WHILE Penarth Hockey Club continues to press for promotion on three fronts, centre stage last weekend was occupied by the 4th XI, who continued their return to competition with a first win since reforming at the start of the season.

Penarth C 2 - Swansea City C 0

The first meeting between the respective Penarth and Swansea 4th XIs had resulted in a heavy defeat for the Vale side, but a very different prospect faced the visitors as they arrived at Stanwell School for a late Saturday return match.

Penarth’s C-siders have shown great improvement in recent weeks, and the addition of newcomer Ifty Khan adding a little skill and guile to the gritty determination the team had already put in place over the opening weeks of their maiden GoCrea8 League campaign.

With youngsters Tom Griffiths and Rhys Meddins featuring prominently, Penarth started brightly and caused the visitors early problems, but it wasn’t until midway through the opening half that they were rewarded with a goal.

Once again, a well-worked penalty corner routine led to skipper Nick Pratt finding the net, this time with a precise finish across the ‘keeper and into the far corner of the goal.

The single goal continued to separate the sides through to the interval as the sides proved equally matched, but the second half began with the more experienced Swansea side pressing hard for an equaliser.

Rookie goalkeeper Luke Williams had to be at his very best to deny the visitors on a number of occasions as Penarth struggled to reorganise following injury to defensive lynchpin Roger Griffiths but, perhaps inspired by the man-of-the-match heroics between the posts, the revival proved short-lived as Tom Griffiths, Adam Morse and Derek Wooding wrested control of midfield, pushing the Penarth side forward in search of the second goal that would make the game safe.

The Swansea ‘keeper was also on form, producing several stunning saves to deny Pratt, Wooding and the rampaging Mark Sawyer, but the latter was not to be denied and, after some sustained pressure, finally broke the visitors’ resistance with a smart finish, pouncing on the rebound after yet another good save had denied his first attempt.

In the gathering gloom and plummeting temperature, cramp and tiredness saw both sides appear to settle on what they had as the game finished with few scoring chances at either end.

With a two goal cushion, the C-siders ran out comfortable winners, claiming a first victory in more than 20 years following the team’s resurrection at the start of the season.

The win was also enough to lift Penarth above their opponents on goal difference, dropping Swansea to the foot of De Cymru 3 as the home side now prepares for a second intra-club showdown against promotion-chasing Penarth B this weekend.

Goalscorers: Nick Pratt, Marc Sawyer

Penarth A 2 - Neath 0

Ahead of the 4th XI game, Penarth’s A team faced their toughest test since embarking on a four-game winning streak as they welcomed an unpredictable Neath side to Stanwell.

The visitors, a rare 1st XI in De Cymru 1, sat just three points behind Penarth before pushback and the Bears knew that they needed to double that advantage if they were to keep pace with the top two in the division and remain in the hunt for a second successive promotion.

The opening exchanges were cagey with both teams looking to gain the ascendancy but, after a scrappy first 10 minutes, Penarth slowly started to dominate possession.

Despite the home side pushing for the opening goal, however, a stout Neath defence made chances hard to come by, requiring a bit of individual brilliance to make the breakthrough.

The returning James Kidby duly supplied the spark, beating two defenders and drawing the ‘keeper before squaring the ball to Tom Parkinson, who netted his first goal of the season.

The remainder of the half saw Penarth dominate but fail to create any clear cut chances, leading to a familiar half-time reminder that the next goal would be crucial, especially as Neath continued to pose a threat on the break.

Spurred on, the Bears started the second period on the front foot, with wing backs Dave Stevens and Andrew Hornby pushing high and providing some excellent crosses which the attackers couldn’t quite finish.

As the Vale side grew in confidence, however, the chances started to flow, with Phil Lane and Jack Jopson both testing the Neath ‘keeper early in the half.

Sam Docherty even had the ball in the back of the net, only for his shot-come-cross to be ruled out as the ball was struck outside the ‘D’.

For all of Penarth’s dominance, Neath remained dangerous on the break, but some excellent tackling from Jamie Davison and Craig Llewellyn thwarted most attacks and, when Neath did get a shot away, goalkeeper Adam Putt was up to the task, making several good saves to keep the Bears a goal ahead.

The decisive second goal finally came midway through the half, again as the result of a moment of brilliance, this time from Richard Baker, who dispossessed a Neath defender deep in the visitors’ 25 before providing a pinpoint cross for Kidby to deflect home, diving full stretch at the far post.

As Neath pushed to get back into the game, Penarth created further clear cut chances, but some excellent goalkeeping and poor decision making in the final third saw any addition to the lead go begging, with the game ending 2 - 0 as the Bears extended their streak to five games.

Goalscorers: Tom Parkinson, James Kidby

Penarth B 4 - Gwent B 1

The 3rd XI were also in action at Stanwell, kicking off the afternoon’s action by playing their second game against the young but skilful Gwent side who pushed them close in their first meeting.

Penarth started the better and dominated possession and territory for the first 20 minutes, but couldn't find the opening goal until a deflected Dave Watkins shot pass eventually gave them the lead.

The slightly fortunate breakthrough was followed relatively quickly by a second goal as Paul Thomas, having been supplied by some good work from Sam Salisbury, finished clinically, picking up on the rebound after his first shot was blocked by a Gwent defender.

The Bears, despite being caught by a few quick Gwent breaks, seemed likely to go into the interval with a two goal lead, but were pegged back before the whistle as a wayward penalty corner was inadvertently deflected over a helpless Mark Harris by the flailing stick of defender Rob Harrison.

Despite being only one goal up at half-time, Penarth remained satisfied with their opening period performance, and expected more of the same after the restart.

With the solid midfield pairing of Mark Robinson and the combative Nathan Townsend stopping any real Gwent attacks, and the few that got through being cleaned up expertly by the defensive combination of Simon Wilkinson and James Davies, the home side looked the more likely to score, even if clear cut chances were hard to come by.

Significant territorial possession resulted in a string of penalty corners for the home side and, despite the set piece remaining one of the weakest parts of Penarth’s game, Dave Thomas eventually managed to force the ball home with a flick into the bottom corner to double the Bears’ advantage.

The game was finally wrapped up by a well taken Sam Salisbury strike to make the final score 4 - 1, a result which keeps Penarth well clear in the second promotion spot in De Cymru 3.

Goalscorers: Dave Watkins, Paul Thomas, Dave Thomas, Sam Salisbury

Firebrands A 4 - Penarth 3

The 1st XI slipped to a late defeat against West Country rivals Firebrands in a top four encounter in Conference North.

All four Penarth sides will be in league action this weekend, with the 1st XI again the only team on their travels as they head east to take on Conference North leaders Robinsons. The 2nds will look to continue their winning streak as they welcome Swansea University to Stanwell (2pm start), while the B and C teams renew their revived rivalry in a second meeting of the season (3.30pm start).

The previous weekend’s unbeaten senior record was embellished further by a promising performance from the club’s under-11 section at Pencoed.

A blend of experienced and novice youngsters took on teams from Bridgend, Swansea, Gwent and Whitchurch on Sunday morning, with Louis Carver acting as kicking back and Lucas Perez anchoring the defence in an opening scoreless draw against Gwent A.

The second game saw the team go down 1 - 0 to hosts Bridgend despite the best efforts of Perez as kicking back and narrow misses from Harry Davies and Tommy Bryant at the other end, but the Cubs bounced back in their third game, as Davies produced the winner to reward the efforts of Joe Casey between the sticks.

Casey remained as kicking back for Penarth’s fourth game, which saw them draw 1 - 1 with a strong Whitchurch side thanks to a goal from Tommy Bryant, and the sharpshooter was on the scoresheet twice more in the penultimate game of a packed morning, this time as the Cubs ran out 2 - 0 winners against Gwent B with Perez keeping a clean sheet as kicking back.

The final game was a typically close encounter with Swansea A that saw Penarth come out on the wrong end of a five-goal thriller.

The Cubs’ goals came from Davies and Toby Collins, while Casey performed well as the last line of defence, despite the scoreline.

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 7pm and 8.15pm.

Anyone interested in joining the club at senior or youth level can contact club secretary Dave Stevens (d_stevens81@hotmail.co.uk) for further information.