Seasiders back in action

10:20am Thursday 11th October 2007

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FOLLOWING a three-week lay-off due to Cwmgwrach's withdrawal from their Konica Minolta preliminary round tie, Penarth re-start their 2007-8 league season with a visit to 11th-placed Tonyrefail this Saturday.

Strictly speaking an Ely Valley derby', this fixture pits the undefeated Seasiders against a team that have managed a single losing bonus point in three outings.

It's just possible that Ton have had a bit of bad luck with the fixtures.

Last time out they lost 32-11 at leaders Bedlinog, while their other two defeats came against Llantwit Fardre and Treorchy.

However, no-one would deny that they struck lucky in their Konica-Minolta cup tie at Division 4 Risca.

With the score on 24-all after extra time, Tonyrefail went through to a 1st round proper tie at home to Builth Wells simply by virtue of being the away team.

Penarth, meanwhile, following their unscheduled walk-over in the preliminary round, welcome Dulais Valley side Seven Sisters from Division 3SW.

Ties scheduled for Saturday, October 27.

There remains a feeling that this Penarth side haven't been properly tested yet this season, but no-one can complain they haven't played what was in front of them with some enthusiasm.

Thirteen tries have been scored out of a total of 80 points over the three games, which is close to last season's promotion average of four per game.

Steve Roberts is lead try scorer, entirely due to his hat-trick against Heol-y-Cyw last time out, but Rhys Blake and Matthew O'Neill are not far behind on two apiece.

All-in-all, they look, if anything, a much more assured outfit than last season's promotion side, with genuine options behind a still-dominant pack.