Seasiders win again, but tougher times may be ahead (From Penarth Times)

Seasiders win again, but tougher times may be ahead

THE SEASIDERS completed their latest win over Dowlais and extended their winning run at the start of this season to five games.

But the storm clouds are gathering as the other contenders begin to flex their muscles.

Taff's Well, in particular, are getting a little difficult to write off as they take over at the top of the table following an 85-5 demolition of Dinas Powys, while Penallta are coming up fast, having disposed of Llandaff North 76-7.

However, it's far too early to start fretting about Penarth's form, so long as they beat all their rivals in due course.

Last Saturday, they welcomed a Dowlais team looking to record their first win in five recent contests and were forced to dig deep to see off a spirited challenge.

In the earlier stages of the game, Dowlais were quicker to the breakdown and moved the ball well among their threequarters.

Fortunately for the Seasiders, the defence held and they were able to set up a good attacking platform; forwards and backs combined to put Chris Reddicliffe over in the corner, only to be called back by referee Keith England for a forward pass.

Penarth were now playing with some style, but just as they were anticipating their first score of the afternoon, the final pass failed to go to hand and the opportunity was missed.

Dowlais, on the other hand, worked the ball away from their goal area to find touch on the 10 -metre line.

This brought pressure up to the home line, where the captain Gareth Williams went over for the first score of the afternoon.

This stung the Seasiders into action and they took the game to Dowlais in their own half. Again the hosts combined in a move that found James Crothers wide on the left wing.

Finding his way blocked, he cut inside and swept aside most of the Dowlais defenders before running around under the posts to score an excellent try, converted by Danny Brookman.

From the re-start, Penarth ran the ball at the visitors once again and a strong run by Mike Clare brought play back into the Dowlais half of the field.

The ball found its way into James Crothers' hands and the left wing dived into the corner for his second try of the afternoon.

With the score at 12-5, the Seasiders began the second half working the ball out from a scrum to Lloyd Davey, who made space and timed his pass well to Ross Olney, running in from 40 metres to score his fifth try of the season with his first touch of the ball.

Penarth upped the tempo of the game and put Dowlais under a lot of pressure, gaining a penalty 30 metres out.

Opting for the lineout, the pack finally produced their favourite driving maul, taking Geraint Evans over to score the home side's 4th try of the afternoon.

Dowlais, still full of spirit, didn't give up, continuously threatening the Penarth line, but the home side held out against a number of attempts to breach their defence.

Coming straight back, great work by Robert Pearce enabled the Seasiders to penetrate deep into the Dowlais half, the ball being moved rapidly from one side of the field to the other and, yet again it was James Crothers on hand to outpace the opposition cover and complete his hat-trick, taking the score to 29-5 with time running out.

At this point, Dowlais finally came back at Penarth strongly and, following a penalty kicked for touch, setting up a series of attacks. The result was a converted try for the visitors under the posts.

Now the contest begins in earnest.

Having been relieved of early fixtures against Taff's Well and Bedlinog through cup commitments, the Seasiders now travel to face the young pretenders.

Last season's Division 5 (SE) champions Penallta have certainly got into their stride and although that win against a clearly struggling Dinas Powys is not, in itself conclusive, they certainly know how to rack the points up and are already the division's leading scorers, with a total of 198 points from their four games.

PENARTH: David Lerway, Lloyd Davey Chris Reddicliffe (Ross Olney) Andrew Edwards James Crothers, Danny Brookman, Chris Mortimer, David Morgan )Brian Higgins) Geraint Evans, Richard Merrett, Jason Allen, Kevin Fitzgerald, Michael Hopkins, Alun Bonello (Robert Pearce), Mike Clare.