Penarth Win in the Sun at Nelson

Penarth U15s travelled to the new pastures of Nelson RFC to compete on a sticky pitch in the November sunshine. Hoping to get rid of the bad taste from last week at Cowbridge the Penarth team gained a dream start after receiving the kickoff and completing 2 rucks for Tom Bastereau Jones to pop up in the inside centre position and bust through 3 tackles then broke the fullback's ankles with a devastating side step to score under the posts, Ben converted, 0 - 7. The game settled into a rhythm of forward exchanges that went nowhere, while the backs both ran well in sticky conditions, fed well by Gruff, trying some new combinations and running lines. The Nelson backs looked more dangerous early on, especially there outside centre, and managed to gain a good field position for their No. 8 to eventually burst over and convert to make it 7 - 7 at half time. Changes were made, bringing Joe to scrum half, Dan in the boilerhouse for his team debut and Ben E. onto the wing.

The second half was controlled completely by Penarth with swift service releasing strong running backs Ben,J., Henry, Morgan, Ben E., Josh and Luc, combined with solid defence by Lyle, Jack and Morgan. Ben ran hard and slipped a deft pass to Hugh at pace who bowled over a few defenders on his way to the posts, Ben converted. Penarth took it to Nelson up front who seemed to be tiring, led by Geraint, Tomo, Liam, Ellis and Haaris who was in his unaccustomed position of hooker due to 2 hookers being unavailable. Haaris hit every lineout and even won a heal against the head throughout the match. A few quick rucks and pods saw Alex held up over the line and Penarth eventually scored again after the Nelson backs spilled the ball from Josh's pressure and Henry pounced on a loose ball to gather and score from 20 metres out, Joe converted. 3 more tries went begging for Penarth after strong running from Ben Evans on the right flank saw some poor handling or decisions snuffed out by Nelson. Penarth managed the last score of the match from a missed kick to touch by the Nelson captain and Josh ran from 60 metres out, leaving 4 would-be tacklers in his wake to score in the corner.

A very pleasing performance from the team, involving a number of players having to play out of position. "Dame of the Game" went to Haaris for his new hooking and throwing skills and not being caught offside once! Thanks to all players, coaches and supporters from both teams and we hope to meet Nelson again on our turf.

Squad - Geraint, Haaris, Tom J., Alex, Tomo. Ellis, Liam, Hugh, Lyle, Dan, Gruff, Joe, Ben J., Morgan, Jack, Henry, Josh, Luc, Ben E.