LAST Saturday saw the Penarth RFC youth team return to the field and start the new year off to a storming start with a comprehensive 7 -55 win over Rhiwbina RFC youth.

With the unfavourable recent weather it meant the Penarth boys had not played a match since December 16 and had only managed a few training sessions, however, any fears of rustiness were blown away in the first 10 minutes of the game when the Penarth team hit a pace and skill level that saw them take a 24 point lead over the Cardiff side.

It was only five minutes into the game when the Penarth pack secured good ball from the lineout which took the ball to the oppositions 22 meter line through three good phases of play.

From the resulting ruck, scrum half Gruff Shewring moved the ball quickly away to the Penarth back line to see centre and captain George Roberts crash over for the first try of the game. With the conversion landed by Shewring Penarth took an immediate lead of 0-7.

From the resulting kick off, the ball was carried up to the pitch through number eight Sam Sullivan and offloaded to flanker Nathan Frost who burst through the Rhiwbina defensive line only to be stopped by a last ditch tackle on the 22 metre line.

The ball was quickly re-circulated by the Penarth forwards and spun out along the back line to winger Mike Halligan who ran through his opposite winger to score in the corner and take the Penarth boys into a 12 point lead after only seven minutes.

With only a further minute gone on the clock, the Rhiwbina boys were again struggling with both the sheer physicality and speed of the Penarth Youth game, and it was hooker Tom Griffiths who broke away from a driving maul near the Rhiwbina five metre line to score Penarth's third try which went unconverted to take Penarth to a 17 point lead.

With yet again further pressure from the resulting kick off with the counter attack coming from prop Geraint Williams and second rows of Alex Shore and Will Parsons, Rhiwbina again found themselves on the back foot and struggling to defend their try line. With a ruck forming on the five metre line scrum half Gruff Shewring powered through a gap in the Rhiwbina defensive line to take the Penarth boys into a 24 point lead after only 10 minutes on the clock.

With such a lead having been built so early in the game, it not surprising that the Penarth boys started to throw the ball around rather than build play and a loose pass on the half way line saw the ball intercepted by the Rhiwbina outside centre who sprinted over the try line from 40 meters out to pull a try back for the home team and bring the score to Rhiwbina 7 Penarth 24.

With a penalty kicked by Shewring on 26 minutes, the half time score at the break was Rhiwbina RFC Youth 7 Penarth RFC Youth 27.

Half time gave the Penarth Youth coaches Simon Rees and Dai Williams an opportunity to make some changes which saw prop Liam Richards replaced by Yaz Ghandour and the welcome return of centre Rhys Beynon to the youth team, replacing Toby Dyer.

Penarth youth's dominance continued from the start of the second half, and despite some great defence from the home team, it was through some great ground work in the break down area from flanker Thaine Baker, that Penarth were able to re-cycle the ball quickly and after only three minutes of the half the ball again was put through the hands for wing Halligan to power his way over for his second try of the match. With the conversion from Shewring the score moved quickly to 7 -34 to Penarth youth.

With further substitutions made which saw the second rows replaced by Owain Jones and Matt Rogers and Prop Williams replaced by Matt Hocking, it was pleasing for the Penarth coaches that the momentum of the Penarth game was not slowed down and within 12 minutes of the half a neat pass from Aled Rees, on for scrum half Shewring, put outside half Aron Arthur into space for a deserved try under the posts to give Penarth a 42-7 lead.

The final 20 minutes saw Rhiwbina pressing the Penarth line on several occasions, but with good solid defence the home team were unable to breach the Penarth try line and following a break from the Penarth 22 it was Rhys Beynon who powered over to score Penarth's 7th try of the afternoon. With a further eighth try from Full back Luc Kean-Adams on the 32nd minute, the final score on the whistle was Rhiwbina 7 Penarth 55.

It was a great start to the new year for the Penarth boys and takes them to the top of the Blues BE league. Next Saturday the boys are back in action away to Cardiff Quins RFC Youth in the Blues cup.