Fixture

Old Penarthians v Ferndale Match Report

Saturday 12th September 2015

Fresh from a fifty point victory the week before Old Penarthians 1st XV faced Ferndale at Cwrt-y-vil last Saturday, who themselves had scored fifty points in their first outing.  At a very early stage of the season this was already a top of the table clash in Division 3 East Central (C) of the WRU National Leagues.
Training under coaches Simon Hurley and Anthony Davies had again been well attended and they were able to pick from a full squad of fit players, with the exception of skipper Lloyd Davey who had a hamstring strain.  Unfortunately he was joined on the sidelines by Tim Naylor as the pre-match warm up came to an end as he also sustained a hamstring injury.  Naylor’s place was however taken by experienced centre Mark Sadler who had scored two tries the week before.

Ferndale won the toss and decided to play with a strong wind at their backs and the match started at a fast pace with Old Penarthians in particular trying to  influence the game with strong running in mid-field from Rhys Lakin , Sadler and Chad Wilson.

The most effective weapon was however the scrummage with Sam Hall, Richie Dighton and Dave Hosking enjoying the better of their Ferndale opponents who were forced to concede numerous penalties.  None were however in kicking range and it was left to Jon Crimp to kick effectively to touch against the wind.

The lineout at this stage was however not operating very well with the wind again being a factor with Dighton’s delivery.  It was something of an irony therefore that after 25 minutes the first score of the match, and the first try by a forward this season should be from a well thrown lineout taken eight metres from the try line by Jack Margetson, driven on by the forwards, who crashed over for Geraint Blake to score. The conversion from Crimp went wide.

Five minutes later Penarthians again exerted pressure on Ferndale with strong carries in midfield from forwards Joel deClaire, Hosking and Mark Smart and when scrum half Gareth Clancy released the ball to the threequarters full back Fearghas Gough could not quite elude the defence.

Unfortunately just before the half time whistle Ferndale were able to establish some territory in the Old Pens half and they made it pay with a well worked try that left the home team defence stretched allowing winger Craig Barnes to score near the touchline.  Barnes converted to give Ferndale a 7 – 5 lead at the break.
Within five minutes of the restart Penarthians regained the lead with a well worked try that saw Lakin involved twice in the move that also featured a strong run from Tom Sidford in midfield before a final pass sent Sadler away for his third try of the campaign.  The try was converted by Crimp.

From the restart Penarthians had another opportunity to make inroads into opposition territory with some controlled possession but three unwarranted and wayward kicks and a couple of missed tackles allowed Ferndale winger Barnes to score another try which he failed to convert and the scores were level.

Penarthians retook the lead through a Crimp penalty in front of the posts after a Ferndale infringement at the breakdown and soon after the supporters were further encouraged when a high kick from Crimp was dropped by the Ferndale full back under pressure from substitute winger Alex Cook.  The ball was recycled quickly by the support and Gore broke the first tackle to feed Lakin who powered over from 15m to score a try which Crimp converted for a 22 – 12 lead.

This should have settled matters but in a match that was reasonably error free the last ten minutes became a little frantic with players making uncharacteristic mistakes which let flanker Callum Cadno score a try and Barnes convert.

A three point lead with five minutes remaining may have meant defeat last season but this is a more resilient team this year and with some good use of the wind and territorial advantage the lead was preserved and Penarthians had won their second match of the season.

Next Saturday sees the firsts travel to Sully Sports whilst the seconds also travel but only the short distance across Lavernock Road to play the Penarth second string.  Both matches are scheduled to kick off at 2.30pm.