Rugby Club Issue 49 | Page 42

PENARTH PENARTH First established in 1880, Penarth RFC is a club which has achieved tremendous longevity, putting together a history of which they have every right to be proud. They were initially set up by Cyril and Llewellyn Batchelor, the sons of John Batchelor whose statue is in the Hayes Cardiff. “It will be a major boost for the 1st team if they are able to rely upon young players coming through the ranks to boost the squad. “ The team was originally known as the Batchelor XV but following an amalgamation with Penarth Dreadnoughts was renamed as Penarth Football Club. 124 years on they are still going strong and their current group of players will be keen to add to their illustrious past. Their first XV currently competes in Division 2 East Central of the SWALEC Leagues and are based on Lavernock Road in the Vale of Glamorgan. They are led by the team of President John Loughtrey and Chairman Mike Clare and are looking to progress under their guidance. They have not perhaps got off to the start to the season that they would have liked, having compiled a record of 1 win and 3 defeats from their first 4 matches. This sees them sitting in the bottom half of the table with 6 points on the board. The side will be keen to build on this record as the season progresses and a good run of form would see them quickly climb the table. So long as they are able to retain their current group of players they should have a good chance of pushing up the table as the campaign progresses. It will certainly be exciting to see how they are able to progress and one major reason for them to be optimistic is that they have already played some of the top teams in the league. Therefore, they will be well set up to piece together a good run of form if they can get the results to lift their confidence. So long as they generate that momentum their does not seem to be any reason why they won’t be able to claim a top half finish. 42 ISSUE 49