Penarth Star in Wars against Bryncethin and come out as victors.

PENARTH Rugby Club's Under-16s took on Bryncethin in the mud to emerge victorious in this error strewn, sometimes feisty affair.

After a late pitch inspection, combined with Dave Swain stepping in as referee, the under-16s were the only match to brave the elements on a pitch that was easily playable but heavy underfoot.

With a bare 15 players available, Penarth had a number of players in unconventional positions against a team with five keen substitutes to use. Penarth took it to the opposition in the first 10 minutes and were unlucky not score after a series of well controlled forward pod drives by Niall, Alex, Geraint and Ben Evans, that were held up over the try line.

The Bryn defence did well to contain them and stop any scores including a narrowly missed penalty kick by Joe.

From a five man lineout marshalled well by Tom G, Geraint and Niall, the backs went deep into Bryn territory and from the resulting ruck Joe fed Tom Jones at speed in the centre of the field who didn't need to be asked twice and ran hard at the posts, beating would-be tacklers to score, Ben duly converted, 7 – 0.

Bryn's came back from the restart and used their bulky centres to their advantage, showing up well in attack and defence. From one such backline play their 13 hit the line at speed and shrugged off two tackles to score under the posts, conversion missed, 7 -5.

Gruff, combined well between forwards and backs, putting the Bryn defence under pressure, with Joe, Ben and Morgan running the shots behind the scrum. Penarth's defence stood firm and from one Bryn attack on half-way ,Morgan, having been a nuisance in recent games, benefitted from his defensive pressure to gain another tell tale interception and sprint 40 metres to dive and score and keep his nickname of “the interceptor”, Joe converted, 14-5 at half-time.

The second half saw Penarth continue without Josh on the wing after injuring his thigh, meaning both teams were reduced to 14.

Penarth pressurised Bryn whenever possible and went close with a number of attacking attempts by Joe, Ben Jones and Dan.

Bryn gave away a penalty for offside, which Joe kicked to keep the Penarth scoreboard ticking over.

With the sound of protestations from the Penarth parents who wanted a running game to liven their Sunday morning, Joe slotted the kick coolly to make the score, 17-5. Bryn did manage another score through their number eight who burst from the back of a five metre scrum to score and keep Bryn in the game at 17-10.

After a series of powerful exchanges and silly penalties by both sides, referee Swain had had enough and decided to send three players to the bin, two from Bryncethin and one from Penarth. They would miss the last eight minutes of play.

Penarth stuck with their game plan and from continued team pressure by backs and forwards caused another handling error which Morgan swooped on to dribble and dive on from 20 metres out, Joe converted once more to make the final score 24-10.

Morgan was duly crowned “dame of the game” for his great defence and brace of individual tries. Well done to all 15 players involved, showing the new players can step up and fill the boots of any unavailable regulars, combined with reassurance and leadership from hardened regulars to play well as a team.

Thanks to Dave Swain for refereeing, the Bryncethin players and coaches for making this a valuable fixture after many matches postponed recently and to the Penarth team sponsors of David Baker estate agents, PDS bulk liquids, South Wales wood recycling, Prohealth and Nutrition, Cabit and Cornerswell Carpets.

Squad – Geraint, Tom G, Niall, Alex, Ben Evans, Kris, Dan, Tom J, Gruff, Joe, Ben Jones, Morgan, Jack, Josh and Luc.