Strong display from Old Boys (From Penarth Times)

Strong display from Old Boys

The fielding of three sides at the weekend was a breath of fresh air to the Old Penarthians and, even though the results were not as might have been hoped, it produced a buoyant atmosphere within the club.

For the Firsts, the victory over fellow strugglers Canton was the first league success achieved since the opening day of the season and, although there was little comfort to emerge from the overwhelming defeat suffered by the Seconds at home to Barry, the Thirds will have seen their narrow reverse, suffered at the hands of Dinas Powys, as ideal preparation for the December 27 outing against the Veterans of Penarth RFC.

The Division 5 South East clash was held at Cwrt-y-Vil saw the Old Boys recall veterans Mark Bow and Peter Goodfellow to take control of the half back partnership that has lacked stability in too many matches this term.

The visitors, took the lead after only four minutes with a try from centre Richie Kemble. The conversion should have been a mere formality but Peter Goodfellow successfully charged down the casual attempt from scrum half Ross Powell. Fortunately, the response was immediate. A penalty followed from the restart and the surprise decision to opt for a tap rather than to kick at goal paid off when centre Adrian Ball finished off an unconverted touchdown on the right.

Peter Goodfellow's neatly-placed kick and chase saw Mark Smart quickly in pursuit in the 21st minute and Nigel Boucher's pass put winger Tim Broome away on the right for a good try wide out that put the hosts ahead for the first time. That lead was shortened soon after when Ross Powell landed a penalty but the Old Boys asserted themselves somewhat before the break when Mark Bow sprinted clear for the score that put the side 15-8 ahead at the break.

This should have put the hosts in confident mood during the second session but a loss of discipline was to cost the Penarthians.

Nevertheless, the forwards did produce some sound work at the set scrums where Gareth Shaw, Lee Brennan, and Malcolm Penberthy remained in control of the action while Scott Pearson and Tony Kemp secured fine possession from the lineout. There was good work, too, from back row forwards Mark Smart, Matthew Turner, and Steve Dobson.

While the experience of Mark Bow and Peter Goodfellow was always in evidence behind, the play of the backs tended towards the lateral, enabling Canton to nullify any potential danger until an excellent break from replacement centre Steven Roberts to race clear on the left for an excellent score that was converted by Nigel Edmunds to make the final score 22-8 in favour of the Old Boys.

Cwrt-y-vil's adjacent pitch was, however, the scene of less favourable action as the Old Boys hosted a postponed league match against local rivals Barry. The visitors proved themselves to be a competent outfit with far too much skill for a Penarthians line-up that looked decidedly makeshift and offered little in the way of competitive opposition. As a consequence, there were few home quibbles as Barry eased themselves to a 50-0 victory that was a true reflection of their superiority on the day.

Robert Crimp's veterans made the short trip to Dinas Powys for their latest battle with neighbouring rivals and, on this occasion, found a strong Dinas Powys outfit too hot to handle and were forced into second place as the hosts produced an excellent display to win by 22-15.

Dinas Powys possessed match winners in the form of Eamonn Holland and Phil Young, both of whom were responsible for the tries.

Nevertheless, the Old Boys were delighted that Phil Davies lasted a whole game up front where Richard Smith was in superb back row form while, behind the scrum, Mark Lloyd caught the eye with some deft - and occasionally daft - touches at centre.

Richard Kynaston and Neil Pugh were the try scorers for the Old Boys while Mike Goldsworthy completed the tally with his contribution of a conversion and a penalty goal.