News

J-Lo IS THE STAR OF THE SHOW AGAINST BRYNAMMAN

On Saturday, scrum-half Bobby Scrine was the Penlan man of the match in their home game against Brynamman but it was Sean (J-Lo) Lewis who was the star of the show with his last minute try that saw him run the entire length of the pitch and finally clinch the game for Penlan.

The pitch and conditions were ideal for rugby, except for some strong cold winds, as referee Mr. Gareth Butler from Llanharan got the game underway with Penlan making the kick off.

In their previous away meeting earlier in April the result had been a close 19 – 17 win for Brynamman and, as anticipated, Saturday’s game proved to be another close encounter right up until the final whistle.

Most of the initial play was in the Brynamman half as the teams tested each other.  Penlan were still temporarily missing some key players but it was not long before they settled into a team game to put the opposition under pressure.

At 15 minutes Penlan had a lineout on the Brynamman 5 metre from which they were awarded a penalty.  Man of the Match Bobby Scrine was, as ever, ready for any advantage and quickly seized the chance to advance the ball.  An excellent quick cross pass to Penlan Captain and flanker Robert Green, who charged through in support, was expertly taken and the defence was left standing as Robert went over for an important first try.   It was the eleventh try of the season for top try-scorer Robert Green and was converted to a 7 point lead when full-back Scott Davies made the kick.

The close game continued until the half time whistle despite Brynamman landing a penalty at 30 minutes and Scott Davies doing likewise for Penlan at 35 minutes to make it 10 – 3 as both teams took their break.

Head Coach Lee Banfield handed out guidance at the break with both sides knowing that the slim Penlan lead was too close for comfort.  As the second half got underway both sides knew that they would need to pull out all the stops to make headway.

In the early stages of the second half Penlan succumbed to the pressure and allowed Brynamman to chip away at their lead by conceding two successful penalty kicks at 5 and 13 minutes to make the score 10 – 9.

Penlan needed to call on all their skill and reserves to re-gain control and a second successful penalty kick from Scott Davies at 30 minutes stretched the gap slightly to 13 – 9.

Reversing this 4 point lead was well within Brynamman’s capabilities as they put Penlan under sustained pressure on their goal line in the final stages of the game.  The Penlan defence showed strength and ability to repeatedly keep the onslaught at bay with the majority of Brynamman deep in the home 22.  Brynamman knew that may have a 1 bonus point for being within 7 points but, lying in second table place, a 4 point win would be  crucial to their championship chase.

In those closing minutes it looked as if they might be able to rescue the win but the Penlan defence was strong and then, suddenly, Sean Lewis on the Penlan wing gained possession.  He was near the Penlan goal line when he saw a gap and immediately sprinted off down the touchline.  With Brynnaman desperately sprinting  across field to catch up, Sean had no room to manoeuvre being directly on the touchline and well clear of other Penlan players.  He just had to dig in and sprint the length of the field with spectators and team mates screaming “go J-Lo”.  It was the most exciting move of the game and, as Sean safely landed his second try of the season at the corner flag, it secured the Penlan win and cruelly robbed Brynamman of their losing bonus point by making the final score 18 – 9.  

It had been the closest of games but with Penlan winning through with a determined and well drilled performance.  Srum-half Bobby Scrine was deservedly awarded the Man of the Match by Penlan for his constant work throughout the game but it had been a true team effort with J-Lo’s last minute try likely to be remembered for some time.

Although still statistically possible, the championship and promotion chase is now a big ask for Penlan, leaving Aberavon Quinns, Brynamman and Cwmllynfell in the battle at the top.  Having played Brynamman on Saturday, the other two will have Penlan in their computations for the table as we play Cwmllynfell on Saturday 14^th. May at home, and Aberavon Quinns on a date to be confirmed, but also at home.  In the meantime Penlan’s next game is on this coming Wednesday 4^th. May at 6.30pm at home to Maesteg Celtic, which will be a contest for the fourth league place.  Then on Saturday 7th. May we have Ystradgynlais away, who are just one point ahead in the table but Penlan have 4 remaining games to their 2.  (See the updated results table under the website THE CLUB tab.)

Our resident photographers were, as ever, on hand to record the action and the pictures from Colin Rush have been uploaded to the Penlan Gallery and those from Mike Evans will appear on his website www.mike322.com in due course.

All results in Division 2 West Central are currently reported as –

Cwmavon 14  Nantymoel 19

Cwmllynfell 37  Ystradgynlais 23

Neath Athletic 28  Taibach 27

Penlan 18  Brynamman 9