PENARTH Ladies Hockey Club made a solid start to their Welsh Indoor League season last Saturday with a win and a draw at the Newport University sports centre in Caerleon.

Indoor hockey is a much faster, lower game than the outdoor version and the ball may only ever be lifted from within the D and towards goal.

Each team has five outfield players and a goal keeper and may use'rolling subs', as with outdoor.

The indoor'pitch' is a sports hall with boards along the sides, which players can use to bounce the ball off. Each match in the Welsh league consists of two 20-minute halves.

Penarth's first match of the day was against Swansea, who had just convincingly beaten Cwmbran and were already warmed up. The Seasiders, however, took ten minutes to get into the game and found themselves 3-0 down before starting to compete properly.

It was experienced midfielder Pip Laugharne who created some hope for Penarth by firing home from the left to make it 3-1 at the break.

In the second half the Seasiders' confidence increased and they began to dominate the game by keeping the ball strong on their stick and winning numerous short corners.

Eventually captain Sian Baldwin converted two of these in quick succession to pull the scores level with a few minutes to go. Laugharne then seemingly clinched the winner but Swansea scored in the last minute to make it a 4-4 draw.

In the final match of the day, against Cwmbran, it was Penarth who were still warm but they didn't play to the standard of the last half of their previous match.

Diana Pugh put the Seasiders in front when she scored from left slip at a short corner, but Cwmbran soon equalised.

As the tempo dropped neither side could find the backboard until Laugharne bagged another brace to make it 3-1 at half time.

Penarth weren't as clinical as they would have liked in the second half and only managed to score one further goal.

This came when Pugh slipped a free hit outside the D left to Medi James who caught the Cwmbran players napping as she found the corner.

They had the last say, however, so the match finished 4-2 to Penarth.

Next week Penarth take on Howardians and Cardiff Athletic at Caerleon again in the final their final two indoor league matches.

For the Thirds it was a return to outdoor league action with a rearranged match at Merthyr.

There were clearly no thoughts of last week's 5-2 friendly defeat to Whitchurch Thirds, as the Seasiders gelled immediately with some great passing and had soon won themselves a short corner.

Emulating their pre-match practice, Irene Williamson stopped and fired in a shot for which Bev Rogers was on the post to deflect home: 1-0 to Penarth.

The visitors continued to dazzle in the sunshine with some great support play and everyone was playing well.

The rotation of the forwards every ten minutes meant that numerous chances were created and the score only stayed at 1-0 until half time thanks to some amazing saves from the Merthyr player of the match, their keeper.

Penarth's form continued into the second half and they took a 2-0 lead with almost a replica of their first goal, except this time Rogers deflected home Eve's powerful strike.

Merthyr continued to press for a goal, sensing that they could still get into the game, but their best chance was quelled by Penarth keeper Angela Ninian, when she successfully defended a one-on-one with a Merthyr player.

Penarth therefore recorded a thoroughly deserved 2-0 victory, to take them to third in the Division 3 league.

On Sunday the Firsts secured a place in the Welsh Cup semi finals when they produced a convincing 5-1 victory at Newport.

To onlookers this wouldn't have looked like the Penarth Firsts' first outdoor game for six weeks as they played some wonderful, fast hockey in the first 15 minutes to take a 4-0 lead and fulfil their game plan of breaking any illusion that the Premier 2 side had of causing an upset.

Penarth's first goal came in the second minute, when Tracy Bow fired home her penalty corner strike.

A few minutes later it was 2-0 when Diana Pugh's shot was saved but Bridget Radice was on hand to put in the rebound.

Radice then went on to claim her hat trick within ten minutes, after first putting home Pugh's close range cross and later finishing a great break away move that saw Heulwen Simm put Radice in space with only the keeper to beat.

At this point the Newport players changed their style of play and crowded the D so that the Seasiders found it much harder to create chances.

This continued into the second half and, after a well-finished Newport breakaway goal, Penarth could only manage one more effort, courtesy of Caryl James from close range.

Nevertheless, the girls were pleased with a 5-1 victory that sees them progress to the semis.

Next week the Thirds travel to Bridgend for another league match, whist the Premier League has yet to restart for the Firsts and Seconds.