Four wins in a row is icing on Christmas cake (From Penarth Times)

Four wins in a row is icing on Christmas cake

PENARTH Ladies hockey club were in a festive mood as they enjoyed four wins out of four in their last matches before Chris-tmas.

The Firsts played at home on both Saturday and Sunday last week in the league and the cup. Saturday's fixture saw them take on Swansea and, having scraped a 2-1 victory away earlier in the season, they wasted no time in stamping their authority on the home fixture.

From the whistle, the Seasiders were passing the ball around with confidence, creating one-twos that the Swansea players couldn't cope with. This meant that the home side enjoyed the majority of possession and territory, which was converted into a goal after ten minutes when Heulwen Simm fired home from a short corner.

Five minutes later, Kate Morgan finished off a superb move that started in midfield. She later secured her brace when Simm's turn and shoot was saved but Morgan pounced on the rebound.

The visitors came out for the second half determined to reduce the 3-0 deficit and were soon in the Penarth D, though nothing they could produce was too good for keeper Angela Ninian.

Despite their lead, the Seasiders didn't let their form drop and when Morgan's diagonal ball from the half-way line found Simm in the D, she wasted no time in blasting it past the keeper from a wide angle.

The icing on the cake came for Penarth when Leah Powell attacked on the right and timed her cross to perfection for Rachel Baker to sweep the ball over the keeper and seal the home side's 5-0 victory.

On Sunday, the Firsts had a tough and exciting second-round cup tie against UWIC 1sts. Penarth enjoyed slightly more possession, but the students looked dangerous on the break.

Twenty minutes in, the deadlock was finally broken when Caryl James ran on to Diana Pugh's through ball and, after her shot was saved, dribbled past two defenders and the keeper to score. Unfortunately, this lead couldn't be maintained to half time and the visitors scored from a corner to make it 1-1 at the break.

In the second half, UWIC were awarded another short corner goal,: 2-1 for UWIC.

This rattled Penarth and there was a frantic ten minutes before the Seasiders settled back into their game and scored from a short corner. Rachel Baker hit a great strike and James was on hand at the right post to deflect it home.

At 2-2, with just five minutes to go and the prospect of extra time looming, the intensity increased even further and the tackles were flying in.

Cat Morton especially dealt superbly with the UWIC onslaught down the left wing. Then Pugh collected near halfway, drove towards the D and laid the ball off to Bridget Radice, who neatly pushed it past the keeper to give Penarth a 3-2 lead and victory.

SECONDS

The Seconds were also at home on Saturday, but didn't face quite such intense opposition as Cwmbran could only field a side of eight. As expected, Penarth dominated the match and were 4-0 to the good at half time thanks to goals from Kirsten Tedder in her return match, Jess, Leah Powell and Bronia Bendall.

In the second half, the home side found it difficult to be clinical against such a small side, though the Cwmbran players didn't stop running and attacking when they could. Jess found the backboard again with five minutes to go, so Penarth finished 5-0 on top.

THIRDS

After doubts as to whether they would field a full side, the Thirds travelled to Swansea University 2nds with a bare eleven, many of whom had only played once or twice this season.

However, the whole team played with Penarth spirit and had taken the lead after just five minutes when Layla Isles stopped and struck the backboard on the Seasiders' first short corner. This was soon doubled when Penarth attacked again with some superb passing through midfield and then the forwards and Katie finished off the move.

The visitors held on to the 2-0 lead going into half-time, thanks to some excellent composed play from keeper Roseanne, who managed to claim the ball cleanly from three attacking Swansea players.

With five minutes to go, the students pulled back a goal, but the Penarth team spirit came to the fore as they cancelled out the goal: Noreen fired a free hit outside the D across the goalmouth and Katie deflected home and give the Seasiders a 3-1 victory.

There are no more outdoor matches until January, when Penarth will also be fielding an indoor team.