Seasiders enigma continues

7:40am Thursday 13th November 2008

PENARTH'S second season in Division 3 (SE) has begun with eight fascinating games which nonetheless give us few insights into just how the new coaching team sees it all coming together.

A solid fourth place in the league with games in hand on third-placed Brecon can't disguise the fact that it's already looking like a two-horse race - unless Treorchy or Llantwit Fardre suffer some sort of catastrophic loss of form any time soon.

There wasn't even much to learn from the Seasiders' two league defeats, both at home.

The St Peter's game was dominated by the referee and the result was something of a lottery, while the heavier defeat against a still-undefeated Treorchy playing a form of rugby league only pointed at the absence of a Plan B at the Athletic Field.

The four league wins weren't very instructive either, all being achieved by tidy scores, but exposing an alarming tendency to ship tries.

You simply can't challenge for promotion with a porous defence, no matter how many tries the full-back proposes to score.

Of course, Chris Roberts' 11 touchdowns in seven appearances have also proved something of a smokescreen when it comes to analysing Penarth's shortcomings and he's one reason why you simply can't write them off, no matter who the opposition.

The one aspect of the Penarth set-up that continues to delight and impress is the wonderful continuity of the structure through the hugely successful Mini-Junior-Youth-Senior set up at the club.

Apart from the huge pleasure the well-attended Sunday morning sessions at the Athletic Field bring to youngsters and parents, the results of the dedication of the coaches and organisers are clear to see in the consistent success of the Youth section and the steady supply of quality young players to the Senior squad.

Any success that Penarth RFC bring to the town today is built on this solid foundation and all sections deserve our enthusiastic support, as they genuinely are (and hopefully will be) the future.

Which brings us to Saturday, where the third round of the Swalec Cup takes the Seasiders away to First Division opposition, unfortunately in the all-too-familiar form of Penallta RFC.

The Ystrad Mynach club have stormed through the divisions since their admission to the league five seasons ago and the last time the teams met was in Division 4 (SE) during season 2005-6.

Penallta won both games, with the 15-23 win at the Athletic Field being a nail-bitingly close, low-scoring affair. The good news is Penallta seem to have found their level at last and are finding life in Div 1(E) a bit of a struggle as they fight to avoid relegation.

This leaves the Seasiders in with at least a puncher's chance, given their ability to conjure tries out of nothing, of going forward into the draw for the December 20 fourth round.