Rugby Club ISSUE 87 | Page 76

PENARTH FOLLOW US ONLINE TWITTER.COM/RUGBYCLUBMAG Marcus Rees has had a long and positive association with Penarth RFC. He recently told Rugby Club Magazine, “My introduction to Penarth RFC came through a friend and I operating the club’s scoreboard on matchdays and as 15-year-olds it was a great opportunity to enjoy watching the Penarth team of the day! “Later on my son Tom joined the club’s junior section for a few years before spreading his wings to other sports followed by his brothers Iolo and Bransby who started with the clubs U7s. Iolo is now an U16 player, usually taking up the position of outside half and Bransby plays for the U12s as full back. Last seasons U15s produced some excellent performances and were deservedly recognised as the best side in the Vale. “Moving forward, the extra strength training the fitness coach has put them through during the summer months, is sure to build on last season’s performance. As a club Penarth have an excellent mini and junior section and structure supplying not only young players to the Blues but the national squad also. The club have a huge number of willing volunteers and parents who contribute tirelessly to help secure the club for future generations to come. “My company Romilly Financial have sponsored the club over the last few seasons and we enjoy giving back to the local community. I would like to congratulate everyone at Penarth Rugby Club on being chosen for this special edition of Rugby Club Magazine and our Directors and Staff at Romilly would like to wish the club all the very best of continued success for the 2019/2020 Campaign!” than I ever appreciated and keeping tabs on the WRU’s ever changing criteria and policies can be tiresome. But having enjoyed the benefits of the hard work put in by others over so many years it is rewarding to be in a position to pay back some of that and helping to build what will hopefully be a strong and prosperous club for the generations to come. “The atmosphere is probably as good as it’s been since I started. Having been lucky enough to play in two promotion winning sides in 2005-6 and 2009-10 I have seen how it feels to be competing at the top end of the 76 Issue 87 table, but over the last 7-8 years for a variety of reasons we have been generally struggling results wise and finally dropped in Division 3 East Central at the end of last season. “This year we have a great group of 19-24 year olds who have all come through the highly successful Youth setup together and they have reinvigorated the squad. We struggled early on as the younger lads found their feet but having been in a relegation battle with six games to go we pulled off a run of six bonus wins to finish in a credible 6th position. “It has been a definite upward curve. At Christmas time we could see the potential but we wondering whether it would come to fruition. But the return of five players who had spent the first half of the season trying to find themselves in south-east Asia and the realisation amongst the younger players that they were good enough to compete at this level it really came together in the final few months. “Now it is a case of onwards and upwards. The boys can’t wait to get back training and everyone is looking at a top 4 finish, pushing for