Penarth Hockey Club round up

Penarth 7 - Aberystwyth University 2

It was lights, camera, action for Penarth’s senior side who took centre stage looking to tighten their grip on top spot in De Cymru & The Marches 1 against newly-promoted Aberystwyth University.

While it was business as usual for the home side on the pitch, it was show business off it as the presence of a local television channel highlighted the hard work and rapid progress made by the club this season. As game time approached, the Bears attempted to put the cameras to the back of their minds and, after a few last-minute words from coach Ben Croxall to remind the players of what had got them to them to the top of the table, the stage was set for what promised to be a tricky encounter.

With focused minds, the home team were quick out of the blocks and immediately on the attack as Chris Baker received the ball centrally in the ‘D’. With his back to goal, however, he lost his bearings as he turned to shoot and put his shot comfortably wide.

Despite the missed opportunity, Penarth continued to dominate in tricky conditions, but it quickly became apparent that a little bit of magic would be needed to beat a stubborn Aberystwyth goalkeeper, who quickly showed himself to be a strong shot-stopper.

As has become the pattern this season, it fell to Croxall to make the breakthrough, the player-coach working himself some room in the area to guide the ball into the top corner on his reverse side. Buoyed by the goal, Penarth piled on the pressure, but a lack of composure in front of goal would see several chances go begging before the hosts finally managed to convert two further first half chances.

Defending on the front foot to win the ball back, Rich John found Croxall on the right and the player-coach then fed David ‘Jasper’ Joyce to tap home at the back post to double Penarth’s advantage, while the third was almost a carbon copy, as Croxall slipped the ball to Rhys Evans, who swept home to make it 3-0.

The Aberystwyth forwards had very little to work during the half, but proved clinical when a chance did come their way. A missed trap from the home defence gifted the ball to a breaking striker and, while Penarth captain Tom Haran scrambled back, a good support run creating a two-on-one, with a square pass and clever first-time finish ensuring the sides went into half-time with the score at 3-1.

The second half continued in the same pattern as the first, with Penarth dominating possession and territory and the University living off scraps. Unlike previous weeks, where Penarth had piled on the goals after wearing teams down in the first half, the fitter students proved to be a more stubborn opponent, limiting the Bears to only four second half goals.

Evans got his second of the game, following up his own initial shot to smash the ball in at the second time of asking, before Phil Lane worked his magic in the ‘D’ to unselfishly slip the ball to Joyce, and Croxall again created a reverse side opportunity to hit one past the ‘keeper from an impossible angle to make it 6-1.

Last year’s leading marksman, Baker was determined to get on the scoresheet after missing out on the previous week’s goal-fest and, driving into the ‘D’, he produced a sweet strike to round off Penarth’s scoring. Aberystwyth would manage a late consolation goal, albeit in contentious circumstances as Penarth were not convinced the ball had crossed the line after a goalmouth scramble.

Despite not gracing the cameras with one of their best performances in tricky conditions, the 7-2 victory ensured that Penarth continued their unbeaten start to the league campaign with co-leaders Bridgend waiting in the wings this weekend.

Goalscorers: Ben Croxall (2) Rhys Evans (2), David Joyce (2), Chris Baker

Swansea University ‘B’ 2 - Penarth ‘A’ 2

Penarth’s 2nd XI faced the toughest test of their season to date, with a trip west to face the students of Swansea University in a top-of-the-table clash in De Cymru 2.

The visitors were missing a couple of key players, but still fielded a strong side as they looked to build on their own unbeaten start to the campaign, all the while knowing that the youthful opposition would present a different challenge to anything faced so far.

As expected, the home side made most of the early running, taking the game to Penarth in the opening quarter, but the Vale side held firm, with the defensive quartet of Graeme Jones, Nathan Townsend, Craig Llewellyn and James Davies dealing with almost everything thrown at them, and goalkeeper Mark Harris mopping up the rest with a handful of sharp saves.

As the University grew frustrated, Penarth were able to bring themselves more into the game, hitting the home side on the break and going close to scoring on several occasions before finally breaking the deadlock, albeit still slightly against the run of play. Good work on the left by Jamie Davison forced the ball into the Swansea ‘D’, where the effervescent Tom Parkinson engineered enough space to feed Chris McCarthy, who made no mistake in burying the ball in the back of the net.

The lone goal continued to separate the sides going into the interval, where Penarth captain Matt Birch warned against complacency as the students continued to pose a viable threat. Sure enough, the second period was only a matter of minutes old when a defensive miscommunication allowed the home side the chance to level the scores, boosting their confidence in the process.

To Penarth’s credit, however, they refused to buckle and, soaking up the University pressure, continued to hit their hosts with a series of quick breaks from the back. With Davies, Davison and defensive midfielder Andrew Hornby conducting the action, the visitors earned – and squandered – a series of penalty corners, including one awarded when advantage would have seen them regain the lead as McCarthy slotted home as the whistle sounded.

Undaunted, the Vale side, playing in unfamiliar gold shirts, continued to press forward and man-of-the-match Parkinson again proved the catalyst as he produced a repeat of his earlier effort in the ‘D’ before feeding Birch, who finished with a trademark slapshot high into the net.

The students refused to go quietly, however, and, after Llewellyn was obstructed while attempting to make a tackle in the Penarth half, broke into the visitors’ ‘D’ before slipping the ball past the hapless Harris to make it 2-2.

Both sides had chances to snatch a late lead, but their respective defences were giving nothing away and the draw was probably a fair result, albeit one that the students were definitely happier with.

Goalscorers: Chris McCarthy, Matt Birch

Penarth ‘B’ 0 - Whitchurch ‘F’ 5

A different-looking Penarth Bees faced early-season pacesetters Whitchurch F in the final match of the first swing of games in De Cymru 3, with skipper Nick Pratt and the Thomas brothers all still recovering from injury.

However, with a squad of 15 containing some experienced players, Penarth were optimistic of at least being competitive.

It was the young, skilful and combative Whitchurch side who struck first, and two quick goals put the visitors firmly in control. As Penarth settled into their task, however, Whitchurch found adding to their lead more difficult, with some sterling work by Zbig Sobiesierski and Ian Smith, coupled with strong performances from the rest of the defence, keeping the scoreline the same to the interval.

Penarth began the second half confident that their resilience from the latter part of the first half could be built upon as they tried to claw their way back into the game, only for two 'sucker punches' to effectively end the game as a contest. It was to the Penarth side's credit that, even at 4-0 down, they continued to press forward, looking for a goal to get them back in to the game, with Sam Salisbury once again featuring prominently.

At the other end of the pitch, Morgan Salisbury continued his recent fine form whenever the Whitchurch side broke out, and the home side came more into the game as it wore on. With the hosts creating numerous half-chances, the Whitchurch goalkeeper had to be on fine form to deny at least four scoring opportunities but, with time running out, it was Whitchurch who completed the scoring, grabbing a fifth very much against the run of play to put a slightly unfair complexion on the result.

The first third of the league season – Penarth Bees’ first in a long time – ended on a positive note with the reshuffled side more than holding their own under the doughty leadership of Rob Harrison. Man-of-the-match was once again the outstanding Morgan Salisbury, although Sobiesierski ran him close.

While the 2nd XI sit this weekend out on bye, the firsts travel to face co-leaders Bridgend and the thirds attempt to consummate their first two fixtures at Trinity St David's in one go, with a double-header in Lampeter.

Penarth’s Under-13 side were back in action at Abergavenny last weekend, renewing rivalries in the second tournament of the season.

The boys faced the host team in the first match and, having lost 3-1 in the previous tournament, were determined to overturn that result. The game was competitive throughout, but the Penarth boys dominated in attack thanks to some incisive frontrunning from Elys Johnson, Iwan Meddins and Ross John.

Lewis Ingram, meanwhile, controlled the midfield and Gabriel Pryde and Aron McJennett-House were assured in defence, leaving Jack Ritchie with little to do in goal. The pressure finally paid off as, after a penalty corner broke down, Meddins crossed the ball for John to slot home to confirm a 1-0 final score.

With the win under their belt, Penarth then faced another tough test against Brecon, with the two sides exchanging early goals as Meddins’ opener was countered by a Brecon equaliser not long after. Max Poddar came close to re-establishing Penarth’s advantage, while Ritchie made some excellent saves to ensure parity until the break but, in the second half, Brecon broke out of defence and scored, taking the win as Penarth could not find an equaliser before the final whistle sounded.

After all the boys observed a two-minute silence on the half-way line to mark Remembrance Sunday, they returned to the field to take on Whitchurch ‘A’. This time, Johnson produced an excellent strike to make the score 1-0, before Poddar scored from a cross to double the advantage.

At the other end, Felix Clark tackled well on his debut for the team, while Pryde linked well with John on the right, making lots of attacking runs and creating further scoring opportunities. However, it was Whitchurch who scored next, getting back into the game before seeing a second goal disallowed which enabled Penarth to claim a 2-1 victory.

The Vale side’s final game was against Whitchurch ‘B’, with McJennett-House volunteering to take a turn in goal so that Ritchie could play out. Penarth once again dominated the game in attack, with some excellent play from Lewis Ingram.

Ritchie, freed from the pads, proved to be a lethal force up front, eventually scoring with a tremendous strike to win the game and end a day played with an excellent spirit on a high note.

Penarth Hockey Club always welcomes new, old and returning players, umpires, supporters, friends and helpers regardless of age and ability. Training takes place on Wednesdays at Stanwell School, with the juniors on the pitch between 6.15pm and 7.15pm and the seniors between 7.15pm and 8.15pm.

Anyone interested in joining the club at senior or youth level can contact either player-coach Ben Croxall (b_croxall20@yahoo.co.uk) or club secretary Dave Stevens (d_stevens81@hotmail.co.uk) for further information.