PENARTH Hockey Club's 1st XI may have returned from Christmas a few pounds heavier, but remained as hungry for success as ever on their march towards promotion.

Penarth 13 - Lansdown 2

Penarth Hockey Club's 1st XI welcomed Lansdown as the first victim of the New Year as they attempted to maintain their unbeaten start to the De Cymru & The Marches 1 season.

After a four-week break, and in torrential rain, both teams could be forgiven for a sloppy start to the game as they struggled with their touch and control, but it was Penarth that settled first and began to find their rhythm. Jonny Moore, in particular, picked up where he had left off in 2015, putting in some selfless running that eventually created the first goalscoring chance.

Having beaten the defence and found himself one-on-one with the goal-mouth gaping, Moore was sent tumbling by a poor challenge from the Lansdown 'keeper, winning his side a penalty stroke that player-coach Ben Croxall expertly dispatched to make it 1-0 to the hosts.

With the lead adding to their growing confidence, Penarth started to dominate the exchanges, and the introduction of Sam Chick would hammer home the Bears' advantage as he made an immediate impact after three months on the sidelines with a broken elbow. Chick wasted no time in making his presence felt, scoring with his first touch, after some fine work from Croxall on the right, to put the home side two goals up.

Barely two minutes and two Chick touches later - one to control and one to make the pass - David Joyce swept home to make it 3-0, meaning that the returnee had scored and assisted with his first three touches to mark an incredible comeback to the first team fold.

Penarth were now finding the form that saw them finish off 2015 in such strong form, and a goal blitz either side of the half-time interval would blow Lansdown away and see the Vale side break the 100-goal barrier after just 13 games. Moore remained the tormentor-in-chief as his sheer pace tore the away defence to shreds, laying on the goals for his team mates.

Joyce completed a quick fire five to climb the goal-scoring charts, while Laith El Khatib grabbed himself a hat-trick to continue his fine form in front of goal. Chick and Croxall eventually bagged a brace each, while Usman Dhami chipping in with a goal of his own to see Penarth notch up 13 by the final whistle.

The visitors refused to let their heads drop, however, and, perhaps with the home side easing off, rallied late in the game to find the back of the net twice and ruin Penarth’s clean sheet. Despite that, however, Penarth were delighted with their first performance after the winter break, especially with tough games against Swansea City and Cardiff University in a couple of pivotal weeks for their season.

Goalscorers: David Joyce (5), Laith El Khatib (3), Ben Croxall (2), Sam Chick (2), Usman Dhami

Swansea City 5 - Penarth 4

One week after demolishing Lansdown at Stanwell School, the 1st XI were back on their travels for the first away day of 2016 and, true to captain Tom Haran's assessment, the trip to local rivals Swansea City proved to be their their toughest test of the campaign to date.

As impressive as Penarth have been, Swansea also boasted an unbeaten home record, winning seven from seven, and are on a promotion hunt of their own, but it was the visitors who were quickest out of the blocks, opening the scoring with the first attack of the game inside the first couple of minutes.

Once again, it was El-Khatib on the mark, finding space in the final third before making his way into the ‘D’ and lashing an unstoppable shot low past the Swansea 'keeper. Penarth continued to dominate the opening exchanges playing some slick hockey, moving the ball quickly and creating chances, and it wasn’t long before Moore’s pace again started causing problems as he found space behind the Swansea defence and drawing a foul to win the Bears a penalty corner, which was El-Khatib's drag flick sent narrowly wide.

Pushing for a second goal, however, allowed Swansea their own opportunities and it was the home side that would score next goal, albeit in contentious circumstances as aerial ball from the Swansea defence seemed to be safely picked up by Sam Williamson, only for him to be tackled by a Swansea attacker who did not appear to have retreated the required distance before being allowed to engage. Despite protestations, the Swansea player was allowed to dispose Williamson and duly levelled the scores.

By now Swansea’s physical game plan was becoming evident, with one such challenge over-stepping the mark. Defending a Swansea penalty corner, Penarth player-coach Ben Croxall controlled the ball and drew a foul, only to be cynically hacked around his knee from behind after the whistle. The umpire saw it differently and the offender walked away unpunished - only to rub salt into the wound as he then gave Swansea the lead with a straight strike from another penalty corner finding its way past Adam Putt to put the home team 2-1 up.

The game by now was becoming more and and more scrappy as tensions rose, but Penarth kept going, leaving it to the last play of the first half before levelling the scores. Once again, El-Khatib was the man, this time converting a penalty corner with a drag flick high into the top of the net.

The Vale side started the second half brightly and got back to playing some free flowing hockey, creating chances but failing to convert them. Having weathered the early storm, Swansea then struck back, scoring three unanswered goals with some good counter-attacking play.

Despite being in the unfamiliar position of trailing by multiple goals, Penarth refused to lie down and fought back strongly over the remainder of the game. Philip Lane working his trickery in the ‘D’, leaving the Swansea defence with no option but to grab a piggy-back ride to try and stop him and, this time, the umpire pointed to the spot. David Joyce stepped up and showed no nerves as he fired the ball high into the net to give Penarth hope of salvaging something from the afternoon.

With their tails up, Penarth poured men forward in an all-out attack in an effort to get back on level terms, and Joyce pulled the Bears to within one goal as a straight strike from the top of the ‘D’ rifled in the bottom corner to leave the visitors with a five-minute scramble to find an equaliser.

Swansea tried their best to run the clock down, but one more chance would fall Penarth’s way. Joyce again stepped up for the penalty corner and the ball seemed to be heading for the bottom corner only for the 'keeper to pull off a fine save and leave the score at 5-4 to end Penarth’s winning streak and maintain Swansea’s unbeaten home run.

Although disappointed, Penarth enjoyed the battle and challenge that Swansea provided, and will look to learn and improve from the defeat. On another day, Penarth could have won the game - with both Moore and Chris Baker going close on a couple of occasions and Joyce hitting the inside of the post on another - but Swansea converted their chances and were worthy winners on the day.

Goalscorers: David Joyce (2), Laith El-Khatib (2)

Penarth 'B' 3 - Gwent 'B' 1

With the 2nd XI's game at Hawthorn falling foul of a frozen field, the weekend's early focus fell on the 3rds who, having drawn 2-2 earlier in the season, anticipated an equally close encounter against their counterparts from Gwent.

The first half at Stanwell saw the home side establish a 2-0 lead with goals from Paul 'Freddy' Thomas, who beat the Gwent 'keeper following an excellent through ball from Devash Patel, and skipper Nick Pratt, who calmly converted a penalty stroke awarded as a result of fellow forward Sam Salisbury's tenacity and the beleaguered Gwent defences illegal attempts to stop him.

The second half was a more evenly matched affair despite Derek Wooding extending the lead when he scored from an acute angle, much to the Gwent 'keeper's annoyance.

As the visitors struggled to get back into the game, they were additionally frustrated by Penarth's 'man between the sticks', Jason Harris, and the disciplined Bees defence and midfield, which was superbly marshalled by sweeper Simon Wilkinson and with Morgan Salisbury once again outstanding.

Frustrations boiled over on a number of occasions and the umpires were forced to issue a general warning to both skippers but, with time running out, Gwent finally breached the Penarth defence and beat man-of-the-match Harris to score what proved to be little more than a consolation goal.

With local rivals Bridgend drawing with Swansea, only goal difference now keeps the Bees in third place in De Cymru 3, a division dominated by runaway leaders Whitchurch F, who Penarth travel to face this Saturday.

Goalscorers: Paul Thomas, Nick Pratt (pen), Derek Wooding

Weather permitting, all three Penarth Hockey Club sides should in action this weekend, with the 1st XI looking to return to winning ways against a dangerous Cardiff University side and the 2nds also taking on student opposition as they entertain an equally talented Swansea University team in a rematch of a tough early season encounter. With both senior sides at Stanwell School (get down and watch if you're in the vicinity), the 3rd XI will travel to Whitchurch to take on the league leaders.

Penarth Hockey Club always welcomes new, old and returning players, umpires, supporters, friends and helpers regardless of age and ability. Training takes place on Wednesdays at Stanwell School, with the juniors on the pitch between 6.15pm and 7.15pm and the seniors between 7.15pm and 8.15pm.

Anyone interested in joining the club at senior or youth level can contact either player-coach Ben Croxall (b_croxall20@yahoo.co.uk) or club secretary Dave Stevens (d_stevens81@hotmail.co.uk) for further information.