No joy again for travelling Penarth (From Penarth Times)

No joy again for travelling Penarth

PENTYRCH 17, PENARTH 11

TO JUDGE by the home side's reaction at the final whistle, you could be forgiven for thinking they had taken a major scalp in a cup tie.

In fact all they'd achieved was a hard-fought three points against a Penarth side that still can't find the knock-out punch away from the Athletic Field.

To be fair, the 'Tyrchs put a lot of effort into the game and exploited their knowledge of a wind-swept Parc y Dwrlyn to great effect. Throughout a close-fought 80 minutes, while the visitors patiently worked on their handling game, the hosts left it up to outside half Berian Davies to belt it downfield every time they secured possession.

Pentyrch got off to a flying start before the Seasiders had properly settled. They gained a penalty straight from the kick-off and then another after seven minutes, both converted by outside half Davies. Chris Cummings pulled three points back after 14 minutes and then exchanged further penalties with Davies to leave the score on 9-6 to the hosts at the end of the first quarter.

By now the game had settled into a bit of a rut, with neither side gaining significant advantage through their markedly different playing styles. Against the run of play after half an hour, it was the home side that finally broke clear after a short spell of intense pressure launched by another of Davies' thumping kicks.

The ball was passed wide along the 22 metre line for right wing Phil Smith to round Leon Patnett and score in the corner. The half stuttered to a close with neither side looking as if they were going to trouble the scores further.

The Seasiders finally managed to get their mauling game together at the beginning of the second half, which is an indication of how much they'd struggled to impose themselves on a very committed Pentyrch pack until that point.

However, this time it wasn't to end in a forward drive over the line, as Pentyrch stopped the maul 5 metres short and Ben Morris picked up neatly to set Marc Harries clear to score.

To be fair, that was really about it for the rugby-watching public as the Seasiders tried to turn the screw, but met with determined defence from Pentyrch.

The hosts managed to get into the Penarth half long enough for Davies to drop a good goal and complete the scoring, but the rest of the game was played out in the shadow of the home posts.

The Seasiders simply couldn't turn this pressure into points, in a way that is becoming rather familiar in away fixtures this season. For the fourth time, Penarth have lost by a single score in a game they might very easily have won.

As before, this can't be presented as a failure, just yet another missed opportunity away from home. A storming 100 per cent home record isn't going to get you promoted when only one away league game in five is being won.

This reverse leaves Penarth hanging on to third place in the division by virtue of a vastly superior try count. Blaina have leapfrogged into second place behind pace-setters Newport Saracens by virtue of a 12-0 away win at Old Illtydians, but it's worth remembering that they too lost to Pentyrch at Central Park three weeks ago.

This Saturday, the Seasiders resume their cup run with a fourth round tie at home to Taibach from Division 6 (Central).

The Port Talbot side have been enjoying their own run of form recently, but fell short at home last Saturday, losing 10-27 to Nantymoel. Penarth will be looking to continue the sort of home form that has delivered six successive victories in all competitions and a stunning haul of 228 points.

Penarth: C Cummings, Harries, Brookman (Harding), Carter, Patnett, Miller, Morris, Swaine, Wysocki, Seymour (Glover), Howden, Crothers, Muggeridge, Williams, Bonello.