Fixture

Another hard day at the office for Old Penarthians 1^st XV in their latest WRU National League Division 4 East Central fixture away to Wattstown. Before the match Wattstown lay second in the division and their position was strengthened following a 64-0 victory against the visiting Penarthians.

In previous seasons matches between the two teams have been competitive but it is impossible for a team to travel to such a high ranking side with the number of absentees that Old Pens suffered again during the week prior to the match.

It is a credit to those that played that they continue to put their battered bodies and minds through the pain barriers to ensure that the Club continues to be represented in these fixtures.  With five fixtures still to play it would be good to see some of their colleagues join them in a fight to be competitive and ease selection difficulties.

The limited player availability again meant that the game started with non-contested scrummaging but to the credit of the Wattstown management they allowed Penarthians to start with a full team of fifteen together with three substitutes, one of which was a Wattstown player.

Old Pens were again indebted to Rhys Morgan playing on permit from Penarth and to James Patterson who played on permit from Llandaff.  Without these inclusions it is likely that the game would have been forfeited.

All that said, for 25 minutes the Old Penarthians were more than competitive and showed attacking flair and resolute defence. In fact the visitors had the first chance to put points on the board when James Reynolds won a penalty at a turnover following a good tackle by Rhys Thomas. Unfortunately captain Jon Crimp was wide from 40m with the kick at goal.

Wattstown then scored the first of their tries through Dai Smith as the home team exploited the wide channels and scored in the corner.  The conversion was unsuccessful

Penarthians did however have the next opportunity when Alex Lewis playing in an unfamiliar role at fullback fielded a Wattstown kick on his own 22.  He returned the kick towards the touchline and the bouncing ball deceived the defender allowing Lewis to regather the ball and race forward.  As he was tackled the ball was kept in play and recycled but the move then broke down.

At this stage Penarthians were dominating the territorial advantage and good runs by Tom Sidford and Joel deClaire supported by Josh Allcock and Jake Thomas kept Penarthian hopes high.  Rhys Lakin also carried the ball hard into the opposition and was ably supported by Harry Lewis and Craig Haines. There was however a lack of confidence in the overall approach and any chances created were missed.

A second try by Wattstown after 22 minutes by Cory Jones brought the score to 10-0 to the home team.

Penarthians were however soon back on the attack and a good kick to the corner by Morgan saw a lineout won by Allcock and the forwards drive from 5m out.  Several pick-and-goes saw the forwards inch forward but when Patterson crossed the line to touch down for a try the referee indicated that he had run into one of his own team and thereby created an unfair advantage.  The try was not awarded and Wattstown had a relieving scrum.

On 32mins Wattstown scored a third try through Matthew Lewis who converted from the touchline for a 17-0 lead.  This was to be the first of his 7 conversions during the match.  Unfortunately in attempting to make a tackle in the lead up to the try Max Chandler suffered a head wound and had to be replaced by Michael Rogers.

The half ended with another Wattstown try to Matthew Lewis which he converted for an interval score of 24-0

The second half was not as competitive for Old Penarthians as the unseasonal warmth led to tiredness which in turn led to injuries which could not be sustained with a limited number of substitutes.  It did mean that Dan Jones and Ian from Wattstown entered the fray and it was Ian who probably had the largest cheer of the day (from the home supporters) as he made an attacking run along the touchline before he was pushed out of play.

For the record Wattstown scored six second half tries through Cory Jones, Ryan Smith (2), Calum Hutton, Dylan Tinson and Daniel Lewis

It was therefore a disconsolate Old Penarthians team that left the pitch but coach Thomas was heartened by the efforts of his players and stressed that there is still enough ability in the team to challenge in the remaining matches provided players outside the reliable core numbers can make themselves available.

There is no fixture next week because Hirwaun have withdrawn from the league but the 1^st XV return with a home game on 29^th April against Tonyrefail. The kick off is scheduled for 2.30pm.