Festive cheer for Penarth Hockey Club

Penarth 7 - Yate 1

After back-to-back away days with mixed results, Penarth returned to Stanwell with high hopes of maintaining their unbeaten home run into the winter break.

Despite welcoming bottom half Yate to the ‘Bear’s Den’, Penarth were not taking their opponents lightly as they knew the importance of backing up their defeat of league leaders Robinsons to keep pace with their promotion rivals.

Crucially, the home side made a bright start in miserable conditions, only to find a ‘keeper in fine form, rushing off his line on several occasions to deny the team strikers any clear sight at goal.

After the early goal rush of the previous week, Penarth’s expectations had sky-rocketed and the side became unnecessarily impatient when similar success failed to come.

That frustration subsequently affected the Bears’ play and some sloppy possession at the back gifted Yate a simple through ball and tap in to take a surprise lead.

That, however, only served to refocus the Penarth team, and they quickly returned to the simple passing game that had paid dividends during the opening exchanges.

Having settled themselves, the possession would eventually lead to an equaliser, as a robust challenge from captain Tom Haran led to Yate committing the cardinal sin of not playing the whistle, standing like statues as Penarth flew upfield before Tim Urlings finished off with an audacious lob over the out-rushing ‘keeper.

With that, the proverbial floodgates opened, and a second goal blitz in as many weeks blew away their shell-shocked opponents.

At the centre of the onslaught was Ben Croxall, who scored an unbelievable three minute hat-trick, the first stemming from some neat interplay between Haran and Usman Dhami before Croxall was released through the middle, beating the Yate defence before smashing his shot into the bottom corner.

Before Yate could learn their lesson, Croxall had again weaved through the back line and slotted past the exposed ‘keeper, and he would round out his hat-trick by firing a penalty stoke low to the hapless keeper’s right to give Penarth a 4 - 1 lead at the interval.

The Vale side came out for the second half looking to finish the year in style and played some fantastic hockey as the new-look 2016-17 side continued to gel into serious title contenders.

Croxall bagged Penarth’s fifth from a penalty corner before Urlings regained scoring duties to claim his second hat-trick in as many weeks to leave the Bears wondering what might have been had he been available from the beginning of the season as they completed a comfortable 7 - 1 victory.

Going into the four-week hiatus, Penarth sit just two points off top spot in Conference North after a good first half to the season and appear to have hit form at the perfect time, leaving them in a strong position to kick on in the New Year and push for back-to-back promotion.

Goalscorers: Ben Croxall (4), Tim Urlings (3)

Bridgend A 4 - Penarth A 1

The 2nd XI travelled to Bridgend knowing the victor in their match-up would go into the Christmas break in the promotion places, but anticipating another hard-fought encounter with a side that has occupied second spot from the start of the season.

Despite persistent rain dampening the occasion, it was the visitors who started quicker, grabbing an early goal through Sam Salisbury following a defence splitting pass from left half Andrew Hornby.

The strike only seemed to wake Bridgend up, however, and the hosts quickly took the ascendancy, putting pressure on a Penarth defence that allowed themselves to be distracted by some of the umpiring decisions.

Although the back line resisted Bridgend’s pressure for a while, an equaliser looked increasingly likely, and came midway through the half after a penalty corner was recycled long enough to free up players at the far post.

Buoyed by drawing level, the home side took the lead shortly after, again following a penalty corner decision that caused some consternation amongst the defence.

Knowing that their efforts remained at least the equal of their opponents even if things hadn’t gone their way, the second half began with Penarth regaining their earlier dominance and almost all of the possession.

However, luck refused to swap sides, with several efforts going just wide and a series of fantastic saves by the Bridgend ‘keeper ensuring the home side remained ahead.

The Bears continued to feel aggrieved that, despite several infringements in the ‘D’, not a single penalty corner came their way and the lack of set piece opportunities combined with growing frustration to derail the visitors’ effort.

Penarth twice found the back of the net with the score at 2 - 1, only to see both goals ruled out, one for an infringement in the build-up and the other as the ball apparently caught a forward’s foot on its way over the line with the ‘keeper already beaten.

As time ticked away, Penarth pressed increasingly higher up the field in search of at least an equaliser but, with virtually all of the Bears in the Bridgend half, the home side were able to hit them on the counter, breaking at speed and using the accurate passing that had served them well throughout to increase their lead.

Penarth switched to a three-man defence for the final 10 minutes in the hope of conjuring something with an extra man going forward, but were again undone by a Bridgend break to leave the final score at a flattering 4 - 1 to the home side.

The defeat sees the 2nds go into the Christmas break occupying fourth place in De Cymru 1, six points off the promotion places with a tough opening to the New Year next up.

That means that, for the second consecutive season, the Bears know they will need to have an almost perfect final round of fixtures to secure promotion but, having achieved the feat last season, will feel promotion is still a very realistic prospect.

Goalscorer: Sam Salisbury

Swansea City C 1 - Penarth B 7

The Bees made their way to a damp and cold Swansea to take on a less than youthful Swansea City side but, despite having comprehensively beaten the same De Cymru 3 opposition on home soil just a few weeks back, knew that this would be a different proposition.

Penarth started strongly and, having taken the game to their hosts, were a goal to the good in short order. With both Chris McCarthy and Will Romain available for the side, chances on goal were frequent and plentiful, with McCarthy and captain Dave Watkins feasting on the opportunities that came their way.

Meanwhile, the rare counters from the Swansea half were ably dealt with by the robust defence of Simon Wilkinson, Rob Harrison, Freddy Thomas and Richard Cousins.

As a result, goalkeeper Mark Harris was called upon infrequently but, when the door was knocked, there was certainly no room at his inn.

With the visitors reaching the interval with a comfortable lead, captain Watkins’ team talk unsurprisingly focused on keeping a clean sheet while adding more at the other end to pad an already comfortable goal difference ahead of the Christmas break.

The second period, however, proved to be a tighter affair, but Penarth continued to find chinks in the Swansea armour thanks to some expansive play, ably assisted by Dave Thomas and the returning Matt Noble, and the win was sealed well before Swansea bagged a consolation goal.

Amid a four-goal haul for the skipper, and a brace from the influential McCarthy, the highlight of the day was surely the sight of ‘young’ Mark Robinson grabbing a goal – something, rumour has it, that has not been reported this millennium.

Goalscorers: Dave Watkins (4), Chris McCarthy (2), Mark Robinson

Penarth C 0 - Swansea University C 2

The 4th XI ended the first half of their return to action by entertaining their counterparts from Swansea University in a top versus bottom clash in De Cymru 3.

Having held the runaway leaders to a narrow 1 - 0 win in the recent away fixture, and showing a steady improvement in form since then, the main thing the ‘C-siders’ focused on was not getting caught cold and conceding an early goal.

This was achieved with considerable success, as Penarth forced the students onto the back foot, gaining several early penalty corners without being able to convert any into a goal that the quality of their play merited.

With weather conditions at Stanwell steadily worsening, the students came more and more into the game, fighting to at least gain midfield parity against the combative combination of Tom Griffiths, Richard Skone and Nathan Townsend.

Any breakthroughs were ably dealt with by goalkeeper Luke Williams, who again demonstrated that, even at the mid-point of the season, why he is a contender for the 4th XI player and club young player of the year awards.

Steady defence from the rapidly-improving Rhys Meddins and solid Morgan Salisbury ensured goalless parity at the break but, having avoided conceding an early goal at the start of the game, Penarth did exactly the opposite in the early moments of the second half.

The ball was lost too easily in midfield and, without anyone tracking back, the Swansea central midfielder was able to drive unchallenged towards the Penarth ‘D’.

Having drawn one Penarth defender, the ball was slipped to a now unmarked forward whose sharp finish into the far corner gave man-of-the-match Williams no chance.

Despite the setback, the ‘C-siders’ refused to fold, but the exertions of the first half coupled with worsening conditions meant they could make little impact on the younger, fitter students.

The refusal to go quietly, however, meant that the visitors were only able to extend their lead by one goal despite their increasing midfield dominance, and even that strike had a tinge of controversy about it.

The final whistle saw Penarth having to accept a 2 - 0 defeat where, only 35 minutes previously, they were confidently looking at being the first side to take anything from the unbeaten division leaders, and it is testament to the progress being made that the satisfaction of holding their visitors for so long was tinged with disappointment in not getting at least a draw.

The good news was that the 3rd XI’s heavy defeat of their Swansea City rivals meant that the ‘C-Siders’ still moved off the foot of the table, leapfrogging the second city side into fourth place with a very realistic ambition of challenging the men of Gwent for third overall when the campaign resumes in the New Year.

With no league matches scheduled until January, players from all four Penarth sides will come together for the now-traditional ‘Turkeys’ game between under-35 and over-35 sides at Stanwell school (noon start).

The club would also like to take this opportunity to thank all of its supporters – including sponsors, media and those who braved the sidelines throughout the season - for their involvement over the past 12 months and hope that 2017 can prove to be as successful as 2016 has been.

Penarth Hockey Club always welcomes new, old and returning players, umpires, supporters, friends and helpers regardless of age and ability.

When the regular season resumes, training will take place on Wednesdays at Stanwell School, with the juniors on the pitch between 6.15pm and 7.15pm and the seniors between 7.00pm 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.