Penarth lose by a single goal - again (From Penarth Times)

Penarth lose by a single goal - again

PENARTH Lacrosse Club's cup run ended in the semi-final when old rivals Spencer fought them all the way for a one-goal victory margin.

Back in November, these two Division 2 sides met in a fiercely contested league fixture, which ended 6-6 after Spencer made a magnificent recovery to come back from 6-3 down going into the last quarter.

The Flags semi-finals draw produced a rematch and it was as closely fought as the league encounter with Spencer edging their South Wales hosts by the odd goal in 13.

Penarth have suffered no less than three defeats by a single goal since the Christmas break - results which have cost them dearly as promotion and Flags silverware elude them.

It was nearly halfway through the opening period before Spencer broke the deadlock, which they followed soon after with a second superbly-worked goal, finished from an acute angle by Pete Duckworth to go into the break with a 2-0 lead.

Penarth were not without their chances, as Gareth Bolderson, Will Barrett and Rod Stanford all found space to shoot but failed to trouble Colin Byrne in the Spencer goal.

The visitors extended their lead to three before Rod Stanford pulled one back. Spencer withstood Penarth pressure well, and increased their lead.

In the second half Penarth regrouped and Barrett scored two excellent goals. Spencer responded well, capitalising on a man-up situation to push their lead out to two, for a score of 5-3 at the three-quarter break.

The Welsh side got the perfect start after Stanford drew half of the Spencer defence before floating a pass over the top to an unmarked Barrett who completed his hat-trick.

Penarth laid siege to the Spencer goal but Byrne was resolute between the pipes until failing to hold on to a shot from Penarth captain Matt Wills, allowing Andy Morgan the easiest of finishes to pull the teams level.

The breakthrough finally came when Gareth Bolderson, denied all afternoon by Byrne, finally found a way through to continue his astonishing record of having scored in every single Penarth fixture this season and take the home side within a whisker of the Flags final.

With 12 minutes remaining, Penarth allowed the visitors back into the game which they exploited fully, scoring twice in quick succession to retake the lead and undo all the hard work Penarth had done since the half time break.

For the final minutes, Penarth continued to huff and puff but could find no way through the visitor's stern backline.

And despite a man advantage for the last 45 seconds of the game, Bolderson's last-gasp effort rebounded off a brave Spencer defender throwing his body in the line of fire to deny the hosts, and send the rapturous London side through to the final.