SEASIDERS EASING AHEAD IN PROMOTION RACE
Brecon 13 Penarth 34
In the end, this was an easy enough win for league leaders Penarth, but Brecon made them work hard for the points which had to be ground out by the pack in a long drawn-out battle of attrition. Not that this seemed at all likely in the first ten minutes as the Seasiders oozed class and composure in patiently going about their work. The first score arrived soon enough as Chris Roberts ran back a long clearance and set up a ruck in the Brecon 22. Several thrusts later, it was the full-back himself who popped up to score from all of one metre.
No further score came for a further twenty minutes and it wasn’t for the want of trying on the part of the visitors. Instead it was the familiar breakdown problem, with Penarth doing all their defending in the Brecon half as a result of continual turnovers. A tremendous tackle by Steve Roberts on rampaging No.8 Ceri Morgan was typical.
Unfortunately continuity was at premium as Penarth dominated without turning it into points. A James Docherty penalty on the half-hour eased them further in front, but five minutes later successive drives from a five-metre scrum were finished off by an elegant Richard Merrett swan-dive to secure his side’s second.
With the score on a healthy enough 0-15 with half-time approaching, the Seasiders finally found an extra gear and effectively put the game beyond Brecon’s reach. David Morgan was the scorer from a mauled line-out and there was just enough time following the restart for centre Gari Davies to pull back three points for Brecon with a well-struck 40 metre penalty and a half-time score of 6-20.
The hosts were to dominate the third quarter as Penarth sat back on their lead and the visitors were lucky not to concede more than the single penalty Davies converted on the hour. With only one more try needed to secure the bonus point, they could probably afford to relax, but it wasn’t until they lost flanker Darroll Hawden to the bin for ten minutes that they finally decided to do something about it.
Another couple of three-quarter moves had come to nothing through simple errors when the forwards again took matters in hand and mauled to the line when Aaron Ellis-Munn powered over for the vital score. At this point the coaches decided to ring the changes and as Penarth settled in, home wing Eurin Morgan was allowed to slip over in the corner and bring the score back to 13-27.
With four minutes to go and the result in the bag, Penarth could have been forgiven for running the clock down, but they decided on one last throw of the dice. Retaining ball at an attacking lineout despite the usual disruptive behaviour from the hosts, Chris Mortimer shipped the ball neatly out to James Docherty who decided it was time for his party piece and slipped past two defenders to score.
With Tylorstown and St.Peters recording bonus-free wins, the Seasiders were able to ease a further point ahead and now face 8th-placed Llandaff North at the Athletic Field on Easter Saturday. The Cardiff club seem to have found some form with a 24-17 win against Heol-y-Cyw, but the Seasiders will surely be targeting this fixture for another win with only four more games to go.
PENARTH Chris Roberts, Steve Roberts, Rhys Lakin, Liam Bevan, James Crothers, James Docherty, Gareth Clancy [Owain George, Chris Mortimer], Richard Merrett [Carwyn Griffiths], Gary Power, David Morgan, James Roach, Jason Allen [Mike Clare], Darroll Hawden, Aaron Ellis-Munn, Marc Devine