Seasiders run riot in rout (From Penarth Times)

Seasiders run riot in rout

NOW THIS was much more like it and a fitting Christmas celebration for a side that are beginning to take themselves seriously as promotion contenders.

Penygraig were, as expected, far more competitive than their lowly position suggests, but the Seasiders weren't going to miss out on a chance to improve their try count.

Early indications at Graig Park that the Penarth forwards were getting the upper hand didn't immediately result in points, but after ten minutes, they finally settled into a maul and Peter Bennett was the scorer.

The Penygraig heroics continued as they dug themselves out of a series of holes, but they couldn't stop Chris Mortimer going over in the corner after 22 minutes.

Kevin Fitzgerald took a Penygraig throw at the front of the line and the Seasiders suddenly began to look really classy.

Mike Clare took the ball over half-way and then spotted'Kiwi' Bradshaw wide on the right. The wing briefly sized up the opposition and then coolly accelerated past the lot of them to score in the corner.

The one-sided nature of the affair was starting to emerge as Clare himself spun over after Bennett had cleared the flank, but the score stayed resolutely stuck on 20-0 come half-time, despite a 50 metre break from fullback Steve Roberts.

The second half began slowly as Penygraig applied themselves to their defensive duties to good effect and by the time Geraint Evans and Chris Payne had arrived as replacements fully 15 minutes had passed.

As it was, the substitute hooker crossed with his first touch as Penarth went for the comfort of another irresistible maul.

All the pressure was coming from the Seasiders now and a fine catch by James Docherty from a towering clearance was worked wide to the right wing where Paul Gooding was waiting to do the rest.

So that was six tries without a conversion, which must be some sort of a record, but with 70 minutes gone, Penarth suddenly stopped pussyfooting about and took the game by the scruff of the neck.

In a ten-minute blitz, they almost doubled their score with four storming tries while fresh kicker Andrew Edwards converted the lot.

It all started in familiar fashion as Mike Clare notched up his second from yet another maul and then some delightful short passing set up Steve Roberts to enter the line beautifully, accelerating through a gap and leaving Bradshaw only three defenders to beat on his way to his second try.

Front-row showtime was the next act on the bill as tight-head David Morgan outrageously sidestepped his way through the defence and set up his loose-head partner Richard Merrett for the prop's seventh try of the season.

The final act belonged, incredibly, to the first five-metre scrum of the afternoon, but the bookies weren't taking any bets on the outcome. Mike Clare duly scored his third from a pushover.

Ten tries is a fine reward, but when seven of them come from the forwards, you begin to wonder what's happening to all that possession. The simple answer is that it's still being frittered away in pointless variations and the simple virtues of accurate passing and line-straightening are largely ignored.

Out of a splendid 71 tries scored by the Seasiders so far this season, only 26, a little over a third, have come from the backs.

Three weeks of enforced idleness now follow, with no scheduled fixtures until Saturday, January 7, when Penarth travel to Llandaff North.

The Cardiff club are settled into fifth place, six points behind Penarth. Their recent form has been solid, having, like the Seasiders, won their last five games.

However, the Seasiders won convincingly at the Athletic Field back in September, scoring seven tries in 49-17 rout.

PENARTH:Roberts, Bradshaw, Reddicliffe (Docherty), Edwards, J.Crothers, Brookman, Mortimer, Merrett, P.Bennett (G.Evans), Morgan, Fitzgerald, Gooding, Allen (Taylor), Clare, Bonello (Payne).