LAST Saturday, October 18, Old Penarthians played host to local rivals Dinas Powis in a WRU Division Three East Central (A) fixture. The Villagers had started their season well and arrived at Cwrt-y-vil unbeaten, whilst Old Penarthians languished at the other end of the table without a win.

It was therefore always going to be difficult for Penarthians and hopes of an upset were dealt serious blows in the days leading up to the match when a series of injuries and absences meant that a competitive front row could not be fielded. This meant starting the match with passive scrums and without the ability to use substitutes.

A couple of positives however were the return from injury of Dai Roberts and the return from a four year exile of Taz Rossoman. A reshuffled pack also saw centre Rhys Thomas called up to play front row with Gareth Boulton and Paul Langley.

With all the problems it was therefore something of a surprise that Old Penarthians took the lead after five minutes through a Jonathan Crimp penalty awarded for early indiscipline by the Dinas forwards. This was however to be the only success of the afternoon for the Old Pens as the game was dominated by a well organised Dinas Powis team who moved the ball fluently between forwards and three quarters to create many opportunities.

The first success came after 10 minutes when right wing Sean O’Brien scored wide out after some poor tackling. The next score came after a period of attack from Penarthians through Tom Sidford and Danny Godfrey supported by Craig Haines and James Williams but the ball was lost in contact and Dinas broke out from their own half for James Wiltshire to score an unconverted try.

A good restart from Crimp saw the ball travel about 12m and hang in the air but the Dinas forwards gathered without much contest and set up a platform for a quick release to the backs. The ball was moved smartly through hands and Sonny Driscoll touched down for a try. This was the last score of the half and Dinas Powis led 15 points to three.

The Penarthians cause was not helped when Boulton withdrew during the interval having taken a knock late in the first half leaving 14 players to complete the match. The absence of substitutes was however not a problem for Dinas Powis and all their second half try scorers were replacements. Those tries came on three minutes from Lee Imperato, 25 minutes from Rhys Evans and then direct from another kick off, Tom Davies. All of which were converted by David Lloyd. Evans crossed again before the end of the match to make the final score 41 – 3.

It was a very hard afternoon for Lloyd Davey’s team, but credit must be given to the tackling abilities of Mitch Penberthy, Roberts, Thomas and Crimp but above all Mark Sadler who left the pitch battered and bloodied having given everything for the cause. Without those efforts and the lack of focus from some of the Dinas Powis forwards the margin of defeat may well have been heavier.

Next Saturday the first XV are at home again as Cambrian Welfare travel to St Marks Road to play in a second round SWALEC Bowl fixture. Kick off at 2.30pm.