HAPPY days, eh? After three close-shave wins and a home defeat in the last four matches, the real Penarth stood up and took charge away at Fairwater.

On a very windy afternoon in west Cardiff, it was set to be the usual physical encounter, but it soon became obvious that a strong Seasiders’ line-up was up for it. They dominated possession in the opening minutes and went ahead with a Josh Hurley penalty.

This didn’t seem to worry Fairwater as they exploited two successive penalties almost from the restart to claim a try in the corner, but Penarth struck back straight away with another Hurley penalty, this time wind-assisted from half-way.

Minutes later the visitors took a firm grip on proceedings as Bradman Williams expertly fielded a return kick and passed outside to Spencer Robinson, who cruised home. A third Hurley penalty extended the lead to 9 points and constant pressure from the Seasiders in the home 22 brought a close-range second try by Mike Lang and a half-time score of 7-23.

Turning into the wind, the immediate challenge was to manage the inevitable Fairwater fight-back as Penarth had been reduced to 14 with a yellow card. Clearly buoyed by their half-time pep talk, Fairwater threw themselves into retrieving the situation and gained immediate success with two quick tries, bringing the score back to 21-23.

Penarth Times: Spencer Robinson cruises home for the first try. Picture: Alun Roach

Spencer Robinson cruises home for the first try. Picture: Alun Roach

The hosts could clearly smell blood, but restored to full strength, the Seasiders simply crushed any pretentions that Fairwater might have had and responded with a magnificent four-try burst in the last twenty minutes.

First up was a near score in the left-hand corner, then a superb short-passing backs move to the far corner, with Man-of-the-Match Nathan Frost looping around for the try once they’d run out of hands.

As Fairwater lost a man to a yellow card, Penarth upped the pace and flew into the attack. Rhys Beynon made the critical line-break and while Harry Wood looked certain to score, it was Tom Griffiths that finally finished off the move.

Now firmly in control, the Seasiders pressed home their advantage from a routine Nathan Frost catch-and-drive at a 22m line-out and the fifth try courtesy of Sam Sully. Yet another line-break, this time by George Roberts and yet another try as Ben Jones tracked the play all the way, taking the scoring pass on half-way and accelerating to the posts.

Fairwater (7) 21 Penarth (23) 47

Penarth Times: MoM Nathan Frost finishes off a superb move for the third try. Picture: Alun Roach

MoM Nathan Frost finishes off a superb move for the third try. Picture: Alun Roach

PENARTH: Josh Hurley (Ben Jones), George Roberts, Andy Richards, Rhys Beynon (Josh Powell), Harry Williams, James Docherty, Spencer Robinson, Harry Wood, Bradman Williams (Mason Good), Sam Sully, Andy Lang, Nathan Frost, Mike Lang, Miles Jones ©, Tom Griffiths (James Crothers).

Scorers: Sam Sully (try), Spencer Robinson (try), Mike Lang (try), Nathan Frost (try), Tom Griffiths (try), Ben Jones (try), Josh Hurley (3 pens, 2 conv), James Docherty (2 conv).

Admiral National League 3 East Central A

Saturday 1st April 2023

PENARTH v Pontyckun

Athletic Field, Lavernock Road, CF64 3QH

Kick-off 2.30pm

Admiral National League Division 3 (East Central)

Saturday 25th March 2023

P W D L F A Pts

1 PENARTH 15 13 0 2 511 209 64

2 Llanharan 12 11 0 1 402 134 52

3 Pentyrch 11 9 0 2 330 149 43

4 St.Albans 13 9 0 4 309 222 42

5 Clwb Rygbi CC 13 5 1 7 226 234 28

6 Penygraig 13 5 0 8 263 345 26

7 Fairwater 9 5 1 3 165 173 25

8 Pontyclun 10 5 0 5 169 191 25

9 Canton 14 3 0 11 255 317 22

10 Cardiff Quins 12 3 0 9 170 493 15

11 Tylorstown 12 1 1 10 160 327 12

12 Old Illtydians 11 2 1 8 167 323 9*

* 4 points deducted