10-man Inter Penarth hold out to take all three points (From Penarth Times)

10-man Inter Penarth hold out to take all three points

8:10am Thursday 20th September 2012 in Sport

INTER PENARTH 4 BOROUGH ARMS 3

AFTER last week’s debacle when the home team could only muster 11 players and one old man, due to mainly work commitments but also a reluctance on the part of some second team players, Inter Penarth were back to something resembling full strength.

They were determined to put more points on the board against a big physical Borough Arms outfit who ultimately were unable to cope with the home team's superior pace and skill.

As it turned out, Inter had to show not just these qualities but bags of patience and resilience as the decisions went against them.

It all started brightly as the hosts took the lead after only five minutes when a smart passage of play saw them play the ball out of defence and shift it out to the right flank where Wesley, stepping forward from the right back, swung in an unplayable cross which was met by Pembo, who made no mistake from six yards, heading the ball past the keeper.

This was just a precursor to some crisp play from the home team, who were looking a totally different outfit from the team that struggled last week, with not just the return of Pembo up top, but also Kevin in the middle and Eran at the back, adding much needed experience to a gifted but young back line of Corey, Ryan and Wesley.

In open play, the visitors never got a look in but at set pieces they were causing problems and after an initial corner was dealt with, the next was empathetically buried by one of the Barry team's burly midfielders, giving them brief but ultimately false hope.

In fact it was very brief as shortly after, Ryan brought the ball out from defence before swinging in a perfect cross which was again met by Pembo who notched his second of the game.

Damo and Kevin were ticking over nicely in the middle park allowing Nathan and Bousie on the flanks to see plenty of the ball and this continued into the second half. Allied with Johnny’s irrepressible trickery just behind Pembo, this was proving too much for the travellers and it didn’t take long before the scoring continued when another of Kevin’s determined runs saw him brought down, and a free kick awarded just inside the visitors half.

His quick thinking saw him pick himself up, play the ball to Bousie, get the return and fire home from fully 35 yards with a low hard drive that left the Borough keeper no chance, ensuring the scoreline better reflected Inter's dominance of proceedings.

At 3-1, Inter were seemingly cruising but some debateable decisions by the official restored the visitors' hope, when after a corner they pulled themselves back into the game - only for the hosts to respond in the best possibly way.

From the restart the ball was played out to Corey who sent Bousie away down the left where he played a low centre which was slotted home by Pembo, cool as you like, for his hatrick, bringing his season tally to five in three games.

Anthony came on for Damo, who once again proved his worth in keeping the play ticking over and the momentum was briefly lost in the reshuffle as Wilf was introduced to proceedings for Eran, and it took Inter a while to find their feet.

There was a harsh-looking red card for debutante Anthony, after only ten minutes on the park for his new club. This was followed by a series of corners for the Barry team and the home team defended with their lives until they were punished for an innocuous looking challenge. The resultant penalty, buried empathetically by the travelling striker, was harsh on Iddy in goal who had pulled off a string of outstanding saves in the process of repelling the visitors late surge of pressure.

More corners followed but Inter kept their discipline. There was even time for young Wilf, another newcomer, to show what he could do when he skipped past a lunging tackle only for his shot to be gratefully gathered by the Borough keeper.

4-3 didn’t really reflect the home dominance but the resilience showed when down to ten men will hold them in good stead against better teams.

Thanks to Top House for their continued support.

Squad: Iddy, Corey, Ryan, Eran (Wilf), Wesley, Kevin, Damo (Anthony), Nathan, Bousie, Johnny and Pembo.