SEASIDERS STILL IN TOUCH AFTER STUNNING WIN
Llanishen 3 Penarth 17
The Seasiders cemented their position in the leading group of Division 3 (SE) last Saturday with a wonderfully composed bonus-point win at second-placed Llanishen and remain three points behind leaders Aberdare.
Although the three tries were all scored by members of the back division, it was again the pack that decided the result, with an imperious display against powerful opponents.
An early missed penalty was hardly any cause for concern, as the home pack were already going backwards and after ten minutes James Docherty was driving an excellent penalty 45m into the corner. The initial drive from the Seasiders seemed to have been held, but the second thrust went straight in with wing James Crothers the scorer.
Llanishen came back strongly with their own 5m line-out following a high tackle, but the Penarth defence was up to the job and forced them wide. The hosts were held there too and Llanishen had to settle for a neat drop-goal and 3-7.
This seemed to be the only way the home side were ever going to score and when their outside-half P.Thomas screwed the next attempt horribly wide you began to get the impression it might be the Seasiders’ day after all. Sure enough Darroll Hawden fielded the drop-goal attempt near the corner flag and sent a long kick racing down the left touchline. Steve Roberts timed his run to perfection, getting his toe to the ball just in front of the covering full-back and running through to score.
The Penarth pressure eased a little in the second half as they had to adjust to a string of injuries, none of them too serious, but disruptive all the same. Still there was no way the home side were going to score, although they had developed a neat trick of attacking from a retreating scrum and the visitors’ defence had plenty of work to do.
A lengthy delay as the home No.5 was stretchered off strung things out a bit, but once the game restarted, the Seasiders put Llanishen away in a decisive fashion and claimed a well-deserved bonus point.
A long clearance from the home side was fielded by Docherty, who responded with a superb touch-finder which right-wing G.Shields just managed to keep in play. He soon wished he’d let it go into touch, as his clearance was charged down by Docherty following up and Rhys Lakin was on hand to snaffle the loose ball and score in the corner.
With their promotion credentials now well-and-truly presented, the Seasiders welcome 6th-placed Brecon to the Athletic Field next Saturday. The Powys club have enjoyed mixed fortunes after a bright start and have won only one of their last five matches.
PENARTH Steve Roberts, Lloyd Davey (Andrew Edwards), Rhys Lakin, Liam Bevan, James Crothers James Docherty, Owain George, Richard Merrett, Peter Bennett, Carwyn Griffiths, James Roach (Richard Ball), Darroll Hawden (Jason Allen), Marc Devine Elliott Smith, Geraint Blake
OTHER RESULTS:
BRECON 22-22 HEOL-Y-CYW
FAIRWATER 11-20 TREHERBERT
LLANDAFF NORTH 23-49 ABERDARE
LLANDAFF 0-38 TYLORSTOWN
PENTYRCH 5-25 ST.PETERS