Penarth unable to go the distance (From Penarth Times)

Penarth unable to go the distance

Llandaff North 32 Penarth 24

You will have heard of matches that were'a game of two halves'. Last Saturday Penarth and Llandaff North contrived a game of'one half plus two quarters'.

Sadly for Penarth it was the'North' who got the better share. This they achieved by fielding two match winners, skipper and lock Malden and an inside centre from the great Welsh Jones list who had a built in try line homing device. Add to this a lively open style of play when it works which switches to a more streetwise approach at need.

By contrast Penarth had spells of wonderful stuff mixed with loose play that they'll want to forget. There were too many clearance kicks missing touch, passes failing to go to hand or being dropped and ball turned over to the opposition. All of which gifted North with scoring opportunities which they gratefully accepted.

The signs were there from kick off. Penarth looked comfortable enough for five minutes then failed to control loose ball in defence. North took possession and a long pass plus straight running from No. 12 Jones created the gap for hooker Kane to touch down.

It took a further 15 minutes for Penarth to put sufficient phases together to respond. Jason Allen safely collected attacking line out ball and Mike Clare bullocked over the gain line and fed the three quarters who passed across the field twice to create enough space for Dai Carter to cruise in.

Penarth then lost the plot. North saw the need to add something to their running and passing style and proceeded to succeed in a policy of line out and ruck disruption. This produced possession in broken play and resulted in two further tries before half-time, one inevitably for centre, Jones and one for wing Adamson.

North weren't about to change a winning formula and so straight after half time when Penarth dropped the ball again in defence it was seized on and at the end of a 60 metre dash, Jones touched down.

So with 35 minutes remaining Penarth faced a 29-5 deficit and looked well set to be on the wrong end of a hiding. It is to their credit that two of three changes brought a reversal of this trend. The two Penarth changes were the bringing on of Ceri Moorcraft to add cutting edge in the backs plus a sharp and general reduction in the error count. Just as significant was a change from the man in the middle, Mr Neil Morgan of Morristons patience with North at last ran out and his yellow card made an appearance.

Penarth produced a purple patch of 20 minutes which included a magnificent Ceri Moorcraft solo effort when he scythed through the whole North defence. Added to this came further tries from Edwards and Blake. Thus from inevitable defeat Penarth charged back to within five points at 29-24. They were on a roll with a good 15 minutes remaining to finish the job.

At this stage North's street wisdom stood them in good stead and Penarth's impetus was slowed right down. Fresh legs were brought on, although puzzlingly not those of Hemi Taylor who would surely have had fun against a worried defence, but in fact it was North who had the last word with a penalty in the dying minutes.

League action is postponed for the international next weekend and resumes on Saturday 27 at home to Llantwit Major.