Penarth Hockey Club 1st team cements place as league leaders but 2nds and 3rds fail to secure victory

Penarth 4 - Cardiff University 'A' 1

A week on from suffering their first league defeat to Swansea City, Penarth could have been forgiven for hoping for an easier opponent than second-placed Cardiff University in their next match, but there was no avoiding the top-of-the-table six-pointer as they tried to get back to winning ways.

The task ahead was made bigger by the absence of joint top scorer David Joyce and the ever-present Philip Lane, especially as the Seasiders were expecting a far tougher opponent than the one they faced first time round, with university sides traditionally getting stronger as the season goes on.

Those fears proved well-founded as the students came flying out of the blocks, setting a fast early pace as they pressed Penarth's defence aggressively. The home team looked nervy in the opening exchanges and had goalkeeper Adam Putt to thank for keeping the scores level early on as he showed lightning fast reactions to close down a striker who found himself all alone at the top of the 'D' and then swat the ball away as the attacker attempted to round him and shoot.

Midway through the half, the visitors finally showed signs of slowing while Penarth exhibited signs of emerging from the hangover of defeat and, perhaps against the run of play, the Vale side opened the scoring through a fizzing Laith El-Khatib drag flick.

Buoyed by the goal, the Bears started to take control of the game and University frustrations began to boil over. After a string of cynical challenges, the students collected a yellow card and 10 minutes in the sin bin on the stroke of half-time but, with Penarth having been made to wait through the interval before trying to exert their numerical advantage, it was the visitors turn to strike against the run of play as a penalty corner that appeared to be heading above the legal height of the back board was skilfully deflected back below the mark, levelling the scores.

With the next goal likely to prove crucial, it was Penarth who struck, retaking the lead barely a minute later to knock the wind out of the students' sails. This time, the goal followed some simple build-up play, with player-coach Ben Croxall passing to Dave Stevens before the ball was transferred from the right back to Chris Baker, who found Rhys Evans on the right wing.

Evans, in turn, threaded a perfectly placed and weighted pass to El-Khatib, who showed unbelievable timing and technique to pull off a stunning first time diving shot, striking the ball along its line of travel to find the bottom corner from an improbable angle for a goal of the season contender.

The University were now out on their feet as they started to suffer from their early pace, and El-Khatib turned provider by finding Jonny Moore at the back post for a simple tap-in.

Although Penarth would have to rely on Putt's lightning reactions in goals one more time - this time denying an unmarked attacker at the back post with a dive low to his left - the home side would go on to wrap the game up as El-Khatib completed his hat-trick, this time finishing on his reverse stick to leave the scoreline at 4-1 to the Bears.

Although the result looked comfortable on paper, it was anything but and Penarth not only had to be grateful to Putt's acrobatics and the clinical finishing of man-of-the-match El-Khatib, but also to a gutsy all-round display later described as the team's "best worst performance" as they dug deep to secure victory and cement their place at the top of De Cymru and The Marches 1.

Goalscorers: Laith El-Khatib (3), Jonny Moore

Penarth 'A' 2 - Swansea University 'B' 6

Having had the previous weekend's game frozen off, Penarth's 2nd XI returned to action for the first time since December 16 - and it showed in possibly the side's worst performance of the season.

Entertaining a Swansea University side that had already shown itself to be a threat for promotion in the first fixture between the sides in November, Penarth knew that they had to start fast, but also play the sort of flowing hockey that had served them so well in the first half of the De Cymru 2 campaign. Unfortunately, the style and flair only appeared sporadically as the students capitalised on a scrappy showing by the home side.

Defensive errors allowed the University to twice take the lead, sandwiching a David Kidby penalty strike that briefly brought the sides level midway through the first half. Although Penarth again brought the scores back to parity when Chris McCarthy finished off one of the Vale side's rare passing moves, it was the visitors that went into the break on top when two uncharacteristic mistakes between the sticks allowed identical penalty corner strikes to make the interval score 2-4.

Penarth's cause was not helped by a lack of self-discipline in some areas, with Nathan Townsend being sin-binned twice during the half and forcing a defensive reshuffle that appeared to unsettle the home side despite the efforts of Mark Thomas to hold things together.

That aside, however, the Bears still felt that they could overcome the two-goal deficit in the second period should they be able to put their usual game together. The performance improved after the break, but a lack of composure in front of goal saw vital chances go begging and, as the home side pushed forward in their attempt to reduce the margin, the University were able to hit them on the break.

Two further goals left the final score 2-6 in the students' favour, putting a serious dent in both Penarth's points tally and goal difference advantage.

The Vale side has now slipped off the top of the De Cymru 2 standings, replaced by their next opponent, Llanishen & Caerphilly 'A', while the University remains in a close third place. All is not lost for Penarth's title aspirations, however, as they retain a game in hand over those around them, but the impending double-header against the two Llanishen & Caerphilly sides now takes on greater importance - and will certainly require a better showing than that on display last weekend.

Goalscorers: David Kidby (pen), Chris McCarthy

Whitchurch 'F' 3 - Penarth 'B' 0

Any plans Penarth Bees may have had to contain the runaway De Cymru 3 leaders were thrown in to disarray when a 'no show' and an injury reduced them to a squad of just 12 players, including debutant Tom Griffiths. The situation was then further compounded when sweeper Phil Rumsam was forced to leave the pitch with a hamstring strain midway through the first half.

It was all the more remarkable then that Penarth produced their most battling performance of the season in holding the usually high-scoring Whitchurch side to a 3-0 scoreline that earned high praise from opposition and umpires alike.

Whilst, especially at times towards the end, the rearguard action resemble something akin to the Alamo, Penarth goalkeeper Jason Harris was outstanding throughout, earning his second successive man-of-the-match award, and Penarth were unfortunate not to convert at least one of the numerous chances they fashioned on the break. Forward Sam Salisbury found the Whitchurch 'keeper in fine form on the day, but it testament to the youngster's tenacity that he continued to create opportunities throughout the game.

Special mention must also be made of debutant Griffith's performance alongside veterans Paul Thomas and Ian Smith whilst, once again, the cornerstone of the Penarth defence was another youngster, Morgan Salisbury. It would be possible to list the entire Penarth team as every player contributed to a superb performance against a side regularly beating other teams in the division by eight or nine goals.

With the 2nd XI again on a bye week, the 1sts and 3rds will carry the Penarth Hockey Club flag into action this coming weekend, with the senior team travelling to Cirencester in the return fixture of a home match that the Vale side won 11-0. The 3rds, meanwhile, go from one extreme to the other as they host bottom side Trinity St Davids looking for a positive result in their bid to secure the runner-up slot in De Cymru 3.

Youth Teams

Penarth Boys Under-13s played an indoor tournament at Y-Pant school and, despite the majority of the squad not having played the indoor game before, improved in both confidence and tactical awareness with every game.

Penarth had to play their toughest game first up, taking on an older and more experienced Gwent ‘A’ side. Penarth were initially caught out by the sheer speed of the game and went 2-0 down early on, but new goalkeeper Kavan Kalsi-Lucas began to show real potential as he kept Penarth in the game. Elys Johnson had a goal disallowed as Penarth made some dangerous attacks, but it was Gwent who added the only other goal of the game, going on to win 3-0.

Penarth then faced Bridgend, who they had lost to in December, so there was much pride to play for. The Vale side began brightly, with Arron McJennett-House and Gabriel Pryde beginning to use the walls to get the ball out of defence into attack, and Penarth created a number of scoring chances, only to be denied by the Bridgend 'keeper.

That proved crucial as Bridgend scored two quick goals against the run of play, but Penarth continued to press forward with some excellent attacking runs from Ross John. Their patience paid off when Iwan Meddins pulled a goal back and, when Meddins scored again in the dying seconds - following a superb pass from Lewis Ingram - Penarth earned themselves a share of the spoils.

The third game of the morning was against Gwent 'B' and showed the best of the Penarth side. Kalsi-Lucas had played several times by this point, having helped out a team that didn’t have a 'keeper of its own, so he was really warmed up and made several outstanding saves, helped in defence by Aaron Noor-Mohamed, who made some equally crucial tackles. Further forward, Ingram worked tirelessly and eagerly assisted Johnson, who scored twice to give Penarth the victory.

Radyr provided the opposition in the final game, and both teams proved evenly matched. Radyr took the early lead, but Penarth struck back as Pryde produced an excellent pass from midfield to find Ethan Kneale, and he slotted the ball away to bring the sides level. Despite chances as both ends, the two 'keepers were in fine form, making some superb saves to ensure the 1-1 scoreline remained unchanged to the final whistle.

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.