Penarth Hockey Club’s senior side continued to ramp up preparations for their first season in the highest echelon of the Verde Recreo regional league with a whirlwind trip across the channel to enjoy the hospitality of nouveaux amis Wattignies HC.

With memories of last year’s adventure in the European Club Championships in the Ukraine still lingering, the Bears made a two-day visit to northern France to take on a couple of local sides and continue to develop new patterns of play that will be essential if they are to maintain their march towards the UK national league. The trip also served a solid bonding exercise for the squad, which has welcomed new faces in Chris Hardy, Jake Connelly and Matthew Gray over the summer.

The original plan was that Penarth would play three French teams over the course of the weekend but a late development altered the schedule to include one match against Amiens before a double-header against hosts Wattignies.

Amiens 1-2 PENARTH

An early start from South Wales meant that the Bears took the field after a ten-hour road journey and 40-minute warm-up, and were quickly reminded of the robust nature of European hockey, which they had encountered at last season’s Ukraine tournament.

In temperatures reaching the mid -seventies, Penarth managed contained their opponents for the first half, with only the occasional incisive break and few real chances. Although the Amiens right winger constantly teased the Penarth back line with some good crosses, these were well smothered by the covering defenders and the half ended goalless.

The deadlock was eventually broken eight minutes into the second period, as the French side took advantage of Penarth’s failure to clear a speculative ball and opened the scoring. This set-back only spurred the visitors into a more positive passage of play, however, and it was captain Tom Haran – playing a more attacking role than usual – who capitalised, dispossessing an Amiens defender and before equalising with a neat finish.

The swift reply seemed to demoralise Amiens and, two minutes later, Chris Baker made a surging run past four players before finishing with a powerful shot beyond the French goalkeeper and just inside his right post. Having grabbed the lead, Penarth then calmly controlled the rest of the game to claim their first win of the modern era on European soil.

Wattignies 3-0 PENARTH

Unfortunately for the buoyant Penarth side, there were only 15 minutes to enjoy the success before returning to the field to play their second game of the afternoon.

The Wattignies club is based at one of France’s regional centres of excellence, and their potential was clear from the start, striking early and then going two up within the first ten minutes. Although Penarth dominated significant passages of play, they could not get back on terms, despite several shots going narrowly wide of the target.

The highlight of the game was probably Ben Croxall’s aerial ball that found an unmarked David Joyce some 40 yards downfield, but the striker’s ferocious first-time volley from the right-hand side of the ‘D’ was somehow deflected by the home goalkeeper to keep Penarth at bay. That was to be the Bears’ best chance of salvaging anything from the game and, as they pressed forward in search of a goal, fatigue and the heat took their toll, allowing Wattignies to add a third before the end to run out comfortable winners.

Wattignies 3-6 PENARTH

After an enjoyable evening barbecue provided by the hosts, Sunday saw a rested – and very determined – Penarth side take the field for the return match with Wattignies.

The Bears started the game in a controlled manner, with sensible play and good ball retention in the first quarter eventually allowing their press to open the floodgates. In stark contrast to Saturday’s game, the visitors dominated the opening period and, by half-time, they were 5-0 up.

The opening goal came from Ross Bigger, who capitalised on a neat interception with a fierce strike from the edge of the circle. Almost immediately, Croxall converted an obvious penalty, before Hardy opened his account for the club with a neat finish from a penalty corner. The goal of the tournament then followed, as fellow new boy Gray brilliantly rounded off a slick team goal involving most of the Penarth XI as they broke after clearing the ball from a penalty corner at their own end. The half ended with Baker running through the home defence before eventually firing past the local goalkeeper.

Perhaps complacent after the success of the opening period, Penarth relaxed a little after the break and paid the price. One very good goal and two gifted ones flattered the home side somewhat, but the result was still never in doubt, and victory was secured when Joyce neatly wrong-footed the Wattignies defence before making no mistake with a firmly-placed flick to the bottom corner to ensure that the ‘aggregate’ score over the two games was a cordial 6-6 tie.

The trip to Lille was the culmination of a lengthy pre-season build-up for Penarth’s 1st XI, who had already played several warm-up fixtures against local rivals – and national league stalwarts – Cardiff & Met. Although the Bears were beaten on both occasions, there is already clear development amongst a side benefiting from the extended pre-season campaign and playing against such strong competition. There is no let-up in the preparation either, with two fixtures this weekend, first at Sophia Gardens against Cardiff & Met (Friday 7pm) before Bristol-based Robinsons visit Stanwell on Saturday (1.45pm start).

With the 2018-19 league season now on the horizon, Penarth’s senior teams are gearing up for their respective Verde Recreo programmes, with a fifth team being added to the mix in the wake of recent successes. Although training and conditioning has been underway for the 1st and 2nd XIs since August, regular club sessions for both senior and junior players are due to begin again at Stanwell on Wednesday 12 September, with games starting for all sides later in the month.

Penarth Hockey Club always welcomes new, old and returning players, umpires, supporters, friends and helpers regardless of age and ability. Training resumes in September and will take place on Wednesdays at Stanwell School, with the juniors on the pitch between 6.15pm and 7.15pm and the seniors between 7.00pm and 8.15pm.

Anyone interested in joining the club at senior or youth level can contact club secretary Dave Stevens (d_stevens81@hotmail.co.uk) for further information.