Penarth RFC U12s do the double over Gloucester teams!

The tour, which left Penarth last Friday in a convoy of cars, saw a total of 71 players, parents and siblings travel to the Barnwood area of Gloucester, where they took on local sides at Longlevens RFC and Chosen Hill RFC.

Following a long briefing in the Wheatstone Inn on the Friday evening, the players were up bright and early on Saturday morning to travel the short distance to hosts Longlevens RFC.

With a kick off time of 11am the squad were prepared for the game by coaches Steve Harmes and Matthew Savory, and a sharp team talk by coach Simon Rees and Captain Matthew Holder.

From the start, the Penarth boys were obviously physically bigger than the opposing team and immediately announced their presence on the opposition when after only 2 minutes, No 8 Callum Smith broke from the rear of a ruck and forced his way over the Longlevens line to open the scoring.

From the early shock of the opening score the Longlevens boys didn't quite know how to handle the large wave of blue shirts running at them and despite brave efforts to hold back the Penarth pack, soon after the restart the ball was worked to wing Che Pomphrey who using his speed, outflanked his opposite number to sprint in under the Longlevens posts to make the score 10-0 after only 4 minutes.

From the restart, the Longlevens forwards tried to drive the ball on into the Penarth backs, but great defence by the back line of James Humpage, Ellis Vandyck, Owen Rees and Tom McCarthy stopped the Longlevens boys in their tracks.

It was centre Vandyck who added to the scoreline after 12 minutes of the game when a nicely moved ball from the forwards allowed the centre to run over for Penarth's third try of the game, making the score 15-0.

Again from the restart the Penarth forwards, through props Holder, Jake Weston and Clayton Thompson worked the ball up into the opposition's 22 and after some effort, the ball was worked to lock forward Cenghizan Ziaeddin who forced his way over the line to score.

With centre Rees managing to slot his first conversion of the day, the score moved on to 22-0 after 18 minutes of the game.

The Penarth boys had one more try in them before half time when good inside work by lock Richard Evans supported by flanker Rhodri Harmes and scrum half Chad Travis worked the ball from a maul to team mate Mike Silva who sneaked in to score a short range try, making the score 27-0.

With the conversion again being slotted over by centre Rees, the half time score was 29-0.

At half time, it gave the opportunity for the Penarth coaches to get all the Penarth squad on to the pitch, and with replacements Tom Legge and Danny Parselle coming on at scrum half and Danny Wooster to the wing, they saw the Penarth boys start to move the ball wide and use the pace of the backs whilst the bigger forwards were off the pitch. Following more good movement by the forwards, after 45 minutes, Penarth struck again through centre Owen Rees when he took the ball at full speed and crashed over in the corner to take the score on to 34-0.

By this time the Longlevens boys were well beaten and at the request of the coaches they introduced the kicking game from the hand that the English teams play, and the ball was seen on several occasions being cleared from the Longlevens line down the pitch.

Despite several attempts to kick their way out of trouble Longlevens were unable to answer to the sheer skills and size of the Penarth team, and again following good attacking play, wing Danny Wooster managed to turn his opposite number inside and then out and score under the Longlevens posts to make the score 39-0.

Despite another try by Penarth lock Ziaeddin, Longlevens, although well beaten, never gave up and showed great spirit to pick up a loose ball from the Penarth backs to run away and score under the Penarth posts in the dying minutes of the game.

The final score on the first day of the tour was 46-7.

Coaches from Longlevens were very kind in their remarks after the game about the skill level and strength of the Penarth boys, and following a presentation to the Longlevens head coach of a Penarth club tie and club hoodie to the Longlevens captain, the Penarth boys and parents were invited to stay on to watch the Cardiff v Gloucester EDF final.

Having thanked our hosts at Longlevens who treated both the team and all travelling parents with great warmth, the touring party returned to their hotel before all attending the local ten pin bowling to take part in the 'Will Vandyck' challenge cup.

The cup, in its second year, is a sought after trophy from the 'king of ten pin' Vandyck, with this year's prize of the Barrister cleaning the boots of any player from the team that dared to beat his score on the night.

Monitored by coach Rees and ably assisted by captain Holders parents Mark and Nicola, Vandyck managed to hit the heights during his second game when after a boost of energy from a soggy cheese burger, he was able to pull away from the hapless touring team winning overall command of the games.

Despite some exquisite dancing from parents Chris Travis and Steve Jones and a record breaking low score from Andy Clarke (a total of 14 pins during one game) the touring parents managed to reach the hotel at the end of the night.

Sunday saw the boys up again bright and early before travelling on to the second game of the tour against one of the top teams in Gloucester, Chosen Hill RFC.

Chosen Hill RFC under 12s had a reputation for being a well drilled side and had won the local district cup only 3 weeks earlier. The Penarth boys therefore, knew they were in for a tough battle last Sunday morning.

And so it was, when from the kick off, the Chosen Hill boys drove hard into a very weary Penarth eight who perhaps wished they hadn't had stayed up until after midnight the night before.

The forwards, supported by scrum half Danny Parselle defended well despite immense pressure and rather against play saw the ball spun out to Penarth wing Che Pomphrey who with space around him, managed to use his speed to outpace the backs to open the scoring at 5-0.

The Chosen Hill boys were up for the battle and with tremendous rucking and driving play moved play into the Penarth 22 after 12 minutes. Despite great efforts to clear his lines outside half Humpage managed to only clear beyond his 22 and with several key tackles missed by the Penarth players, the Chosen Hill forwards drove into the Penarth 22 and spun the ball wide for their centre to score to make the scores level at 5-5.

Having been spoken to behind the posts by coach Rees and given lots of encouragement, the Penarth boys dug in and started to battle back moving the play into the Chosen Hill half, and yet again wing Pomphrey having been given well worked ball from locks Ziaeddin and Richard Evans managed once more to break free from his opposite number and score under the posts.

Humpage converted and the score remained 12-5 at half time.

Once more coaches Harmes and Savory were able to introduce more squad players during the second half which saw Dafydd George come on into the centre, Callum Hughes into the full back position and Brad O'Loughlin on the wing.

With Morgan Clarke doing an admirable job at prop and hooker and Jacob Frost coming on at flanker, the Penarth team started to dominate play, and despite having most of the territory during the second half, only managed to crack the Chosen Hill line after 52 minutes, when yet again wing Pomphrey was put into the clear by his team mates to sprint in and score under the posts. With the conversion made by Owen Rees playing at outside half, the score moved on to 19-5.

One of the last plays of the game saw the Penarth forwards again thrust towards the Chosen Hill line through Penarth lock Sion Jones and despite desperate defensive tackling by the opposition, it was Penarth captain Matthew Holder who took the ball and crashed over the Chosen Hill line in what was a well deserved try from a boy who had led from the front throughout the tour.

It was a brilliant way to end the match and the tour with the final score, Penarth 24 Chosen Hill 7.

Coach Simon Rees said: "We would like to thank Longleven and Chosen Hill for a very warm reception and their hospitality during this weekend.

"The team achieved two great results against very good opposition from Gloucester, and all the coaches and parents are extremely proud of not only the way they conducted themselves on the field of play but also off it.

"This has been the most successful season for the Under 12s, which has been achieved through hard work and dedication, well done to all the boys."

Penarth squad: Matthew Holder (C), Clayton Thompson, Jake Weston, Richard Evans, Cenghizan Ziaeddin, Rhodri Harmes, Mike Silva, Callum Smith, Chad Travis, James Humpage, Ellis Vandyck, Owen Rees, Che Pomphrey, Dafydd George, Tom McCarthy, Danny Parselle, Tom Legge, Morgan Clarke, Danny Wooster, Callum Hughes, Iwan Thomas, Brad O'Loughlin, Rhys Savory, Sion Jones.