Sunday 29th Janurary
Barry Bees 7 Pentyrch 2
And so we arrived in the Costa Del Barry, the pitch looking in pristine condition and the sun was beating down on us. Well that’s what the brochure promised but in reality the pitch wouldn’t look out of place up the valley’s on the side of a mountain and I’m not sure if it was foggy or it was a sulphurous haze from the nearby chimney’s. Either way it was freezing!
We must have won the toss and took the wise decision to play downhill and downwind to start.
Fat lot of good it did us!, as we were 0-2 down before we knew it. Our poor boys tootsies must have been a bit cold as we were reluctant to tackle anyone! Just to prove a point on how direct and quicker they were we fumbled the ball from our kick off and they went on to score. 0-3. Soon that became 0-4. Were they 4 goals better than us? I don’t think so. Were they sharper than us, quicker getting tackles in and tackling? Definitely! And so to our first decent passage of play which saw us get the ball out wide, where there was space and JW ran through to score the try..
Now regardless of what the coach said pre-match, rugby is NOT a game of 2 half's but 4!
2nd Half !
Back to where we left off, poor tackling and lots of knock on’s. 1-5. There then followed a period of good play by out Tyrch’s but unfortunately another knock on cost us , 1-6.
Morgan then scored by running direct and taking a couple of their guys on, 2-6 and then Barry ended our game by running in another try. So it finished 2-7.
Just to paint a complete picture, our official photographer managed to get just 4 action shots of the Tyrch’s!!
Barry 2 Pentyrch 4
So to game 2 period 1 against Barry, not to be confused with Barry Bee’s who we just played. Would a change of pitch change our fortunes?
Well the starting signal wasn’t the best 0-1. We then seemed to pick our game up and get stuck in, maybe the Tyrch’s just needed a longer warm up! 1-1 With OS scoring in the corner. Not to be out done the other Oli then scored to make it 2-1. Then after another good period of play DJ made it 3-1! This was more like it. The half, quarter, eighth ended 3-2.
Last quarter – And a great start by the Tyrch’s, at last some decent tackles on their, ahem, ‘chunkier’ chaps, and these period was out best but surprisingly we only scored one more try – JB. And so it ended 4-2.
The sun never did come out and we went straight home as I didn’t fancy an ice cream.
Coaches award went to Cai, well done to him and everyone for their efforts today.
Sunday 15th Janurary
Penarth v Pentyrch
Today’s Match report is called ‘Great Expectations’ - Why?
After our stunning victory last week I was really interested to see if we could sustain it going forward,
Chapter 1
‘Twas a sunny but breezy day on the headland of Lavenock point. At 10:40 i wondered where everyone else was and after several frantic phone calls realised we were in fact at the wrong ground! Hey it could have been worse, we could have driven to Bridgend way!!!
So the boys mad dash from the only available parking spot, miles from the entrance constituted their warm ups.
Chapter 2
And so battle commenced, and we were to be led by the one we call Queen Sophie of Pentyrchial. Things didn’t start too well with our Queen Bee flattened in one of the first tackles! And before I’d really settled in we were 1 nil down, followed by 2, then 3! Thank goodness for half time, this will give us the guiding impetuous we need. 4 nil. Now I have said it before and I’ll say it again – PARENTS – we don’t have enough larger chaps in our midst and its your job to, well fatten them up. A sterling effort has been made by one of the parents, taking their son to an international fattening camp over Weinacten period, but really we seem to say this after every team we play – ‘Gosh they had a fair few larger chaps on their side’. You don’t? Really? It’s only me? I need to lay down.....
So back to the action and after the larger chap bulldozed his way through to make it 0-4 we then decided that it would be a good time to make a contribution to the proceedings.Gethin whizzing down the left hand side, or right just depends on where you were standing I suppose, and going over for our 1st reply 1-4. This was it I could sense it, even the sun was getting a little warmer. Brilliant tactical play and poor defending meant another 2 try’s. Sadly not ours! 1-6. Gethin then scored another to make it 2-6, but it was not going to be our game. A Penarth player then rode through 6 ‘tackles’ before going over for the 7th and last try.
Chapter 3 - (extra games)
New team, new hopes. We started really well, harking back to last weeks performance and had the ball and possession for about 5 minutes but just unable to get over the try line. Penarth had the ball but we turned it over and Dan J scored our 1st of this game 1-0 Straight from the KO they scored 1-1 Dan J then went over for his and our 2nd at the stroke of half time 2-1.
There had been some great rugby played in that period, so I was really looking forward to the next half. We started well with some great pressure and again we soaked it up defensively as well as doing all the things we should be, like recycling the ball, keeping possession, passing well etc This was a thoroughly enthralling half and right on the death Griff went over to make it 3-1!
Chapter 4
A great start with Dan Cross-ing over (See what i did there!!) to score our first. We a great passage of play and a good driving run to make that try. Penarth then made use of our bunching and ran uncontested down the wings to score 1-1 Change of tactics from Penarth and they ran straight thorough the middle of us 1-2, soon to be 1-3. Dan C then scored his second to peg us back to 2-3 at half time.
Second half began 2-4, 2-5, but we never gave up and kept plugging away at them 3-5 great try by Abbie. Unfortunately Penarth were too strong for us and won 3-7.
Chapter 5
By now ALL the other games around us had finished, so had the food and the caretaker was waiting to lock up!! We soldiered on but soon were 0-2 down. A try back by Joe W gave us hope but the 3rd Penarth try just before half time was always going to prove a difficult score to overcome. We started the 2nd half really well and made good progress up towards the try line but gave the ball away at a crucial point and from that Penarth scored. 1-4 Penarth were sharper and punishing us. 1-5 They were to score once more to make the final score 1-6.
Chapter 6
So we didn’t come away with a victory but we played a tough tackling team who were very tactically aware and equipped ourselves well.
Better luck next week, and I’ll be handing over the Pen Of Power to Mark for the match report and look forward to reading it.
Steve White
Sunday 8th Janurary
St Peters 4 Pentyrch 12
You know my usual repertoire of unfunny observations based loosely on a strange shaped ball game, well today's is going to be different.
I went to see Cardiff Blues V Some other team playing in blue (And you wonder why I get confused!!!) on Saturday night, yes I know ME watching rugby!!
The game was ok and Cardiff lost.
Fast forward to Sunday afternoon to watch the mighty Tyrch's play St Peters.
Lovely sunny-ish afternoon, the waft of bacon drifting across the pitches and a slightly lesser, but equally eager, crowd gathered.
To empathise how different this report is going to be - we won 12-4. But that's not the story here. It's the manner in which we won 12-4.
The boys were superb! I have never seen tackling like it, I have never witness great ball control, the way we sustained pressure (sometimes right on our try line!) and managed to keep our heads and get the ball back. Some of the individual runs, some of the kids jinks were just out of this world.
We scored 12 'try's' and from 10 different players!
For the record the try scorers were JW, Morgan, Griff, DC (2) MFL, DJ, Gethin, Connor L (2) JB, and TJ.
All in all I'm never going to pay to watch rugby again, not when I can get it in it's purest from right on my doorstep (OK, technically we were away and I don't live in Roath/Splott, but you know what I mean!!)
I had many a parent coming up to me commenting on both individuals and the team. (Someone likened a particular run to Phil Bennetts, and I couldn't agree more.) No that's right I have no idea but nodded appropriately when the comment was made!!
There could only be one winner today and that was The Tyrch's for their sterling efforts on Sunday. The player singled out was Joe W for some amazing tackling during the game and getting a try, so well done to him but honestly a big thank you to everyone involved as it was an absolute joy to watch.
Steve White
Sunday 11th December
Pentyrch 6 Dinas Powys 5
On a drizzly soggy wet morning in Parc Y Dwrlyn, the mighty Under 9’s took the field against an under strength (well less numbers than needed) – Dinas Powys. The Team mangers arranged the usual arrangements for the game ahead and 4 quarters of 10 minutes were agreed, but we needed to wait for more players to arrive. After another 10 minutes had passed and the Tyrchs were getting cold we offered them some players and away we went after both Joe W and Abigail kindly volunteered to play for them. - the spirit of rugby is alive in Pentyrch – Well done Joe and Abi (and Dan X and Ben who played in Dinas in the 2nd half)!
So to the game, was it wise, Joe and Abi playing for the opposition?? Answer, no, both of them played really well for Dinas!
We kicked off and away we went with some good passages of play from both sides, some great attacking lines, and some great defence from Dinas thwarted us. There followed some great defence from the Tyrchs, enabling us to turn the ball over and after some great interlinking and ball retention Oli S to wriggled across the line for the opener; 1-0. So, to the kick off and they scored to make it 1-1. Following the restart, and some sloppy play, we turned the ball over just over the half way line. Then (we)scored, well they did; but as it was Joe W, who scored it was really us, but back to the try, Joe W scored a great try in the corner for Dinas after switching the play from left to right to score; 1-2.
Straight from the restart, we had more determination about us, some simple rugby straight up the middle, with some easy recycling and off loads allowed Morgan to cross for his first of the day; 2-2. Unfortunately the game had now become a bit loose and Dinas crossed again through weak tackling (indoor training isn’t helping the tackling), they crossed for a well deserved lead 2-3. There followed are period of good play from our young Tyrch’s; plenty of good passing and interlinking, culminating in a score from Morgan to make it 3-3. There were only seconds left of the first half when our poor tackling allowed them to score in the final moments of the half, the score 3-4 at the end of the half.
It was end to stuff from the kick off. In the wet conditions ball handling was good - ish?. Tom made some key inroads into the opposition’s territory. It was definitely a day for the forwards demonstrated by Joe N, Sophie, Ollie L “sticking the ball up their jumper” and making some hard yards. Then, for me, came the highlight of the game from an attacking Dinas breaking down the line, Gethin “corner flagged” their player and made a superb tackle stopping a certain try. Following the subsequent turnover Joe W (now playing for the Tyrch’s) linked well with Matthew to open up the opposition with only 10 metres to go the ball was passed out to Gethin to score a great team try, score now 4-4. After such a promising start to the second half it was disappointing that Dinas immediately pulled one back – perhaps our Tyrchs were tiring? Score now 4-5. But no, Ioan made a good break running with the ball in 2 hands. The next phase resulted in Ollie S making a great break linking with Dylan and Gethin taking the ball to the Dinas line with only yards to go the ball was passed out to Morgan making his hat-trick, 5-5. From the restart great pressure from the Tyrch’s resulted in a knock on from Dinas. From the resulting scrum Gruff made a great break running half the length of the pitch with only a few metres to go could he make the pass to Joe W on his shoulder? No, some good tackling from Dinas dashed this opportunity. Quick recycled ball out to Connor allowed him to break through the Dinas defence to make it 6-5, and this how it ended.
As you can see from the above report, everybody played well today, it’s just a shame they still seem half asleep in the first quarter! The Coaches Award this week went to Abigail for her determined play for both Dinas and Pentrych – well done Abigail.
Cowbridge 11 Pentyrch 6
Sunday 4th December
So to another sunny Sunday and another must win game, but we really needed to win this, something about family smugness and bragging rights in the Duke of Wellington afterwards.
So the teams lined up and we lost the toss, a bad omen!
Whilst sorting out my very technical equipment and looking at the size of some of their player I missed the first try. 0-1 Right I’m ready now, my tape recorder has given up the ghost so its back to good old fashioned pen and paper. Damm – 0-2. We gave the ball away twice and got punished twice. Make that 3 time 0-3.
During the last 3-4 minutes of this 1/5 (Yes i know it’s a game divided equally into quarters but trust me today we had 5 quarters and I don't want to start that whole discussion again!!) we held the ball and camped Cowbridge in their own half.
Hopefully we’ll start this 1/5 brightly as we finished well...... 0-4. What’s happening guys!! Simple passing going amiss, not holding onto the ball. Did we need Gwyn to wash the bad mojo off it again? MF-L then got the ball and started a new thing that we hadn’t witness thus far – it was a fairly simple tactic and involved holding the ball and walking fast, no lets say running in a straight line at Cowbridge. Blimey they didn’t like that at all! He managed to get really close to the try line but tackled A great shame. The ball was then lost after a while and Cowbridge scored number 5. The main difference thus far was that Cowbridge looked sharper, were more up for it, and straight onto us. We would pass and politely invite pressure onto us. When we did have the ball it resembled the bad old days, dare I say ‘Crugby’???
And so the 2nd fifth finished 0-6
We had another toss up and again lost that. Things were certainly not going for us. At least it was sunny. Well sometimes! Then Morgan powered through and scored our 1st try, please don’t let it be the only one! (Bit of a strange one as everyone was stood still and he just seemed to walk through and score – they all count!!) Could this be it? Could this be our finest hour? Could this be the comeback of all come backs? No! 1-7. Undeterred we carried on and Morgan scored another 2-7, again good driving and pressure. Some good work by Abbi, set up Morgan (I think.) For his 3rd... 2 more try’s killed us off so at the end of that 1/2 it was 3-8
4th Fifth. Cowbridge scored first 3-9 and then Connor went over to make it 4-9. Could we get near them, 4-10 with Tom scoring a great try. Then 6-10! (Callum) Dare we dream? The ref then blew up and this is where the uneducated amongst you would have assumed that that was that and foolishly packed things away and started to prepare yourself for the long journey home in the warm car, but not me as I am on the ball,, alert, aware and well you get the idea.
So we kicked off for the last 1/5 which I saw and was NOT scrabbling round the kit bag trying to find my pen and match clip board. Also rumours of me having to be called back as I was on my way are wide of the mark also.
Cowbridge scored 6-11. There then followed a long period of play when we had the ball and seemed to keep it well. It reminded me of Munster's play last night where they had 48 phases (Thanks for the insider knowledge Damien!!) and I’m sure we beat that! After all that we couldn’t get that pesky ball over the line but Cowbridge managed it one more time. And so it ended 6-11
Coaches Award went to (Dan J), although it was a close run thing between Dan and Matthew.
Porthcawl v Pentyrch
Sunday 27th November
Porthcawl 11 Pentyrch 11
A lovely sunny day by the seaside and my first ever trip to Porthcawl RFC, not my first trip ever to Porthcawl, as that would just be madness, what living in Cardiff and never having been to Porthcawl before, I mean what kind of girl would that be!!!
We won the toss and kicked off. Now some of you may spot my first deliberate mistake. Yes, I was stuffing a bacon roll so missed the kick off!
First passage of play and we tried the 'Run onto the ball at speed and try and get some ground' manoeuvre. I really must think of a snappier title for that! Any suggestions??
Any way it worked and we instantly gained a good 5 yards.
We kept the ball well for the next 3-4 minutes constantly holding onto the ball when tackled and laying it off ready for the next phase. We made slow but steady progress up the field and if the opposition cannot get the ball, they cannot score! So because we are very fair we fumbled the ball on their try line, deliberately I'm sure and let Porthcawl have a go.
Now it never ceases to amaze me that whoever we play, they seem to have 1 or 2 bigger chaps, and I mean head and shoulders bigger chaps than us. This Xmas you all have our blessing to gorge and stuff all holiday and hopefully every team we play will say the same about us!
Back to this game, and it was a real treat to watch, good passages of play by both teams, some great tackles and we made progress, albeit slow, but hey, it was progress! Then when we were defending we were getting stuck in and tackling. It was very obvious that this game was going to be a close contest and Porthcawl drew 1st blood. 0-1. We continued to make slow progress up the field but everyone was bunched today and we had no width. 0-2.
We didn't give up and continued our game and got our just rewards by a try at the death 1-2. The ref, who I thought was brilliant throughout the games, blew for the end of the first half, or quarter, or sixth, either way it was time to stick my hands in my pockets as it was sunny but not really warm!
Refreshed, replenished, re-grouped and on the pitch. Go Tyrchs!
The halftime (quarter time) talk must have done then good as they looked ready and up for it. 1-3 My mistake. Notable contributions in this period of play Jamie AND Dan who were making great runs and Callum for his awesome tackling. That is tackling properly and not pulling at your opponent’s shirt and dragging them down! 2-2 Gruff. Found a bit of space and ran into the try area thingy. 3-2 Jamie! Great try – he picked the ball up and made a great diagonal run into the corner.
4-2!! Gruff again picking up the ball and running straight and hard. His 4th try. Sterling defending couldn’t stop Porthcawl’s big number 1 crashing over 4-3. And so another quarter time came. Great performance by the Tyrch’s. 3rd quarter then and Pentyrch kicked off. As dedicated first aider also today I may missed the odd thing or two as evidenced by the next announcement on my tape recorder (I’m not going to call it a dictaphone because everyone sniggered!) Great try Score now 5-5. I think next week I’ll be reverting to pen and paper!
There then followed a rugby ritual that I had never seen before, the ceremonious washing the bad mojo off the ball which Gwyn performed brilliantly. 2 more tries were scored 1 each before the whistle went for the end of the 3rd quarter.
Porthcawl kicked off for the last quarter and scored straight away thus making the score 27-42. (I think), Try by Morgan to bring the score to 38 –49.
JB then scored a brilliant try picking the ball up in our way and took it out wide side stepped a player and ran into the corner. 48-52. Jamie, who obviously enjoyed the feeling of scoring, stepped up again and scored his 2nd and the Tyrch’s 58th. Morgan then scored again to make it 98-67 and there couldn’t be long left, surely? All we needed to do was get the ball and kick it out and we’d win..... oh sorry we don’t do that yet! Porthcawl got the ball over our try line and as if by magic, the ref blew for the end of the game.
The final score was in fact 11-11 and a fair result!
The coaches were very pleased at the end of the game, nearly as pleased as we all were.
Hope you enjoyed your first trip to Porthcawl Lindsey!
Pentyrch v Rumney
Sunday 20th November
Pentyrch 4 Rumney 6
So we all turned up at the right place, at the right time, with the right kit and the right numbers.......but where were Rumney? I don't know, maybe a bit hung over but we'll get to that later!
And so it began, eventually. (At least the Tyrches were nice and warm!!)
Rumney kicked off and immediately attacked us. I think the 30 mins warm up was too much for us as we looked a bit sloppy. Now you may have noticed my absence, due to jetting off to warmer climes (Florida and London), so I was really interested on how we had progressed. I seem to re-call a lot of knock on's, missed tackles and general 'sloppiness' Frustrating for the coaches as well as spectators, oh and me in the press room!
Rumney seemed as though they were camped in our half and we struggled to get it out of it. I think we weren't helped by constantly changing the team (which I fully agree with) whilst Rumney only had a bare 10 so all had to stick with it. Our Tyrch's were also dropping like flies and we had one injury after another to contend with.
It came as no surprise that Rumney scored but that was the last action of the 1st Quarter.
So start of the 2nd quarter and we started brightly and made good progress up the field, but a handling error immediately put the ball into Rumney's hands and they made their way easily towards our try line. Rumney then 'scored' but this was dis-allowed for some rugby related rule, which is very in depth and complicated. if you wish to know more let me know and I'll explain it. So it remained 0-1.
The wave of blue continued and I noticed that we were tackling too high. Rumney had a couple of 'fuller' chaps but they all fall down when tackled properly. 0-2 to Rumney.
We then started to control the game better with some breaks and strong running by Gruff and Morgan but again not getting the handling right and losing the ball really close to the try line. Then we got the try we deserved by OS. 1-2
Again Rumney hit us right at the end of a 1/4 - 1-3 End of second quarter.
3rd quarter - Straight from the kick off Rumney had perfected the, what I like to call, 'Pass the ball and someone runs AT SPEED onto it and rushes forward making lots of ground' tactic. I'm sure other rugby buffs have their own variants of this, and maybe its a more snappy title, but we didn't do it well on Sunday and they did! Anyway they did it and scored. 1-4
The Tyrchs then seemed to get into the groove and started spraying the ball around, and making Rumney work hard, which they did. A few encouraging bursts of speed from some of our players gave most of us hope that we could make the score a better reflection on our efforts. I mean I was struggling with a new fandango machine that recorded my voice, so no pens. Most people look at me and think I'm a bit odd, well talking into my small hand held device didn't allay any of those myths!
Rumney were turning the screws and their no 20 (Red sleeves) really stood out.
Dan J on his debut for the mini rams then scored a really good try by picking the ball up and running with pace and purpose and got across the line. 2-4.
Sunday's comedy moment was supplied by MFL who began tackling a player half way in our half and by the time the Rumney had got near the try line MFL had slipped down to his legs and toppled him over, but to be fair he held on and got him in the end, Consistent pressure paid off 2-5. At least Rumney didn't score right at the death like the other 2 quarters, and we had time to get back into it!
But we didn't as the whistle went.
So last quarter. Started as the rest of the match had gone on before. Pressure by Rumney forcing us back into our half. No 20 (Red sleeves) then scored - 2-6 .
I was doing my Florence Nightingale bit for yet another injury when Tom scored to make it 3-6.
We had lots of the ball in this quarter but didn't gain much in the way of ground as Rumney hemmed us right in.
We still had signs of what we normally produce and that was evidenced by a great run by MFL just being tackled prior to the try line and a short time later he did the same but this time crossing the line 4-6 and game on!
So were we going to catch a weary Rumney? No as the ref blew the final whistle. 4-6 it is.
A bitterly cold day in Pentrych, lots of injuries, lots of team changes constantly during the game but a great effort. Coaches award was given to Dylan (FIX FIX FIX!!!!!) who played well and had a couple of notable runs.
CRICC v Pentyrch
Sunday 13th November
CRICC 3 Pentyrch 4
Again a lovely sunny day for great running rugby - well that was the plan, if not what happened!
The TYRCHS took the field with a stealy determination to succeed, however before the game could start both teams respected a minutes silence for remembrance Sunday, which they all respected impeccably.
So to the game, the pitch was a little narrower than what we were used to, this meant we needed to change our tactics. Cricc kicked off and took the ball straight up the pitch going through several phases they managed to cross the line to take an early lead. From the restart, the tyrchs retained possession and although maintain good pressure CRICC worked hard in the tackle area and kept us out. End of Q1; 1-0
The 2nd 1/4 started very similar to the end of the 1st, with sustained pressure from the TYRCHS and some great passages of play for Dan Cross to cross the line for the first of his 2 tries of the day. CRICC restarted with the scores all level, the game was going to be tight, but with sone good tackling from Sophie, Joe N and Dylan the ball was turned over. We then progressed up the pitch with some determined running from Tom and Morgan, Joe N then ended up just short of the line and recycled the ball well, the ball was passed through the hands several times and eventually found it's way to Dan Cross to cross for his 2nd of the day. The TYRCHS continued to play well, although not the usual expansive game we are used to, but more "ball up your jumper" and recycling on a regular basis as the way out wide was constantly being closed off. The game remained tight and the 1st half finished 1-2 to the Tyrchs!
The 3rd quarter continued in the same vein as the previous two, a new Tyrch side took the pitch, but with the sane steely determination as the previous Tyrchs. The game tooing and froeing from end to end, the TYRCHS tackled well and a great tackle from Oli Stockdale kept out CRICC after a great break from one if their players, who had broken through our line yet still the heart was there to keep them out. The TYRCHS turned the ball over and made their way up the pitch through determined runs from Joe W, Matthew and Abi. Finally we were near their try line again and after some great close play the ball was passed out wide, and Gethin with his usual balanced run, made it over in the corner to make the lead 1-3 at the end of the 3rd 1/4.
The final quarter started to open up and with great handling from the TYRCHS we played some great rugby moving the ball along the line from side to side, Abi was so close to the line to score her 1st try, just inches short, but unfortunately we turned the ball over for CRICC to make another break out of their own half to score to bring the scoreline within 1 again. The game continued to open up which suits us better and again after some hard work from the whole team we moved the ball up field drawing in the defense to allow our fast boys space to run. The ball was kept tight moving up the field then spread wide on several occasions, how appropriate that Gruff got hold of the ball with still a lot of work to do, but his junking run opened the try line up for him to cross for his 1st and TYRCHS 4th of the day. With only minutes remaining, CRICC from the restart broke through once again to make the score 3-4 to the mini rams.