PENARTH ‘B’ 1-5 Swansea University ‘C’

Knowing that the winners would be De Cymru 3 leaders at the end of the day added a little extra frisson to the occasion, but it was student side that started quicker and, within a couple of minutes, were 1-0 up after a well-worked goal. Two further goals - one a contentious penalty flick - gave the visitors a comfortable lead by midway through the half, but Penarth gradually managed to find their feet and, despite losing James Davies to a dead leg, the Bears started to build some attacks of their own through Richard Cousins and Mark Robinson in midfield.

After going close through a couple of penalty corners struck by Nathan Townsend - one of which seemed to be stopped by a Swansea leg on the goal-line - a drive into the ‘D’ by skipper Dave Watkins resulted in his cross being diverted into the net by a Swansea stick, making it 3-1 at the break.

The second half proved to be much better for Penarth, as the defence of Simon Wilkinson and Matt Birch stopped the Swansea attacks with relative ease and provided the foundation for numerous quick breaks that should have resulted in a goal or two for the home side. That could have swung the game in Penarth’s favour, but they were made to pay for their wastefulness as they appeared to tire in the final five minutes, defensive errors twice gifting goals to a University side who would be the first to admit that the eventual 5–1 scoreline did not reflect the game as a whole.

Goalscorer: Dave Watkins