NINE-TRY SEASIDERS DOMINATE FRIENDLY
Penarth XV 57 UWIC XV 0
Looking at such a one-sided score-line, it seemed unlikely that this Penarth XV had to fight all the way to subdue the students on this second-string UWIC XV, but neither side gave an inch. Every score that the hosts managed required plenty of hard work and inspiration: nothing came easily.
Not that it looked much like that after five minutes as the forwards drove over for a Richard Ball try. Another ten minutes were to pass before the quality of this Penarth side showed up again as Chris Mortimer threw a reverse pass from the base of a scrum on the UWIC 10m and Gareth Sullivan, an early replacement for David Jenkins, made a short decoy run. James Docherty made good use of the space created and fed Steve Roberts, who arced left on a curved run that left the whole defence for dead.
As the two sides slugged out it toe-to-toe, the score-line stagnated and the game looked a more even contest until Chris Poole fielded a second long clearance and kicked ahead, following up to force a line-out on the UWIC 22m. The ball was worked wide, but the first thrust to the line was held up before a quick recycle came to blindside Aaron Ellis, who twisted powerfully between two tacklers to score.
Only one other try was to follow before half-time and again the full-back was involved as the visitors launched an attack deep into Penarth territory. Poole made the last-ditch tackle, but it was Steve Roberts who benefitted from the turned-over possession and ran it all the way back to score at the other end.
The 26-0 half-time score wasn’t something the Seasiders wanted to rest on as they immediately chased the kick-off and forced a scrum on the UWIC 22m line. Docherty put the fast-arriving Poole into a gap and the full-back’s angle did all the work as he scored under the posts.
The next attacking move featured the fabled David Morgan side-step, but it was Poole again on 50 minutes cracking the visitors’ defence. Moving into mid-field from his own 22, he put in a hefty chip towards the far touchline where Chris Thorne fielded, pinned his ears back and sprinted 40m to score in the corner.
At this point instructions arrived from the touchline for Poole and Docherty to swap positions and a further three tries were to arrive in the last twelve minutes. First Richard Ball fed a long one-handed pass to Chris Thorne from the base of a scrum taken against the head, but when the wing was held, the number eight was again available to complete the score.
This was the end of the game as a fair contest. Although the students had given a good account of themselves, the 43-0 score-line and the fact that Penarth were taking scrums against the head meant the writing was on the wall. A fearsome break from a scrum by Ellis, now packing down at 8, was followed up by replacement Marc Devine for the eighth try and then it was Poole again bursting on to a short pass to score his second and Penarth’s ninth.
You could be forgiven for thinking that the Seasiders have assembled a squad with some depth to it since few of the starting fifteen had featured much in recent league outings. The proof of this will be in a critical three-match sequence this side of Christmas, starting a week on Saturday at Llandaff North.
PENARTH XV: Chris Poole, Lloyd Davey (Chris Thorne), Steve Roberts, David Jenkins (Gareth Sullivan), Andrew Gill, James Docherty, Chris Mortimer, Gary Power, Geraint Evans, David Morgan, Jason Allen (Marc Devine), James Beaton, Aaron Ellis-Munn, Richard Ball, Matthew Sutton
"THE FINAL WHISTLE"
A post match assessment by Coach - Mike Clare
With a bye in the first round of the plate competition it was important we gave the whole squad a chance to get on the park and show us what they’re capable of. A lot of these guys have been training really hard and only had fleeting chances during league games so they were eager to get a game under their belts.
I’m sure everyone at the club would be proud to note that the Penarth Youth Team production line was again in evidence with 12 ex youth players in the starting 15 and a further 5 on the bench.
Before the match the atmosphere was good, if you thought this was going to be an easy going friendly you’d be wrong as the focus from the players was exceptional. As a coaching team we asked them all to put their hands up for selection by the end of this game, and give us the headaches over the coming weeks.
Amongst the players they were clear in their aim: They agreed that they all wanted to perform well as individuals to put themselves forward for selection but they were also clear that nobody could do it without the help of the teammates around them!! And so the scene was set: Teamwork rather than individual causes would be the order of the day!
And so it proved, with our structure and togetherness winning the battle over our youthful guests. There was much to be admired in the application of the players on show and yet again they showed they could score tries in various styles, with a well organised driving maul initiating proceedings followed by a few penetrative back line tries and numerous tries where forwards and backs combined instinctively and intelligently.
Yes, it is true this was not an experienced UWIC outfit, we outweighed them in most areas of the pitch (Even Chrissy Poole mentioned that he was bigger than one of them) and the only real danger came from their two centres who thankfully were largely starved of possession, but their heart and commitment was unquestionable and made this a very hard fought game. They tackled fearlessly as Dave Jenkins will testify and were more than happy to get stuck into the rough stuff.
So how does this leave us, with a big league game against Llandaff North on 14th November?? With headaches….good ones!!!