Honours even for Old Penarthians

7:20am Thursday 4th December 2008

OLD PENARTHIANS 5

PORTH 5

IT WAS A bitterly cold morning and Old Penarthians players were kept waiting for a seemingly inordinate length of time as efforts were made to determine the whereabouts of their scheduled opponents from Porth.

The bad news was that the visiting bus had failed to turn up and that desperate efforts had had to be made to secure alternative transport.

The good news was that the relief coach was now on its way to Penarth. Just how far away from its destination was, however, less clear.

So much so, in fact, that referee David Swain took full advantage of close residency to slip home and replace his boots with slippers as he benefited from the vastly superior temperatures indoors.

Eventually, the visitors arrived to a tumultuous reception from their hosts.

However, aware of the passage of time, the men from the Rhondda had taken the trouble to change on the way and they emerged from the coach ready for immediate action.

That was all very well except for the fact that their strip was an almost identical combination of the blue and gold colours comprising the Penarthians kit!

Frantic rummaging unearthed the alternative red and gold outfits that enabled the Old Boys to change and the players eventually took the field approximately one hour later than the scheduled time and with the prospect of barely 30 minutes each way in order to make the kick off of the Wales v Australia international.

It says much for the enthusiasm of the players, many of whom had not played for a month, that they were prepared to go to such extremes but it was almost inevitable that the ensuing proceedings fell far short of classic proportions.

Indeed, many of the aspects would have been as manna from heaven to the late Michael Green and worthy of inclusion in any addendum to his "Art of Coarse Rugby" manual.

Both sides included players of varying standards and differing age groups whilst an air of feigned antagonism prevailed with the presence of former Penarthians Andy Hopkins and Simon Hennessey in the ranks of the visitors.

Indeed, the gentle embrace used by Hennessey to greet fellow former Old Boys Skipper David Martin early in the game brought a reaction from the spectators that was scarce allowed to subside until the Penarthian postman extracted suitable revenge later in the half, both players earning a word of commiseration from referee Swain.

Passages of play tended to be brief with Penarthians prone to a propensity for dropping the ball before it had a chance to pass through two pairs of hands.

Gavin Davies was particularly skilful in this respect as he struggled to cope with the rapier like lobs from partner Nigel Edmunds.

To be fair to the outside half, however, he did tend to make up for that deficiency with some excellent defending.

With Porth the better drilled in moving the ball, Penarthians were grateful that Mark Smart and Paul Kemp in the back row plus Ben Wood at centre were also in fine defensive form.

Mark Curtis cut a particularly fine dash in a brand new pair of boots that he announced would be his last ever.

It is, however, difficult to see how he hopes to extract any real value from them when it is remembered that the last pair lasted him for 20 years!

Equally ironic was the second half power house pairing of Tim Rogers and Tom Parkinson. Rogers's 6ft 4in height meant that he towered over the diminutive Parkinson, even when the latter was lifted to the full extent of the home props reach.

Andy Hopkins brushed aside Penarthian cover as he crashed over for the unpopular try that enabled Porth to lead at the break although Chris Poole failed with the penalty shot that could have meant a reduction in the half time deficit.

The full back, however, made amends in the second session when his mazy run enabled him to thread his way through a myriad of would-be tacklers for a touchdown close to the posts. Astonishingly, he again failed to add the extra points but that error brought a touch of justice in that it enabled the two enthusiastic sides to share the spoils in the final 5 points apiece scoreline.

With the autumn international season now at an end, Penarthians return to league action this weekend with the Firsts facing a difficult task in the away trip to Cilfynydd.

The Pontypridd based side were relegated from Division 4 at the end of last term and made an inauspicious start to the new campaign when they lost on successive Saturdays to Barry and St Albans.

Since then, however, they have struck a rich vein of form in achieving the four wins that have hoisted them to third place in the table, their points for tally of 215 working out at an average of 35 points per game with a remarkable strike rate of 5 tries per outing.

The Old Boys will, however, be seeking to return to the winning ways that were in evidence prior to November, not only to consolidate their own place in the table but also to celebrate the recent success of Coach Jeff Norman in deservedly elevating his qualification to the prestigious level three of the WRU coaching award. This is an achievement applauded by all associated with the club.

Whilst the senior side is engaged away from home, the Seconds are also in action, hosting Llanrumney in a Cardiff and District league game at Cwrt-y-Vil, both matches scheduled to kick off at 2.30pm.