Last Saturday Old Penarthians travelled to Caerau Ely for their latest WRU division 5 East Central league match.

Before kick off however there was an impeccably observed minute’s silence to remember James Bennett who tragically passed away at the age of just 20.

It was a tribute that was repeated across the weekend at the 2nd XV match at home to Pontyclun, before the Women's fixture on Sunday against Ynysybwl and, most impressively, on Sunday morning by all the Mini & Junior teams, of which James had been a part for many years, and their opposition.

The club thanks all the participating teams and their supporters for their consideration and respect shown at this very sad time.

The match against Caerau was, however, not the celebration that should have followed such a tribute, and the end result was a loss by 26 points to 10.

The scoreline would suggest that it was a fairly one-sided contest, but this was far from the truth, with the Old Penarthians playing with an endeavour and spirit that ensured that Caerau did not run away with the match after they led 21-0 at half time.

The players were also able to maintain their discipline in the face of some high tackles from the opposition that saw three Caerau players shown yellow cards.

The first of these high tackles (which went unpunished) was in fact in the first minute when Charlie Wheatley caught the ball from the kick-off and ran into the opposition.

Old Penarthians and Caerau Ely engage at a scrum (Image: Supplied)

The resulting tackle left Wheatley bloodied, and it was an early debut for replacement Joey Morris.

From the outset, Old Pens tried to run the ball through their three-quarters and the first foray into the opposition half was led by Ieuan Harris, but he was well tackled, and support was slow to arrive.

It was Caerau who took the lead on seven minutes when a defensive kick missed touch, and Caerau ran back.

A couple of missed tackles conceded territory, and from a good ruck set up a try was scored, which was converted and Caerau led 7-0.

Caerau continued to attack through their forwards around the sides of rucks and mauls, and defensive lapses again saw Old Penarthians pressed back.

Two successive penalties for offside led to a quick penalty to the forwards, and they set up a ruck from which the Caerau outside half charged over for a try under the posts that was converted.

From the kick-off, Jak Davies and Josh Alcock competed for the ball and deflected it back to Liam O'Brain, who ran forward and was brought down illegally.

A penalty was awarded, giving Cae Williams the opportunity of an immediate scoring reply.

Unfortunately, the kick went wide.

From the 22m kick-off, Penarthians retained possession, and Rhys Stout sniped around the base of the ruck near the touchline and found Harris in support.

He made ground and passed to Tyler Carter on the wing, but he was bundled into touch.

Caerau then returned to the attack, and despite good defensive work by Jack Chandler, Alcock, Jak Davies and James Reynolds in the forwards, their efforts could not stop a third converted try from Caerau Ely on 38 minutes.

The defensive line stood firm, however, for the rest of the half and the interval score was 21-0.

Half time saw coach James Greenfield make changes, and Richie Moir, Carter and Alcock were replaced by Steff Davies (with Harris moving to outside half), Max Simmons and Joe Francis-Oaten.

The changes did not alter the desire for Penarthians to attack at every opportunity, and chances were created especially when Caerau were reduced to 14 players for the first time in the match.

Harris was again instrumental in the attacks with Williams, Jak Davies and Theo Simmons in support.

James Reynolds throws in at a line out to Josh Alcock (Image: Supplied)

Sam MacListon was then replaced with Reynolds moving to hooker and allowing Morris to return to the field after his brief appearance as a ‘blood-sub.’

A second yellow card after 18 minutes saw a kick to the corner.

The lineout from Reynolds was cleanly taken by Alcock (now returned after Wheatley required further treatment) and the maul was driven forward for Ellis Halliday to score a deserved try.

The conversion from the touchline was unsuccessful.

It was now Old Penarthians in the ascendancy and a breakout from within their own 22 by Francis-Oaten saw passes to Max Simmons and Reynolds, who sprinted 50m upfield only to be caught 10m short of the tryline.

His inside pass found Wheatley in support but he was also tackled in sight of the tryline.

Further opportunities were created, but the final decisions were ineffective, and chances were lost.

Completely against the run of play, Caerau then had their only visit into the Penarthians 22 in the second half following a couple of mistakes that were awarded penalties, and they were rewarded with a try that was unconverted after 37 minutes.

Penarthians did, however, not give up and, with the last play of the game, Jak Davies took a quick penalty five metres from the tryline and passed to Williams, who neatly flicked on to Steff Davies, who dived over in the corner for an unconverted try.

That brought the match to an end with a score of 26-10 in favour of the home team.

The Wales Nations Championship matches now take precedence for the next couple of weeks, and Old Penarthians do not return to action until November 21, when they entertain Tondu Athletic.