THERE were goals galore once again for Penarth Hockey Club, but just one win from the latest round of games in the GoCrea8 Hockey League.

Cirencester 9 - Penarth 7

Despite having scored 11 goals without reply when the sides met at Stanwell earlier in the season, Penarth knew they would have to rely on their new-found strength and depth to get the job done away to a Cirencester team that had been stronger at home.

Bereft of five first team regulars, Penarth still boasted a strong side, highlighting the gains made in the off-season, and remained confident of taking all three points following a positive warm-up. True to form, the Bears came flying out of the traps and took the lead almost immediately as player-coach Ben Croxall drove into the ‘D’ from a free hit and found Rhys Evans, who smashed home high onto the net.

It would be a short-lived lead, however, as Cirencester equalised almost as quickly following a mix up in the Penarth defence. The visitors then found themselves bombarded by a rampant home side, who scored a quick-fire three goals to leave the Vale side shell-shocked.

Although Laith El-Khatib would manage to give the Bears some respite from the onslaught by putting away another drag flick, Cirencester refused to let up and continued their assault, scoring a further two goal before El-Khatib scored a brilliant solo goal, receiving the ball on the half-way line before driving to the top of the ‘D’ and unleashing a reverse-stick shot to give Penarth some hope despite heading into half-time 6-3 down.

The scoring would not slow up in the second half either, as Penarth battled to get back into the game but remained leaky at the back, conceding too many soft goals. With less than 10 minutes to run, a late goal rush from El-Khatib brought the visitors to within one goal of salvaging something from the game, but going a man down and pushing for the equaliser allowed Cirencester to break away and score, putting the game to bed at 9-7.

The Vale side were naturally bitterly disappointed and at a loss to explain the defeat. Scoring seven goals in a game and failing to secure victory is criminal but, to their credit, it was the 1st XI regulars who felt a sense of guilt for letting down those players called into the side for the trip across the bridge.

Penarth will now have to bounce back and not dwell on the defeat with both Swansea City and Cardiff University breathing down their necks at the top of De Cymru and Marches 1.

Goalscorers: Laith El-Khatib (5), Rhys Evans, Chris Baker

Penarth 'B' 4 - Trinity St David's 0

While the 2nd XI were forced to sit out an ill-timed bye week and stew over their heavy defeat to Swansea University the previous weekend, Penarth Bees entertained Trinity St David's but made heavy work of beating the De Cymru 3 whipping boys before running out comfortable 4-0 winners

Skipper Nick Pratt was determined that Penarth should not take the opposition lightly, despite the visitors losing 17-0 to Penarth's promotion rivals Bridgend the previous week, but the embarrassment of riches in having a large squad proved more of a hindrance than a help as the Bees struggled to establish a coherent platform from which to pressurise the previously suspect visiting defence.

The Thomas brothers, Paul and David, were prominent as Penarth finally started to exert some degree of control and, following an excellent goal from the hard working Sam Salisbury, it was Paul Thomas who settled the home side's nerves with a second strike. Given the fragility of the visitors' defence, many expected the flood gates to open as Penarth forced a succession of penalty corners, but a combination of good goalkeeping and profligate finishing saw the Bees turn round only 2-0 ahead.

Buoyed by the unexpected closeness of the scoreline, the visitors began the second half with renewed confidence and forced several penalty corners of their own, but these and other attacks were confidently repelled by sweeper Simon Wilkinson and the consistently excellent Morgan Salisbury, leaving goalkeeper Jason Harris - man-of-the-match in Penarth's previous two outings - largely redundant.

The Vale side gradually started to dominate, but the third goal continued to elude them until Sam Salisbury doubled his tally with a smart finish.

Despite further pressing and reducing the visitors to the occasional breakaway, Penarth's earlier profligacy returned and it was only following excellent advantage from umpire Matt Birch that Pratt was able to drive the back line to set up James Kerr-Smith to finally score Penarth's fourth.

There was much discussion post match as to who was Penarth's man-of-the-match before the skipper finally decided to award the accolade to the returning Dave Thomas who, once again, was behind most of the Bees' best attacking play.

Despite having failed to close the gap on second-placed Bridgend in terms of goal difference, the outcome of Penarth's season remains largely in their own hands as Bridgend still have to face the Seasiders, while both sides have games against runaway leaders Whitchurch before the end of the campaign.

The Bees now have two weeks off, but Saturday will see the younger component of the team forming the basis of a Development XI playing in a round robin tournament with similar sides from Abergavenny and Bridgend.

Goalscorers: Sam Salisbury (2), Paul Thomas, James Kerr-Smith

While the Thirds sit out, both the 1st and 2nd XIs face crucial weekends in their bids for divisional titles. The senior side take on bottom of the table Llanishen & Caerphilly looking to boost both their points and goals tallies, while the 2nds face two opponents from the same club as they follow Saturday's top of the table clash against Llanishen & Caerphilly 'A' with a rearranged fixture against the Cardiff club's 'B' team on Sunday.

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.