Seasiders stroll to a fine victory (From Penarth Times)

Seasiders stroll to a fine victory

Taff's Well 10 Penarth 49

WHOEVER gains promotion from Div 4 (SE) this year, they'll have to fight the Seasiders all the way for it.

Fifth-placed Taff's Well fancied their chances at Maes Gwyn Park and although the skies were overcast with a possible threat of rain, the playing surface was in superb condition.

The Penarth back row were quick to halt a threatening early move from the home side and walked the maul in typical style to a scrum 10 metres from the home side's try line.

Andrew Edwards moved the ball around the blindside for James Crothers to score the first try of the afternoon, converted by Danny Brookman.

From the re-start Penarth soon regained possession and put together a move in which the ball passed through at least 10 players' hands, the final pass adjudged forward to deny James Crothers his second try of the afternoon.

Further pressure by the visitors resulted in two penalties, both converted by Danny Brookman, followed by a typical forward drive and try from Mike Clare that took Penarth 18 points clear after 25 minutes.

The best try of the afternoon came from the restart following Mike Clare's try, the ball collected by Paul Gooding, passed to Mike Clare on the burst who drove into the Taff's Well half before releasing Geraint Evans.

The speedy hooker outpaced the covering defence to score from fully 40 metres, leaving Penarth 25-0 up at half time.

The second half started with Penarth again applying pressure in the home 22 and Taff's Well blindside A Bonnetto was red-carded for stamping. The penalty yielded a lineout which the Seasiders mauled to the line where Mike Clare notched up his second try of the afternoon.

The hosts at last got into the game when they gained possession close to the Penarth line, and with some clever interplay between their forwards, centre Kevin Dodd scored their first try.

Taff's Well continued to dominate proceedings for a while and again scored a try following a breakdown by the Penarth backs' attempt to move the ball out of defence.

But the Seasiders soon decided that enough was enough and got their act together once again to dominate the remainder of the game.

Away supporters were entertained by a number of intricate passing moves with forwards and backs combining well.

The seven-man home pack worked hard at stemming the tide, but eventually succumbed to Penarth's intense forward power when Dai Williams took possession and drove over for a try.

From the kick-off Jason Alien set up Mike Clare to drive into the heart of the home defence, gaining 30 metres.

The play again moved through eight pairs of hands before the ball finally reached Danny Brookman who cleverly kicked ahead to beat the covering defence to the touch down, the conversion bringing his personal tally to 19 points.

Ceri Moorcraft was last on the scoresheet, racing in to pick up and drive through three players to sprint 40 metres to score under the posts.

The Seasiders now have to wait three weeks before a trip to ninth-placed Dowlais allows them to pick up the challenge again.

No doubt about it: the force is with them this time.

PENARTH: Davey, Moorcraft, G Blake, Carter, J Crothers, Brookman, Edwards, Morgan, Evans Bennett, Seymour, S Crothers Ball, Gooding Alien, Taylor, Clare, Williams