THE Youth presentation evening, at the Penarth RFC clubhouse last week, had virtually all the ingredients of what an end of season celebration should contain, especially since this was the conclusion of a particularly successful season, which saw Penarth Youth topping the table of the Blues BC Division at the end of their 12-match League programme.

What was missing was the trophy, or the medals that would normally accompany the winning of the League, which everybody in town and elsewhere believed that had been accomplished, with Penarth Youth at the top of the BC League with 48 points out of 12 matches at the end of the season.

Well, not quite everybody. This did not include an influential group of rugby officials gathered under the name of WRU Regulatory Committee, who disagreed and using some obscure and poorly-worded rules proclaimed Cowbridge Youth, who had finished League runners-up with 43 points from nine matches, League Champions.

The Penarth Youth club officials did challenge the ruling and even raised the £100 required by the generously-minded Welsh governing body to be allowed to have the decision reviewed. But unsurprisingly the club’s sound and well-constructed factual arguments got dismissed by a review body, which included three colleagues of the gentlemen who produced the original ruling.

Suffice to say that the Penarth RFC legal counsel, an eminent local barrister, was quite unimpressed by the entire process, though in the end the Penarth Youth officials decided not to pursue the matter any further.

The final outcome was decidingly humorous, though it had a sour-sweet aftertaste, with the teenage members of the Penarth team, presenting each other and their coaches with some cheap mini-cups and medals purchased from a discount shop, to celebrate the Championship win that never was.

Overall Penarth Youth lost only five of the 22 matches played during the 2014-15 season, which in addition to its BC league opponents included several first division opponents, of the likes of Ystrad Rhondda, Glamorgan Wanderers, St Peter’s, Rumney, to mention just a few. They scored 513 points, of which 76 tries, 41 conversions and 17 penalties having 224 points scored against, which must have pleased both coaches Colin Laity and Andy Pyman.

Captain Sam Laity appeared in all 22 matches, scoring a total of 37 points, though the team’s top scorer was Gareth Jones with 117 points from 20 appearances. Number eight Matt Allen was the top try-scorer with 12 touchdowns, the team’s leading scoring forward (60 points) from 21 appearances.

Alan Doyle, who had already made several appearances for the senior Penarth team played in 21 of the 22 matches, a record he shared with Allen and Morgan Smith. Both hooker Mason Good, who turned up for Penarth Seniors a few times this season and Gareth Jones made 20 appearances each.

Though several of the youth regulars including Laity, Allen, Doyle and Good will no longer be eligible for Youth rugby next season, one hoped that, during their University breaks, they will make themselves available to play for the senior team.

For those who wish to know, Penarth Youth play in the second division of the Blues Youth Leagues, the imaginatively called BC division. The first division had Pontypridd declared champion, with Beddau finishing last, while Penarth topped the second division, with Cowbridge declared Champions and St Joseph last.