From champs to chumps

TAFFS WELL 46

OH DEAR. We didn"t predict that, did we?

In fact, we"d entirely forgotten Penarth could play like this.

No, it wasn"t a misprint.

From imperious promotion contenders one week to hapless also-rans the next.

Champs to chumps in just 80 horrible minutes.

We shouldn"t forget that Taffs Well were a side still hurting from their embarrassing 34-17 demolition by the Seasiders in front of their own fans only two months ago.

That, at least, explains their motivation, but how to explain the Penarth response?

Since the match at Glan-y-Llyn, the Seasiders had completed three wins, scoring 156 points without reply.

Taffs Well had won just the one game at home against faltering Llantwit Major.

The scene was set for another businesslike three points, on the way to the more critical games against Penallta and Cilfynydd over the next few weeks - except it never for one moment looked as if it was going to turn out that way.

The Seasiders" progress to the top of the table has admittedly been built on the foundations of a quality pack.

Which is why this performance was really such a puzzle: they were all present and correct.

The three-quarters were less of a mystery. The absence of three key players simply exposed weaknesses that have rarely been hidden from the critical eye.

Excusing the wingers, who hardly put a foot wrong, the backs were given the sort of wake-up call that no amount of scrabbling about on the bedside table could silence.

On a day when the obvious response to the visitors" bullying tactics was to tie it up in the forwards until they"d run out of steam, the key to the whole operation, Chris Mortimer, was rested until the 65th minute, by which time the score was 34-5 and any hope of a revival was long gone.

So what was it all about really?

Perhaps we"ll never know why the forwards didn"t turn up as a unit, but one thing"s for certain: Penarth are awfully vulnerable when they don"t and that"s no basis for a sustained promotion push.

For the record, hooker Geraint Evans scored the Seasiders" only try from a catch-and-drive, while Taffs Well ran in seven without serious opposition.

So this leaves us with the next challenge, away at Dowlais.

The Seasiders have yet to lose there in recent league meetings and there"s little in their recent form to suggest anything is about to change.

However, there"s any amount of evidence to suggest that if Penarth stray too far from the basic formula, they don"t necessarily have a Plan B.

It"s fair to assume they"ll stick to what they"re good at and reassert their authority.

Penarth: Davey, Roberts, Connor, Edwards, J.Crothers, Brookman, Docherty (Mortimer), Merrett, Evans, Morgan, Fitzgerald (Hopkins), Gooding, Allen, Clare, Bonello (Pierce)