Whitchurch ‘C’ 0-8 PENARTH ‘A’

After a disappointing defeat on the opening weekend of the season, Penarth’s 2nd XI looked to get their first points on the board in De Cymru 1 with an away game against Whitchurch ‘C’, and it was a strong side – complete with a couple of summer signings - that made the trip knowing that nothing short of victory would suffice.

Penarth started well and dominated from the off, with Sam Docherty orchestrating from central midfield. Unsurprisingly, it did not take long for the pressure on the pitch to transfer to the scoreboard with Phil Lane converting an early penalty corner. Penarth soon doubled their lead when Dave Kidby tapped home at the back post, while further strikes from Steve Davies - with his first touch of the game - and Lane, with a sweet strike from the top of the D, made it 4 – 0 within 20 minutes.

Whitchurch looked shell-shocked but Penarth were playing excellent hockey and maintained their momentum with captain Sam Chick grabbing a fifth before Davies added a sixth before half-time.

The Vale side looked to keep up the intensity after the interval, but Whitchurch came out for the second half much more organised and enjoyed a spell of possession that led to a series of penalty short corners. During this period of play, however, a goalmouth scramble escalated into an altercation between Penarth goalkeeper Simon Comfort and one of the Whitchurch players, which saw Comfort receive a yellow card and time in the sin bin while his adversary was shown a straight red for violent conduct.

With no ‘keeper for ten minutes, Mark Thomas bravely offered to stand in as ‘kicking back’ only to find that his first duty was to face down another Whitchurch penalty corner. Defiantly, Thomas proceeded to charge the corner down, blocking the shot with his nether regions, which nicely cushioned the ball to Chick to start a Penarth breakaway. Chick duly took the ball upfield before slipping a pass to Chris McCarthy, who completed a hat-trick of assists by unselfishly squaring to Kidby for another tap-in.

With Penarth a man up for the majority of the second half, Whitchurch might have capitulated but, to their credit, they worked tirelessly to frustrate the Bears and limited the visiting side to just one further score, with Sam Salisbury continuing his strong start to the season by adding an eighth late on.

Goalscorers: Phil Lane (2), Dave Kidby (2), Steve Davies (2), Sam Chick, Sam Salisbury