BOTH Penarth Hockey Club sides remain on course to achieve their end-of-season aims despite going down to heavy defeats against teams above them in their respective divisions at the weekend.

Wotton-under Edge 8 PENARTH 1

On their travels once again, Penarth were always up against it facing De Cymru & The Marches 1 league leaders Wotton-under-Edge, but weren’t helped by having a bare 11 players.

The Vale side started the game with only 10 men as Chris McCarthy was late arriving and, unsurprisingly, found themselves two goals down within minutes.

Once McCarthy had arrived, however, Penarth were only briefly allowed up to full strength as Dave Stevens was caught by a Wotton striker’s follow-through, causing a nasty cut to his forehead.

Due to the heavy flow of blood from the gash, the veteran was forced to remain on the side-line for the remainder of the game.

Despite the early deficit and permanently being reduced to 10 men, Penarth played some good hockey and were unfortunate not to have scored before the interval, with the Wotton ‘keeper making some outstanding saves, notably from a Chris Baker drag flick.

The home-side eventually made their extra man count, however, and added another two first half goals to double the margin by half-time.

Although clearly at a disadvantage, Penarth refused to go quietly and kept applying pressure at the Wotton end, looking for a consolation goal.

Their endeavours were nearly rewarded when McCarthy was fouled in the area, leading to the award to a penalty stroke.

However, Matt Lewis - in his penultimate match for the club and having never scored for the Bears – promptly missed.

Wotton added another three goals before Penarth finally managed to pull one back, with Baker driving forward and smashing a reverse stick shot into the bottom corner – much to the frustration of the Wotton ‘keeper, who saw his dreams of a clean sheet dashed despite getting a touch on the ball.

The home-side responded by adding an eighth goal late on, however, repeating their haul from the reverse fixture earlier in the season.

Despite the loss, Penarth remain fourth in the standings as other results went their way, and will hope to consolidate the position in their remaining two matches.

PENARTH ‘A’ 0 Whitchurch ‘D’ 5

Although restored to something approaching full strength for the visit of the best of the four Whitchurch sides in De Cymru 2, Penarth’s 2nd XI also had a fight on their hands given the gulf between the leading quartet and the rest of the teams in the division.

Locked in a three-way battle for fifth overall – and therefore top spot in the ‘division within a division’ – Penarth knew that their position would be strengthened by anything other than defeat, and began resolutely, with a strong defensive effort led by Zbig Sobiersiersierski and Graeme Jones, frustrating the Whitchurch forwards for much of the first half.

The visitors eventually made a breakthrough just minutes before the interval with stand-in ‘keeper Paul ‘Freddy’ Thomas unsighted as a shot came in from the left-hand side of his ‘D’, but the 1-0 score-line still reflected well on a Penarth side punching above their weight.

Knowing that a quick response after the break was essential to getting a result, Penarth threw everything into going forward, with Rob Harrison and the industrious Nathan Townsend trying to keep things flowing through the midfield to the various attacking combinations provided by Dave Watkins, Matt Birch and Sam Salisbury.

Few chances emanated and with the field having opened up, Whitchurch were able to take advantage of always seeming to have a spare man in both attack and defence.

Despite the ongoing defensive efforts of James Davies, Paul Roberts and Nick Pratt, four further goals followed for the visitors, creating a five-goal margin of victory that did little justice to Penarth’s labours.

Although the defeat drops the Vale side one place off their desired finishing spot, they remain level on points with fifth place and an interesting series of fixtures over the final two weeks of the season still provides a real opportunity to clinch the position.

This weekend sees the 1st XI play their last competitive fixture at Colcot Leisure Centre as they host Whitchurch ‘B’, while the Seconds travel across town hoping to complete a Penarth double as they face Whitchurch ‘F’.

Penarth Hockey Club always welcomes new, old and returning players, umpires, supporters, friends and helpers regardless of age and ability.

Training takes place on the artificial turf at Barry Sport Centre every Wednesday, with the Juniors in action between 6pm and 7pm and Senior between 7pm and 8pm.

Further information can be obtained from club secretary Dave Stevens at d_stevens81@hotmail.co.uk.