Penarth 29 - 29 Llanharan
First played third in the division as Penarth sought an end to a two-match losing streak. The first 15 minutes of this hard-fought encounter between old rivals looked very much as if the Seasiders were continuing to struggle. The Dairymen were full of running and had all the right ideas as they surged onto a 19-3 lead with three well-taken tries.
The Penarth defence looked sluggish against an incisive Llanharan attack, but the scrum held steady and provided a solid platform for a come-back. There were echoes of early-season try-fests as Harry Williams made the line-break to set up Ben Jones for a dash to the line. Then, on the half-hour, Jones launched a solo attack and when George Roberts caught up with him, the right wing scored the second in the corner.
After a late period of pressure by the Dairymen in the Penarth 22, they edged further in front with a penalty. The sides turned round with the visitors in the lead by none points, but now it was the Seasiders’ turn to take advantage of the wind and low sun. They dominated the second half. A Rhys Mottram penalty closed to gap to 22-16 and another in the 50th minute brought them even closer at 22-19.
Going into the final quarter it was all Penarth, as the Dairymen struggled to hold on. A further Mottram penalty on 67 minutes levelled the scores at 22-22 and the Seasiders‘ ascendancy was confirmed three minutes later. Ben Jones seemed set to celebrate his farewell appearance with a second try as he slalomed through a back-pedalling defence. However, he was eventually brought down, but delivered an inside pass to Tom Griffiths for the score that finally took Penarth into a 29-22 lead.
10 minutes to go, plus injury time and, since Llanharan had failed to score any points since half-time, it should have been left to Penarth to notch up a fourth try for the bonus point. The game was conducted on this basis in the Dairymens’ 22, but somehow the killer try never quite arrived. What did arrive, though, was a last-ditch, all-out effort from the visitors from a penalty in their own half. A string of further penalties led to a fourth try and the conversion sealed an unlikely draw.
The international break now intervenes and the Seasiders don’t return to league action for five weeks when they travel to Rhydyfelin on December 13. A week earlier, they continue their Division 1 Cup campaign with a home tie against Division 1 West Lampeter Town. The Ceredigion club are not having much success so far this season, having lost their last six games.
Penarth: Ben Jones, Luc Keane-Adams, Harry Williams, Andy Richards, George Roberts, Rhys Mottram (Leon Andrews), Spencer Robinson, Geraint Williams (Sam Sully), Tom Griffiths, Alan Doyle, Will Odgers, Dan Cahalane, Ellis Smith, Matt Allen (Joe Mc Sweeney), Lewys Williams.
Scorers: Ben Jones (try, conversion), George Roberts (try), Rhys Mottram (4 penalties
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