Our best is yet to come, insist Pentyrch chiefs Local rugby

PENTYRCH are well placed for a tilt at promotion to Division Two this season after a decent start – but their best is yet to come.

That is the view of club secretary Gareth Williams as he reflected on their campaign so far in Three East Central A, which is already a massive improvement on last term.

With six wins to their name in the league from nine games, that’s as many as in the entirety of the 2016/17 campaign where they finished 10th and only narrowly avoided the drop.

That brought about a change in the coaching team with Malcolm Jones taking over as head coach last summer and saw him team up with Phil Bartle.

And the duo have made an immediate impact with Pentrych currently fourth in the table, below third-placed Fairwater courtesy of having won a game less.

Meanwhile they are in touching distance of the top two promotion places – eight points behind leaders Abercwmboi with a game in hand and five behind Taffs Well.

Their final game of 2017 saw them narrowly defeated 13-8 at Fairwater and also ended a good run of three straight league victories.

They began the season with four wins on the bounce, over Llandaff, Fairwater and Treharris in the league as well as Treherbert in the first round of the WRU National Bowl.

A couple of slip ups then followed against Abercwmboi and Gwernyfed but, having defeated Cowbridge in the Bowl, they were knocked out of that competition at home by Three East B outfit Deri after a thriller in round three.

They bounced back with victories against Old Illtydians, Pontyclun and Llandaff before Saturday’s slip up against Fairwater.

Williams said: “The boys are really playing as a team – and for each other.

“We’ve also been able to get some former youth boys back who have been away and agreed to come back and play for the new coach.

“I also think on another day we could well have won the three games we lost against Fairwater, Abercwmboi and Gwernyfed and we have only not taken a bonus point in two of the league games we’ve played – so there’s nearly another two wins in itself.

“The boys would certainly aim to try and get back into Division Two but there are some very difficult teams in that league.”

Next up for Pentrych are home games against bottom side Treharris on Saturday and Gwernyfed on January 20, before a crunch clash with Taffs Well at the end of the month.

“I think we’ve still got our best to come,” continued Williams.

“The problem with us is that we don’t like these conditions; we prefer a dry pitch because we’re more of a running rugby team than forward-orientated – and we have some excellent backs there’s no doubt about that.”

Reflecting on his stand-out game of the season so far, Williams picked out the 23-16 win at Pontyclun back on December 9.

“We really stood up to be counted that day,” he added.