Sometimes it just will not come (From Penarth Times)

Sometimes it just will not come

Penarth 7, Brynithel 19

SO THE recent revival in the Seasiders fortunes has been thoroughly tested and we've all got a clearer idea of where we've got to.

Facing one of the leading teams for the second week running, a winnable match was again lost narrowly.

There were some good reasons why not and these were chiefly being given a hard time up front, the line-out not working and turning over far too much ball in the tackle.

Having said all that, Penarth finally gained the upper hand for long periods in the second half and really should have come a lot closer.

Bryn opened with a bit of pressure and a large slice of good fortune as the ball squirted forwards out of a 5 metre scrum.

The Seasiders defence weren't quick enough to prevent visiting scrum half Dean Pitt from dropping on the ball in-goal to put his side ahead after seven minutes.

Penarth came back strongly and engineered an attacking 5 metre line-out, but failed to take the throw.

Bryn were showing little imagination and leaving the work to the Seasiders when they extended their lead against the run of play.

Attacking on the visitors' 10-metre line, Jeremy Griffith threw a suicidal long pass towards his outside centre and Bryn's Dean Simmon intercepted with ease.

The centre was caught under the posts after a 50 metre dash, but released the ball to left wing Gavin Hayes, who took the scoring pass.

Penarth were still on top, in terms of territory and possession, despite the misleading scoreline.

A lengthy spell of pressure apparently ended when Mark Jones was done for not releasing, but Bryn outside half Julian Caple failed to find touch, picking out Brent Muggeridge instead.

The tight-head prop held off the approaching defenders and set off a stirring handling movement involving half the Seasiders team before Scott Pearson rounded off the move in the far corner.

Jeremy Griffith added the extra points from touch before referee Steve Smith rather harshly consigned Dai Carter to the bin for a first offence of 'not 10', following a contentious penalty decision against Ben Morris.

Despite all this, Penarth were able to hold out until half time without conceding any further points.

Their luck didn't hold, as Brynithel finally worked out how to make the one-man advantage count.

Following a 5 metre line-out, blindside flanker Chris Wall went over in the corner for an unconverted try.

The Seasiders were still showing plenty of enthusiasm and were to dominate the remaining half-hour.

The only problem was that the kicking and handling errors that had hampered them for the first half continued to frustrate further progress.

With Bryn living offside, it was essential to keep the ball in hand and this just didn't happen.

David Jones replaced Lloyd Davey, while Geraints Howden was brought on for the increasingly wayward Jeremy Griffith.

The pressure was really beginning to tell as Bryn conceded a string of penalties in front of their goal line.

No yellow cards or penalty tries this time around and the visitors were finally rewarded for their defensive methods with a penalty of their own, allowing them to clear.

This pattern continued for the remainder of the game, with the Seasiders never quite improving on their seven points and Brynithel hanging on by whatever means came to hand.

Ball retention

To counter this, the Seasiders really need to work on their ball retention before the return local derby against Old Penarthians on the weekend.

The neighbours arrive at the Athletic Field on the end of an unenviable run of nine straight defeats, the latest being at the hands of rapidly-improving Pentyrch, who climbed to fourth in the table as a result.

As usual, we can expect current form to be little indication of the likely outcome, although it is now some time since the Old Boys got the better of the senior club. Penarth: Bush, Woodland, Hobbs, M Jones, Davey (D Jones), Griffith (Howden), Morris, Muggeridge, Smart, Penberthy, Pearson, Gunnerson (Glover), Carter, Clare, Bonello.