Old Penarthians and Penarth RFC battle it out for Boxing Day honours

THE annual Boxing Day fixture between the two rugby teams in Penarth was in doubt for much of the days leading up to the match due to the heavy precipitation experienced by much of Wales and the South West of England.

Thankfully however, most of Christmas Day had been fine, allowing the Cwrt-y-vil pitch to show some signs of grass rather than providing alternative water features for the birds normally residing at Cosmeston Lakes.

Boxing Day did in fact start with a few signs of sunshine although these quickly disappeared. The weather was however clear and a large crowd gathered to see the two teams take to the field only five minutes after the scheduled kick off time.

And it was Penarth who had the better start with their forwards driving the ball into Old Penarthians territory with Scott Mackie, Matt Sutton and Paul Gooding to the fore.

But a mistake from fullback Gareth Welford proved costly on three minutes when his attempt to run the ball out of defence was halted by a good tackle and the arriving Penarth forwards forced Old Penarthians to give away a penalty which allowed Nathan Smith to open the scoring.

From the restart again Penarth pressed forward but good defence organised by Jon Crimp in the threequarters and Joel deClaire up front ensured that little ground was gained.

In fact, after initial closely contested scrummages, the Penarthians' pack started to dominate and the front row of Lee Brennan, Simon Barry and Peter Harry were well on top of their opponents. Coupled with good line out work from deClaire and Langley, it meant that Penarthians started to have more of the ball.

This let Simon Davies dictate the distribution and he managed to get both backs and forwards into the game. Forward runs from Langley, Noel Extragary and Tom Sidford carried the contest to Penarth and with support always at hand from Paul Kemp and Barry, it allowed some room for the threequarters.

Here Crimp dictated the tactics, sometimes bringing the blindside winger James Williams into play but otherwise bringing centres Lloyd Davey and Liam Union into the game.

At this stage Penarth were under considerable pressure and mid way through the half a break to the blind side from a scrum by Davies fed deClaire who found support from Kemp and Langley before passing onto to captain Davey, who still had a lot to do from five metres out but barrelled his way through the defending tackles to score in the corner. The conversion was missed by Crimp but Old Penarthians led by 5 points to 3.

Penarthians then made a couple of their seven permitted substitutions with Steve Roberts replacing Williams and Tony Kemp replacing Harry who sustained a broken nose.

It did not affect the fluency of the team however and Penarthians still dominated the possession but could not get the all important points on the board. It was refreshing however that the backs still tried to attack despite the muddy conditions underfoot and the greasy ball.

One such instance saw a scrum won on their own ten metre line and accurate passes along the threequarters (without miss moves or elaboration) release Charles Gore on a run along the opposite touchline. He managed to break his opposite number’s tackle only for referee Steve Union to call the last pass forward and award a scrum to Penarth.

The marginal decision caused some upset to coach Jeff Norman as he reckoned it was the first time in two seasons that he had seen six passes put together so crisply from first phase, and for that fact alone it deserved a try.

No further points were to come in the first half and the Old Penarthians would rue the territory advantage given to them by the conditions, which mid way through the half had given way to a biting wind and driving rain at their backs.

The second half started with changed personnel on both teams. Penarthians replaced Davies with Rhys Loveliss at scrum half and Dave Roberts for Paul Kemp. It was however the introduction of fresh Penarth forwards Simon Crothers, John Boland and Jason Allen, that was to be the telling factor in the second half.

Their experience together with their added bulk was a great advantage to Penarth in the conditions that were deteriorating as the game progressed. But it was a poor pass from Loveliss after five minutes of the second half that led to a penalty to Penarth.

Smith acted quicker than anyone else and from ten metres from the opposition tryline took a quick tap penalty to Alex Thau who ran over unopposed through a disorganised Penarthians defence. Smith then converted to make the score 10 points to 5.

Ball was now becoming a rarity for the Old Pens and many of their attacks had to be started deep in their own half. This led to rushed decision making and often mistakes but no-one gave up on their effort.

It was however a case of more tackling than carrying and eventually the resolve was broken and a penalty conceded in front of the posts. Penarth recognised the need to push home their advantage and Smith kicked another three points to increase the Penarth lead.

Langley, Sidford and deClaire all tried to make ground and Barry nearly broke clear in a rare excursion into the Penarth half, but the side was not able to capitalise. Danny Godfrey had replaced Extragary by this stage and he took some good line out ball but the scrum was now under constant pressure.

Penarthians never stopped trying against their opposition but a handling error and bad pass after a scrum that was cleanly won by the Penarthians pack allowed James Crothers to pick up the loose ball and score a try that effectively sealed the Penarth victory.

Both teams then made further substitutions with Chris Roberts joining his other two brothers for Old Pens, and Penarth taking full advantage of the referee’s Christmas good will by using slightly more than their allocated number of substitutes.

With time running out and the pitch now more brown than green - particularly at the club house end that had been defended for most of the second half - Gary Power crashed over under a pile of bodies to be awarded a try. With the conversion missed the referee blew for full time for a Penarth victory by 23 points to 5.

Penarthians never stopped trying against their opposition who play in a league two divisions higher than their own, and in the first half Penarthians edged the contest. Crimp, deClaire, Langley and Sidford were outstanding performers during this period in attack and particularly defence but their efforts could not give sufficient lead by the break to make up for the weather conditions in the second half.

The importance of the Penarth forwards in that second period could not be over-estimated and their experience ensured that they controlled the match for long periods, forcing Penarthians to attack from deep and put themselves under pressure.

It was however a hard fought contest that ensured the holiday crowd had a good excuse for a seasonal drink in the company of friends; and if both teams can play with the spirit shown during the match then the sets of followers will surely see some further victories in their respective leagues in 2013.

• On Saturday, January 5, the Old Penarthians first team play host to Abertysswg in a Division 5SE league fixture and the seconds travel to Pentrych also for a league fixture. Both games are scheduled to start at 2.30pm.