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PENLAN HOLD OUT AGAINST A STRONG NANTYFFYLLON

Once again this season Penlan where at a low point as they travelled to Nantyffyllon for their away fixture.  Further hit by missing players, due to work commitments and injury, they called upon their reserves to field a team that could present a full scrum throughout the game.  Unfortunately they encountered a very strong Nantyffyllon side that gave the Penlan forwards a strong challenge that would have proved difficult to the Penlan pack at their best.

Although Penlan have a burgeoning junior section, they suffer from not having a second or youth side which makes them venerable at the moment.  The club have had many successes in recent seasons but it is to their credit that they are able to bear these testing times with pride and loyalty.

Nantyffyllon are on the ascendancy and it was always going to be a hard game for Penlan with some players short on game experience.  It was apparent early on that the home side had the advantage over Penlan with a strong pack and some fast and able players in the backs.  In the first half they succeeded in securing a bonus point by landing four tries. The first in the corner at 8 minutes a second at 17 minutes between the posts, a penalty try at 23 minutes and the fourth, just 2 minutes later near the posts.  All four were well converted to give them 28 points.  Penlan never gave way though and their tenacity enabled a quick penalty taken by scrum-half Bobby Scrine to get the ball across field so that full-back Luke Davies could score a fine try with a powerful run through.  This gave the home side an impressive 28 – 5 lead at half time.

More grief came Penlan’s way in the second half with Nantyffyllon’s fifth try coming in under a minute when they got over in the corner. The conversion made it 35 – 5.  Yet another try for them came at 6 minutes when a unstoppable sprint up the wing secured a corner score for 40 – 5.

To their immense credit, Penlan players never let their heads drop and did all they could to make an impression.  They not only managed to stem the home momentum, but at 22 minutes, after constant hard work, were awarded a penalty. Some fast work by Penlan saw stand-in hooker Adam Glover sprint through the opposition to score near the posts.  A fine kick by Captain, Dafydd Pritchard, clawed back the score to 40 – 12.  It was a good run by Adam Glover estimated to be between 50 and 60 metres ?, I would point out though that the estimation did come from Adam himself.

The extra effort put in by Penlan had proved draining, while the home team had reserves that proved too strong for Penlan.  In the remaining quarter they were to score a further three tries, the first at 26 minutes in the corner after constant pressure.  Then near the posts at 37 minutes and finally their ninth try, dead on time between the posts.  Only the final try was converted which gave them an impressive 57 – 12 win.

Once again Penlan supporters left the field with disappointment but with immense pride and gratitude to the loyal players that had turned out and put on a brave display. 

Next week at least Penlan will be at home when they are against Cwmavon, who are also hoping for their first win of the season.  They are down in bottom place with Penlan but ahead with one point from 4 tries that they scored on Saturday against Maesteg Celtic.  Penlan are hoping to have some players back but it will clearly be another challenge for them.

Presently Division 2 West Central results are reported as :-

Brynamman 40   Ystradgynlais 16

Builth Wells 21   Morriston 10

Cwmavon 24   Maesteg Celtic 10

Cwmgors v Pencoed postponed

Nantymoel 25   Taibach 23