News

A CLOSE WIN FOR PENLAN AWAY AT YSTRADGYNLAIS WITH 5 TRIES APIECE

Penlan had secured a 20 – 7 win in their home game against Ystradgynlais in late March but they knew that meeting them on their home turf would prove difficult.  Penlan were still in with a slim chance of gaining promotion while Ystradgynlais had seen their chances close the previous week when they lost to Cwmllynfell.   

Conditions were ideal for rugby as referee Mr. Mark Davis from Loughor got the game underway with Penlan making the kick off.  Penlan went straight on the attack and at just 3 minutes had a scrum on the home 5 metre and, after some fast passing, scrum-half Bobby Scrine weaved through the defence to land a try at the corner.  Penlan were bolstered to have outside-half Steven Williams back in the team after injury and his safe kick gave his side an early 0 – 7 lead.

Just 4 minutes later Steven Williams made a long territory winning kick ahead which at least two Penlan players failed to gather in.  Ystradgynlais were quick to gain possession and chase down the wing, dodging past Penlan defence to cross for a try.  With a good conversion the score was a level 7 – 7.

It became evident that Ystradgynlais had a fast and able backline which demonstrated their capabilities less than 3 minutes later as they constantly put Penlan under pressure and steadily progressed the ball down the wing.  Their quick passing caught Penlan napping as they breached the defence and score at the corner flag for a 12 – 7 lead. Their conversion failed when the ball hit the upright.

The action was fast and furious from both sides playing excellent rugby and the score swung back to Penlan again at the 15 minute mark.  Second-row Kurt Velardo secured the ball for Penlan with a brave tackle resulting in a steady advance upfield until centre Stephen Davey made a quick pass to flanker Ian Scrine who shot over for a corner try.  Steven Williams made his second safe conversion kick to give Penlan the 12 – 14 lead.

At just after 20 minutes the safe boot of Steven Williams was to push Penlan to 12 – 17 from a penalty.  

5 minutes later the home side had a lineout in the Penlan 22 and swiftly worked the ball across field to the wing with their fast skilful play breaching the Penlan defence to cross the goal-line and run around behind the posts to land a third try.  Their second conversion kick put them back in front by 19 – 17.

For the rest of the first half Penlan were strong and dominant.  At about 30 minutes they had the scrum inside the home 10 metre.  The ball was advanced well into home territory but Ystradgynlais won possession.  Penlan were putting the defence under pressure though which led to them miss-kicking a clearance.  Centre Stephen Davey immediately seized the chance to gain possession and sprint clear for Penlan’s try number three.  A third safe conversion kick from Steven Williams meant the lead went back to Penlan by 19 to 24.

At 35 minutes the determined Penlan play continued when Ystrad secured a scrum near the half-way.  Penlan won the ball and with some fast passing it reached Luke Ford on the wing who sprinted up the touchline until he made a well timed offload inside to flanker Luke Brooks who crossed the line and ran around to the posts for his try, which earned Penlan their bonus point.  Steven Williams made his fourth good kick from four to give Penlan an impressive 19 – 31 lead at the half-time whistle.

The second half provided more exciting rugby from both sides although there was no change to the score until after 25 minutes.  Penlan forwards had proved to be a fair match for the opposition and when they had a lineout on the home 5 metre, second-row Kurt Velardo safely won the ball again which resulted in a determined push for the line until flanker Ian Scrine scored Penlan try number 5.  Yet another fine kick from Steven Williams advanced the score to 19 – 38.

In the final stages of the game Penlan looked to have gained a convincing win with no points going to Ystradgynlais, but that proved not to be the case.  Did Penlan ease up, thinking that the game was secure ?  Did Ystradgynlais find the grit to step up their game ?  Probably both, as at just past 30 minutes Ystrad secured their fourth bonus winning try with a push over scrum from the 5 metre.  The good conversion kick reduced the Penlan lead to 26 – 38.

Penlan had let Ystradgynlais back in the game but still looked to have a safe lead in the final stages of the game.  Just 5 minutes later though the lead was further reduced when Ystradgynlais evened the Penlan 5 try count from their lineout in their 10 metre.  Some excellent fast passing by the ever dangerous Ystrad back line breached the Penlan defence which, when safely converted left Penlan with a narrow 33 – 38 win.  Ystradgynlais may have been the losers but it was an amazing and gutsy comeback that earned them respect as well as two bonus points.

It was a valuable win for Penlan that kept them in third league table place.  With teams now having 6 fixtures left to complete the season, the final two promotion places are still to be decided.  Present leaders, Aberavon Quinns, with 85 points can be overtaken by both Brynamman and Cwmllynfell.  Penlan has a slimmest of chances of ending in second place which would need them to win their last two games against Cwmllynfell and Aberavon Quinns with bonus points.  Brynamman in second place would prevent Penlan’s chance if they gain two more points from their remaining game against Cwmllynfell.   The only thing that we can be sure of is that there will be some interesting games are on the cards in the final two weeks of the season.

The updated table under the “THE CLUB” website tab will show how close things are (subject to the true try count needing to be confirmed for Brynamman, Cwmavon, Cwmllynfell and Aberavon Quinns).  Also available are photographs of the game from Colin Rush which have been posted on the website gallery.  Others taken by Mike Evans will appear in due course on his website www.mike322.com.  

Next week Penlan will be at home to Cwmllynfell who will be playing the first of their remaining four games.  They need to win all four to be in with a place near the top of the table.  Penlan’s final game is the week after that when they are home again this time to Aberavon Quins on 21^st. May.

Other Division 2 West Central games on Saturday are currently reported as –

Brynamman 36  Aberavon Green Stars 17

Cwmgors 15  Cwmavon 32

Cwmllynfell 49  Nantymoel 16

Taibach 10  Aberavon Quinns 81