PENARTH faced St Josephs with Penarth winning 34 – 28.

The Seasiders returned to the Athletic Field to face newly-promoted St Joseph’s, with both teams having secured losing bonus points the previous week. A fascinating 80 minutes ensued.

Points weren’t long in coming, as following the opening skirmishes, St Joseph’s worked the ball up to the Penarth 22 and hooker Jack Chadwick simply walked through the defensive line to score under the posts.

St Jo’s kept the pressure on, but Penarth came back quickly, gaining a penalty on half-way. This became a 5m line-out and a smart drive to the line brought a swiftly-awarded penalty try.

The visitors again came back strongly and the Seasiders’ defensive credentials were examined closely. Fortunately, over-ambition got the better of them as scrum-half Fred Rowlands flipped a pass out of the back of his hand, which Penarth full-back Tom Smith plucked out of the air and ran the length of the field to score.

The visitors pulled back three points at the end of a busy first quarter, but James Docherty soon restored the seven-point lead after a controversial incident consigned visiting lock Mark Harrington to the bin.

A match that was never dull was also characterised by sudden bursts of frantic activity and the next was launched by right wing Nathan Palmer, who jinked impressively through the cover on his own 22 before dummying over half-way and throwing a wild pass inside. Rhys Morgan tidied up and took it forwards again, working the ball wide to the opposite corner where Stuart Clarke put James Thatcher in to score.

At 24-10 in the lead, the Seasiders seemed to have everything under control, but things were never going to be as simple as that, as St Joseph’s hit back with two further penalties for a half-time score of 24-18.

The visitors struck again from the kick-off, mauling fully 70m before releasing to the backs. However, scrum-half Rowlands got carried away again, ignoring a three-man overlap in an attempt to score himself. However, from the ensuing scrum, number eight Ieuan Matthews forced his way over and only a fluffed conversion kept Penarth in front at 24-23.

A promising home attack saw Thatcher clean through and he put Tom Luck away, but the big wing was caught on the 22. The visitors surged back into the attack, but referee Carl Hyde, decisive throughout, spotted a serious injury and halted the game in the home 22. A scrum restarted the game after five minutes and replacement prop Calum Wingren barged over the visitors’ fourth try, putting them into a 24-28 lead.

For the first time, Penarth looked vulnerable, but the character of this side shone through as they came back decisively. Clarke secured a line-out on the away 22 and the latest of many St Jo’s infringements yielded another penalty, which was tapped and led to a fierce contest on the line resulting in a try by replacement Geraint Blake.

With more than twenty minutes remaining and the Seasiders leading by a precarious-looking three points, St Josephs camped out in the home 22 for ages, where a combination of stout defence and giving away silly penalties nevertheless prevented a score.

As it turned out, Penarth only needed to break out once. A dodgy-looking box-kick from Morgan caused all sorts of problems for St Josephs and when play moved into the away 22 the visitors conceded a penalty which Docherty converted with seven minutes to go.

With their place-kicker having an off-day, the visitors seemed curiously tentative and put a perfectly kickable penalty to touch. However dangerous they looked, they were always going let Penarth off the hook by giving away penalties and Penarth had the luxury of playing out time in the St Josephs half, holding out for a bonus-point win. The Seasiders head up the Ely Valley next Saturday to face Pontyclun.

PENARTH: Tom Smith, Nathan Palmer, James Thatcher, Rhys Lakin, Tom Luck, James Docherty, Rhys Morgan, Jerome Bryan, Joe Page, Sean O’Sullivan, Mike Clare, Stuart Clarke, James Howells (Alex Thau), Elliot Smith, Matt Sutton (Geraint Blake).

Swalec League Division two (East Central). Saturday September 13

P W D L F A Pts

1 Brecon 2 2 0 0 71 26 9

2 Porth Harlequins 2 2 0 0 50 13 9

3 St Peters 2 2 0 0 61 28 9

4 Fairwater 2 2 0 0 53 31 8

5 CRC Caerdydd 2 1 1 0 65 44 8

6 Pontyclun 2 1 1 0 49 46 7

7 PENARTH 2 1 0 1 50 48 6

8 St Joseph's 2 0 0 2 45 54 2

9 Abercynon 2 0 0 2 38 63 1

10 Gwernyfed 2 0 0 2 23 60 0

11 Pentyrch 2 0 0 2 28 67 0

12 Wattstown 2 0 0 2 8 59 0