Match Report

Swansea & District Section A

Fall Bay XV 21 v Penclawdd 2^nd XV 13

Match Report

Penclawdd travelled to Scurlage, Gower for their second meeting of the season with Fall Bay RFC who narrowly won the first match 8-7.

On a bitterly cold day, Fall Bay took the game to Penclawdd and their early pressure was rewarded with a deserved try on 10 minutes. FALL BAY 5-0 PENCLAWDD.

However, Penclawdd struck back immediately when Stuart Barrow made an excellent burst into the opposition ‘22’ and from the resulting scrum he picked up and powered past the home defence to score 15 metres out on the right. FALL BAY 5-5 PENCLAWDD.

Immediately from the re-start the Fall Bay forwards won possession and surged towards the Penclawdd line. An infringement at a ruck allowed Kirk Riorden to slot an easy penalty to take the score to FALL BAY 8-5 PENCLAWDD.

Much of the remainder of the first half saw Penclawdd being pinned in their own half by their opponents with Robert Gunnell, Gareth Swistun and Stuart Barrow showing good defensive skills. Gunnell also displayed good midfield skills with some strong running at the home three-quarter line. They did manage a further score after good ‘box’ kicking from James Banks took play into the Fall Bay half. Stuart Barrow robbed Fall Bay of their lineout ball and ploughed into the home defence who infringed to allow Gareth Swistun to add a penalty.

Half Time: FALL BAY 8-8 PENCLAWDD

With the wind at their backs Penclawdd were hoping to exert some dominance on this match. However it was Fall Bay who again were on the offensive and were guilty of squandering a number of scoring opportunities but were also denied by a resilient Penclawdd defence with Robert Gunnell to the fore and some good ‘hits’ coming in from Chris Isaac and Paul Wilcox.

However, Penclawdd broke out of defence when No.8 Stuart Barrow gathered a loose ball and galloped 35 metres to beat the cover defence to the line for a brilliant score. FALL BAY 8-13 PENCLAWDD

Unfortunately the home side then took complete control of the game and pinned Penclawdd in their own half with some excellent forward driving and tactical kicking. This resulted in a try by forward John Grove who was driven over by his pack to take the score to Fall Bay 13-13 Penclawdd.

Two minutes later, Kirk Riorden added a penalty goal after Penclawdd strayed offside. Fall Bay 16-13 Penclawdd.

Despite the introduction of Tim Jones, Jon Sellick, Mike Davies and David Lewis, Penclawdd were unable to gain any further ascendancy and conceded a late try by flanker Peter Morris.

Final Score: FALL BAY 21-13 PENCLAWDD

Tries: Stuart Barrow (2)

Conversions:

Penalty Goals: Gareth Swistun (1)

Penclawdd Man of the Match: Robert Gunnell