OLD Penarthians entertained newly promoted Ferndale at Cwrt-y-vil last Saturday and for the first time this season they emerged with a victory.

It was a hard-fought contest and as usual Old Pens do not like to do things the easy way. The final score of 20 points to 12 was in the end comfortable enough and denied the visitors a bonus point in defeat. The large crowd were however anxiously waiting for the final whistle to be blown by the referee as tiredness and indiscipline nearly cost the hosts in the last ten minutes.

It was however good for the team led by Rhys Lakin to get this first win of the season as it may relieve some of the stress that has been building in the players in this initial part of the season.

Some of the play to date has warranted better results and the match against Ferndale was at times scrappy and not as free-flowing as in previous weeks.

However, a win is a win, and it lifts the team off the bottom of the table.

The match itself started well and inside five minutes Penarthians were awarded a penalty at a ruck for offside and David Lakin kicked for a three-point lead.

Ferndale responded through their forwards and after a couple of scrums they fed the ball to the threequarters. The drive was stopped through good tackling by Mike Nash and John Patterson but the Ferndale forwards arrived to continue the drive through a series of rucks which resulted in a try, wide out near the touchline. The conversion was missed but Ferndale led by five points to three.

By this time Scott McCarthy had already delivered some long accurate kicks to the touchline creating attacking positions and on the next occasion a line out 8 metres from the visitors’ try line was won by Stuart Gunnarrson and driven over the line by the supporting forwards.

Unfortunately, Luke Crockett was adjudged by the referee to not have grounded the ball and it resulted in an attacking 5 metre scrum.

The ball was won cleanly by Sam Hall, deputising at hooker for the suspended Rhys Blake, and David Lakin released the ball to outside half Jon Crimp. He committed the defence before bringing skipper Lakin on a direct route to the try line. He was stopped short but Andrew Hillbourne and then Geraint Blake both drove forward. Eventually prop forward Tom Sidford stretched out an arm as he was tackled and scored the try. David Lakin converted

On 28 minutes a similar scenario was played out. From a line-out 20 metres from the try line a lineout was won and the ball was released to Crimp. This time he feinted to the dummy run of Fearghas Gough but passed again to Rhys Lakin. From 15 metres he was unstoppable and he scored for his cousin to convert and Penarthians led by 17-5.

Ferndale again fought back and with more accurate passing may have inflicted more damage on the Penarthians defence. Unfortunately, the only damage was self-inflicted when from a strong attacking position metres from the Penarthians line their prop was shown a straight red card for deliberate foul play.

The second half started with the visitors playing with a direction that did not reflect their numerical disadvantage. The Old Pens did not seem to be able to control the ball for sustained periods and Ferndale always seemed dangerous on the counter attack from wayward kicks. Only further good tackling by Gough, Nash and Lakin prevented Ferndale from taking advantage.

When Hillbourne was shown a yellow card after 12 minutes however the Ferndale scrum half took a short penalty to his forwards who drove on three or four times before releasing the full back to score in the corner. This time the Ferndale kicker was successful and the score was 17-12 to the home team

Penarthians remained under pressure but from a speculative kick up the centre of the pitch by Crimp followed by his good chase and tackle assisted by Chris Cobbold, Blake was on hand to win a penalty at the break down. David Lakin stepped up to kick the three points

On the return of Hillbourne several substitutes were deployed by coach Simon Hurley and Dave Waldron and Adam Davies both made their seasonal debuts. Alex Lewis fresh from his four tries against Rhiwbina seconds was also given a run out and finally Nick Boudier replaced Jack Margetson, who was also starting his first game of the season.

Then came the nervy last ten minutes but Penarthians held on and were able to celebrate a well-earned victory

Next week Old Penarthians first team do not have a fixture as they were knocked out of the WRU Bowl knock out competition at the hands of Fairwater. The seconds, fresh from their victory over a Penarth second XV where Jordan Tyler scored three tries, travel to Sully View to compete in the first round of the CADRU Ron Lucock cup competition. The match is due to kick off at 2.30pm