WITH the seconds on hiatus, the first and third XIs took centre stage for Penarth Hockey Club last weekend, not least the development side, which faced a GoCrea8 league double-header way out west in Lampeter.

Bridgend 1 - Penarth 5

Having seen off all-comers – often by double-figure scorelines – in the first swing of league encounters, Penarth finally faced the only other unbeaten side as they took on Bridgend in a top-of-the-table showdown to see who really were the top dogs in De Cymru and Marches 1.

Following days of heavy rainfall, Bridgend’s pitch resembled more of a swimming pool than a hockey pitch, putting the fixture in serious doubt. However, with Penarth keen to see the game go ahead, some last-minute phone calls and no small amount of persuasion saw the match revert to Penarth, with the newly-laid Stanwell pitch faring a lot better in the conditions.

Aware that Bridgend would be a much more experienced, and well-organised, team - and one which had conceded very few goals all season - the Bears knew would have to be far more clinical than the previous week if they wanted to claim top spot all to themselves.

After winning the coin toss, Penarth decided to play into the strong wind, hoping that their fresh legs would stand up better in the prevailing conditions, allowing them to take advantage of a tiring Bridgend side in the second half.

As they have done all season, the ‘home’ side were quick out the blocks but Bridgend, as predicted, remained resolute and repelled the early attacks.

As the half went on, Bridgend in confidence and came more into the game, taking advantage of their more favourable conditions to begin looking dangerous on the counter.

Having created several chances, it was the visitors who struck first, as a clever through ball found an available striker, who dribbled across the area before lifting the ball over Penarth ‘keeper Adam Putt on his reverse.

Penarth were visibly shaken by conceding the opening goal for the first time all season and almost went two behind minutes later, with another Bridgend strike going inches wide.

The Vale side gradually regained their composure, however, and the first half remained an even affair. With seconds left in the period, their persistence paid off as a string of poor challenges from Bridgend on the edge of their own ‘D’ gave Penarth one last penalty corner before the break.

Although the Bridgend ‘keeper saving two initial efforts from Laith El Khatib, the ball eventually fell to David Joyce, who tapped home on the whistle.

Penarth were much the happier of the two sides at the break, with Bridgend having been unable to make hay in the favourable conditions. Having weathered the storm, and with the wind now in their sails after finding an equaliser, the home side headed back into the fray full of confidence and wasted no time in seizing the advantage as Joyce received the ball in the Bridgend area and beat the ‘keeper at his near post to put Penarth 2-1 up.

Bridgend were starting to look laboured as they fought against the relentless wind and losing the shape that they had kept so well in the first half allowed Penarth to start picking the visitors apart.

As a result, it took just five second half minutes for Joyce to complete his hat-trick as Penarth put together a move that began with a wind-assisted aerial from player-coach Ben Croxall to man-of-the-match Phil Lane.

Lane drove in to the Bridgend ‘D’, drawing a foul that left the umpire with no option but to award a penalty stroke. Full of confidence, Joyce stepped up and finished emphatically, putting the ball high into the net to the ‘keeper’s right.

With the Bears now firmly in control and playing with a certain swagger, the result never looked in doubt. Croxall showed his class as he left three defenders in his wake before finding Joyce at the back post to notch his fourth goal of the game, while Chris Baker completed the scoring in typical fashion, driving into the ‘D’ before striking a low shot past the hapless Bridgend ‘keeper to leave the score at 5-1 and Penarth now alone in top spot in their division.

Goalscorers: David Joyce (4), Chris Baker

Trinity St David’s 0 - Penarth ‘B’ 7

Trinity St David’s 0 - Penarth ‘B’ 6

After much haggling that followed the cancellation of Penarth’s early-season trip to face the students of Trinity St David’s, the Vale side was faced not only with a daunting trip to Pembrokeshire in appalling conditions, but also with the task of completing two back-to-back games on the same day in order to get their fixture list back on track.

In swirling winds and heavy showers reminiscent of the second XI’s 2014 trip to the same venue, Penarth initially struggled to make their possession translate into goals against the bottom of the table side but, having settled into a controlled passing game, the floodgates opened and victory was secured by the comfortable margin on 7-0.

The novel twist of immediately commencing a second game to fulfil the fixture that had to rearranged from earlier in the season could have been a pitfall for the visitors but, in a mirror image of the first match, the two sides proved competitive for 20 minutes before Penarth took control.

As soon as the Bees started to play with speed of pass and organisation throughout the line-up, they again proved too efficient for the hard-working student side, resulting in a second win, this time by the margin of 6-0, which lifted them to a mid-table spot in De Cymru 3.

The strike partnership of Dave Watkins and Sam Salisbury scored seven goals between them across both games while, defensively, Morgan Salisbury continues to grow in confidence, with his distribution from the pivotal right half position improving with every game.

While the third XI enjoy a weekend off to recover from their trip west, the firsts and seconds both have the luxury of home fixtures at Stanwell School. The senior side takes on Bristol and West, who moved into a share of second place in the division last week, while the second XI returns from a bye week to begin the second swing of De Cymru 2 fixtures against a Llanishen and Caerphilly side currently sitting third in the table.

Penarth Hockey Club always welcomes new, old and returning players, umpires, supporters, friends and helpers regardless of age and ability. Training takes place on Wednesdays at Stanwell School, with the juniors on the pitch between 6.15pm and 7.15pm and the seniors between 7.15pm and 8.15pm.

Anyone interested in joining the club at senior or youth level can contact either player-coach Ben Croxall (b_croxall20@yahoo.co.uk) or club secretary Dave Stevens (d_stevens81@hotmail.co.uk) for further information.