the victory secured, Penarthians went in search of the bonus point for four tries and this came after 30 minutes when Clancy took a quick penalty on half way.  Lakin made ground before passing to Poole.  Poole ran through some tiring defenders and a pass inside to Cole gave him the opportunity to crash through the last tackle to score.  In the absence of Facey, Crimp was unsuccessful with the conversion.

The last word did however go to Ynysowen when from a scrum on the Penarthians tryline they manufactured a score through Nathan Hutchins, bringing up the final score of 33-5

This Saturday Penarthians play away to Caerau Ely whilst the 2^nd XV attend a ‘Game-on’ Festival at Pentrych