Chapter 8
Modern St. Peter’s (the 1980s)
The new decade began with a shock for the baseball team in an early match. Mike Lloyd was captain and decided to take his team off when playing in a tropical downpour. The referee seemed to think that everyone had got so wet that there was no point in calling the game off, as is the custom in baseball when the weather is really bad. Lloyd, an experienced player and former Welsh international, did not foresee the consequences and the Club was banned by the Welsh National Baseball League. Although the ban was lifted after an appeal to the Welsh Baseball Union, it unsettled the side which could have won promotion with a better start. Mike Lloyd had to put up with many jokes about walking off in the season that followed but it was not funny at the time.
Paul Barry stood down after three years as captain and Bobby Diamond was elected in his place. The team lost two of the players who had done so much to create a running side the previous season when Geoff Wyatt left to establish himself as the Glamorgan Wanderers’ outside half and young fullback Anthony Hadley moved away to work. Diamond’s side played a tighter game but had one asset which had been denied to their predecessors, namely a good goal kicker. Chris Bird in his first season out of the Youth team proved to be the most accurate kicker St. Peter’s had ever possessed. Although the team did not score as many tries as the previous year, Bird kicked with such consistency that he amassed 302 points a new Club record. He was not a long kicker but his percentage rate of success was extremely high. It helped take the team to 30 wins and 2 draws from 40 matches, a 78% achievement, the best since the Club had entered the W.R.U. They finished third in the East District Championship and were prominent in the Silver Ball with 8 wins from 10 games. Gerald Camilleri, the youngest of the brothers, scored 17 tries mainly for the 2nds while Michael Chadwick got 15 for the 1sts. Bobby Diamond, Stephen Cooper, Sean Murphy and Colin Robinson played for the East District and Diamond and Cooper were awarded caps. Michael Chadwick was selected for Glamorgan County.
There was no change among the Club officers but Mike Coughlin became the representative on the Cardiff and District Committee, a post he still holds. However Team Managers were introduced for all the senior sides in 1980. Since there were no general Committee members on the Management Committee a large burden had always fallen on the captains of St. Peter’s teams and the Team Managers were a great success in helping with the administration of the teams. Perhaps the most pleasing feature was that Managers were found for all three teams. Even today when the Club runs five senior sides each one has a Team Manager.
Martin Thomas led the 2nd XV to 19 wins and three draws from 39 games while the 3rds under Eugene O’Brien were very successful with 20 wins from 30 games.
In spite of the 1st XV results there was no doubt that the Youth side were the stars of 1980/81. With David MacCormac as captain they began well in spite of injuries to various players including the captain and the loss for most of the season of the kicker of the previous year Andy Bird, Chris’s younger brother, who was away at college. In 1979/80 Andy had been preferred to Chris as the Youth kicker, though the seniors a year later found that difficult to believe. In his place Stephen Matthews took the opportunity of setting a new Youth record with 241 points and no less than 39 tries. Brendan Walsh scored 30 tries from the wing and as the season progressed it became clear that only a very fine team would be able to beat St. Peter’s. By the end of the year all 37 games had been won and the side became the only St. Peter’s team ever to win all its games. A total of 1,117 points were scored in an orgy of open play. It was the inaugural year of the East District Youth Championship and St. Peter’s won every game with ease but found Old Illtydians worthy opponents in the final before becoming champions. They also were awarded the Carrefour Cup as the outstanding team in Cardiff and District. Six players played for the District team – David MacCormac, Andy Ryan, Stephen Matthews, Paul Deacy, Brendan Walsh and Gareth Snook. The only disappointment was that the Club was still awaiting its first direct Youth cap. MacCormac’s injury spoilt his chance but Deacy was selected for the Welsh Youth Squad, played in a representative game yet was not selected for an international. It was a season for the Youth Committee to treasure and one virtually impossible to follow.
The Youth also won the Worcester sevens, the Cardiff and District Sevens Plate and the Plate in the senior Cardiff and District event. The seniors retained the Pontyclun Sevens for a third year and gave a good account of themselves in the other Tournaments. Paul Barry became the Secretary for the Nazareth House Tournament. At the Club Sevens a total of 10 teams were formed. The usual formula for this event was to place all participants in a hat and draw the teams out with the top sevens players seeded to even things up. Everyone in the Club from Under 16s to seniors were welcome and it is surprising how many forwards known not to enjoy the sevens variant of the game made a special effort to turn out.
The 1980/81 season was the Welsh Rugby Union Centenary and St. Peter’s joined in the various celebrations which began when the Queen’s Message was relayed on the final stages of its journey by the East District clubs. St. Peter’s carried the message, which was enclosed in a rugby ball through Roath and a special change-over took place at St. Peter’s Church. The Club visited Murrayfield for the Scotland international and were entertained by Walkerburn. The Vipers R.F.C. from North Carolina toured in November, 1980 and were most enthusiastic and likeable visitors. Their rugby was rather raw but their tour programme showed American flair for presentation. The pen pictures were hilarious though not repeatable in a book such as this. Like most touring teams from abroad they were accompanied by lady supporters. St. Peter’s entertained them at a dance at the Alexandra Hotel which was such a success that the Club returned there for a Fancy Dress dance at Christmas. There was also a banquet at Cardiff Castle which was well patronised.
The financial position was helped by sponsorship, which yielded £1,850 in 1980/81 and the C.M.S. grant reached £350. In addition support from Sir Julian Hodge continued. Thus St. Peter’s were able to carry on in the style to which they had became accustomed even though they did not enjoy the support of their own Clubhouse. The opportunity was taken to improve facilities at the Harlequins Ground further by the installation of a telephone and the purchase of coaching equipment which was kept in an old railway van bought for that purpose.
The East District Clubs had taken a great interest in the proposed changes to the W.R.U. constitution and were disappointed when many of the proposals were dropped in the recommendations placed before the Clubs at an Extraordinary General Meeting. There was concern that the reduction in the size of the Committee expected had not been included in the recommendations and as a test it was decided to propose the cutting of the number of schools representatives from two to one. The author proposed this and made clear that it was not an attack on the schools but an attempt to show that the clubs were determined to stop the growth of the Committee. The motion needed a two-thirds majority and was always unlikely to pass given the opposition of the W.R.U. Committee. In fact the motion received 205 votes to 123 and was only a handful short of the required majority. The East District Clubs felt the case had been made and did not pursue the matter. The size of the W.R.U. Committee has not increased since.
The necessary Council permission for the survey of residents with the Clubhouse proposals was received and the survey took place in September, 1980. The houses surrounding the ground in Newport Road and those in the roads adjoining the ground in the Minsters were all visited. A narrow majority of residents were in favour but those nearest the development were strongly against. Since a significant level of support was required to demonstrate to Councillors, the Management Committee felt that this was not good enough and to pursue the project for the site alongside the dressing rooms would lead to a great deal of trouble and be unlikely to succeed. Accordingly this site was abandoned and the Club began to search on the other side of the ground. Residents were informed and it is fair to say that the Club gained many friends from the way it went about this exercise. The disused railway bank on the northern side of the ground was the next logical place to locate a Clubhouse and it did not have the potential problems of interfering with residents. Negotiations with the owners began but it was evident that the site would be expensive to clear and it was difficult to pin the developers down.
In 1981 only one senior baseball team played but the Youth finished third in Division 1 with Sean Simmonds the Youth Player of the Year.
The 1981/82 season opened on a sad note with the death of the Life Member, Tom Regan. Whilst Tom’s health had not been good for some time his death was sudden. An even greater shock was a second death, which occurred in early season when Graham Smith one of the Youth Committee died of a heart attack when running on a training night with the boys. Graham liked nothing better than to train with the players and had done so for several years.
Paul McCarthy was captain but suffered the misfortune of breaking an ankle near the end of the campaign. The team won 19 and drew 2 out of 36 games. The East District Championship was altered so that the top four sides played off, as opposed to the top two. St. Peter’s had made something of a habit of finishing third and in the first year of the new arrangement they promptly finished fifth!
The Club played Bridgend in the W.R.U. Cup at the Harlequins Ground in November and lost 3-50. The match was watched by a huge crowd and the visitors were entertained at the St. Peter’s Hall after the game since the C.M.S. premises were not large enough to accommodate everyone. The Club had erected some temporary stands which had been borrowed from Glamorgan County Cricket Club from Sophia Gardens. The weather was terrible in the weeks after the game and so the stands were not returned until late in the season. Transporting them around on lorries proved somewhat hazardous and the Committee vowed never to risk it again. As it was a lorry knocked down part of a neighbour’s wall when manoeuvring and the Club had to replace it. The aftermath of the Bridgend match lived on in the Committee minutes for the whole season.
Keith Paul led the 2nds to 23 wins and 2 draws from 38 games. They reached the final of the relatively new East District 2nd XV Cup where they lost narrowly to Llandaff in a game they dominated. The 3rds were led by Jimmy O’Brien and won 13 out of 22 games. A 4th XV played on 3 occasions. Simon Harris was top points scorer with 137 and Alan Lee scored 13 tries. Sean Murphy and Mark Davies played for the East District and both were capped although Mark’s was won before he joined the Club.
New ground was broken when an Over 30s team took part in a Tournament at Leighton Buzzard in September and did well. Also the Easter Tour to Liverpool was a great success.
The Youth team had another outstanding season with 32 wins and 1 draw from 39 fixtures and scored 960 points. This was a fine follow up to the previous year’s unbeaten record. Stephen Matthews was captain and although he failed to equal the records he set the year before he still scored 217 points including 28 tries. The side won the Rumney Tournament and the Cardiff and District Sevens but failed to retain the East District Championship after losing in the semi-final to the eventual winners Pencoed 6-15. Brendan Walsh became the first Youth International capped direct from St. Peter’s and the Club was delighted.
The W.R.U. third Debenture issue was made in the summer and St. Peter’s received 80 equal to the highest issue. The ticket rights were sold during 1982 to help finance the Clubhouse ambitions.
The Clubhouse negotiations over the railway bank site had dragged on through 1981 without seeming likely to reach any conclusion and when St. Peter’s Church decided to sell the old school site opposite the Church itself the Committee decided to make a bid for it. In so doing they acknowledged that a Clubhouse on or adjacent to the ground was unlikely. Although the bid was not successful it opened the way for the Committee to look at other sites and from several possibilities the Key Club in Newport Road emerged as the front runner. The site was only a few hundred yards from the Harlequins Ground and near the new St. Peter’s School. Negotiations took place starting in the summer of 1982.
A scare over the Harlequins Ground itself had occurred in late season when it was suggested that Bryntaf School be re-built on the Ground. The Club were astonished since the school would occupy one of the three pitches and destroy the agreement they and Cardiff Cosmos had with the South Glamorgan Council. A vigorous campaign was mounted and considerable publicity was obtained but the proposals were soon withdrawn by the Council. St. Peter’s were left with an uneasy feeling that the battle was yet to come.
The Baseball section showed considerable improvement in 1982 under new Secretary Michael Payne.
John Cottrell retired as Chairman in 1982 and was made a Life Member. His place as Chairman was taken by Dick Golledge while the Chairman of Selectors, Dennis Norman replaced him as Vice Chairman. The new Chairman of Selectors was Frank Sullivan. Tony Barry was elected as Match Secretary and Phil Smith returned as Fixture Secretary for a year.
Michael Evans, a former youth captain, led the team in a season the Club was destined to move into its own Clubhouse. Another good set of results followed with 21 wins and 3 draws from 39 games. The team seemed likely to do even better but suffered a series of injuries in the last few months of the season. No 8 David MacCormac and scrum half John Taylor proved difficult to replace. The team finished third in the East District Championship and lost to the eventual winners, Old Illtydians, in the semi-final 18-21. Before his injury David MacCormac had played for the East District together with his brother Stewart and Paul Deacy. Stewart MacCormac had also played for Glamorgan County. The top points scorer was Richard McCarthy in his first year out of Youth with 240 points and Stephen Saleh scored 18 tries. The side met Newport at Rodney Parade in the W.R.U. Cup and played creditably before losing 4-24.
Terry Thompson led the 2nds to an excellent season with 24 wins from 34 games and a record number of points of 716. Mike Morgan the former first team outside half led the 3rds to 14 wins and 3 draws from 32 games and once the Clubhouse was opened a 4th XV played 12 times winning 8 of them. The Easter Tour was to the North East and was marvellously organised by Paul Barry. It was an Easter when snow fell and the party was in danger of being cut off at one stage. The rumour was that Barry had been awarded the Order of Lenin for his services to Russian Tourism!
The youth had another brilliant team, which won 35 and drew 1 of their 40 games. They showed their quality early on when in successive weeks they beat Pontypridd 21-3, Cardiff 33-12, Newport 22-6, and Glamorgan Wanderers 33-9. They won the East District Youth Championship beating Dinas Powis 38-11 in the final. They were led by Paul Ring an outstanding No 8 who also led the Cardiff and District Youth which included Wayne Parsons, David Hopkins, Chris Norman and Brendan Walsh. Walsh missed much of the year with injury and did not add to his Welsh caps but Ring was selected for the Welsh Squad and the Club was disappointed when he did not get a cap. Norman was top scorer with 202 points and 26 tries. The team also won the Fitzalan sevens, the Rumney Tournament and the Cardiff and District Youth Team of the Year.
The Clubhouse discussions proved difficult but a price of £90,000 was agreed which reached £100,100 when all expenses were taken into account. The Club had raised £20,000 through its efforts mainly from W.R.U. Debentures but the balance proved to be more than the brewers were prepared to finance. The deal seemed likely to fall through when, not for the first time, Vice President Sir Julian Hodge came to the rescue. He arranged a bank loan for half the amount required and through charitable channels covered the initial interest payments. The remaining money was borrowed from S. A. Brain Ltd.
The Club was opened in mid December 1982 with Terry and Pat Donovan as Steward and Stewardess. The final major development in the history of the Club was thus finally complete after a long and frustrating search. The R.F.C. left the shelter of the C.M.S. premises after 30 years and marked the occasion by presenting them with a plaque. The two organizations remain close to this day. In order to cope with the new circumstances three new positions were created on the Management Committee. Richard Arnold who had led the Development Committee became House Secretary, Peter Mitchem was the Social Secretary and Dennis Norman doubled up as Membership Secretary as well as Vice Chairman.
The Baseball team celebrated their arrival in the new Clubhouse by an unbeaten league run of 14 games and won promotion to Division 1. They also reached the final of the Ocean Cup.
In the summer of 1984 Joe Crocker became Fixture Secretary although he was to remain as Coach for the next two years. Jim Sweeney doubled as Membership and Youth Secretaries but all other officers were unchanged for what was to be the best ever season for the seniors as a whole. Stewart MacCormac was captain and the 1sts promised much and seemed likely to win one of the major trophies. Simon Harris returned from two seasons with Newport to prove an outstanding fullback, while Colin Morgan who had played with Pontypool and Neath set his seal on the style of play from outside half. Robert Ringwood’s talents as a tight head prop were recognised by East District selections where he joined wing Paul Deacy who scored 33 tries in the season. Paul Ring in his first season out of Youth established a place in the back row. They were to finish with 28 wins and 1 draw from 39 games and the second highest number of points ever at 779. Most of the ten defeats were in uncertain start when some of the above players were unavailable.
They finished top of the East District Championship and with nine wins and a draw and 41 tries reached the final stages of the Silver Ball. In the latter they met Seven Sisters in a play-off at Pyle and spent much of the game on the attack only to find the opposition defense a strong one and a late long range penalty goal gave Seven Sisters a 7-6 victory. After beating Rhiwbina 35-3 in the semi-final they met Rumney in the East District final at Cardiff Arms Park in front of a record crowd of about 1,000. Ironically Rumney had finished in fourth place in the Championship by courtesy of St. Peter’s who had beaten former champions Llanharan easily when Llanharan had needed a win to secure fourth place. The St. Peter’s pack won enough ball to win the game twice over but the backs failed to perform on the night and the final score was 14-11 to Rumney after a Colin Morgan penalty had hit the crossbar with what was the last kick of the match. It was a cracking game, which further enhanced the prestige of the East District but it was a frustrating result for the Rocks.
Many in the Club thought the selectors had been wrong to retain winning sides and several players who may have been in the 1sts remained in the 2nds. This view tended to be reinforced when the 2nds met Rumney in the final of the East District Cup a week after the 1st team final and won comfortably 20-0. It was a record year for the 2nds led by Billy O’Keefe with 33 wins and 1 draw from 39 games and a record 852 points. Outside half Stephen Matthews contributed 216 of them.
The 3rd XV led by Bernard Fowler also had a record year with 31 wins and 1 draw from 36 games and became the first St. Peter’s senior team to score more than 1,000 points with 1,007. They were helped to this total with a record win over TSV Wiedenbrach of West Germany in April of 81 points. Not to be outdone Michael Payne’s 4th XV won 18 and drew 2 out of 24 fixtures and scored 452 points.
The Youth also reached the East District final, so St. Peter’s were the only Club in the history of the East District to reach all three finals. They lost to Pencoed 6-14 but could celebrate another successful season with 25 wins and 2 draws from 38 games. Captain Chris Norman, the son of the Vice Chairman, became the second full Welsh Youth international of the Club. Prop Paul McCarthy was selected for the Reds in the final Welsh Senior Schools trial but was injured in a road accident, which robbed him of a cap and the Club of a double celebration. Norman scored 181 points and Kevin Walsh 29 tries. Both played for the Cardiff and District team together with Nigel Harewood and Paul Culliford.
In the Nazareth House sevens St. Peter’s were the losing finalists to Old Illtydians 11-20 and Colin Morgan became the player of the Tournament.
A special game was arranged with Glamorgan County in September, 1983 at the beginning of the season to celebrate the official opening of the Clubhouse. The ceremony was performed by the President of the Welsh Rugby Union, Mr. E. B. Davies in the presence of a huge crowd of guests. The facilities were such that the Cardiff Schools both Under 11 and Intermediate Group and the Cardiff Referees Society were soon all using them for their regular meetings. At the end of the season Welsh Rugby Union Representative Mr. K. A. Rowlands opened a new captains board at an old players reunion.
Ladies and Mixed Darts teams were formed that year with great success.
At the Harlequins Ground new flats had replaced the disused railway bank and the appearance of the ground improved as well as solving the problems of the lost balls and the rabbits! Cardiff Schools Under 11 were playing their major games on the ground as well as St. Peter’s school and a Welsh Schools Intermediate Trial was held there, the first time one had been held in Cardiff. The Club was delighted by these developments and were only too pleased to offer their facilities including the Clubhouse. However at the end of the season a new scare arose when the South Wales Echo announced that the South Glamorgan Council intended to sell off ‘surplus land’ and that the Harlequins Ground was among the sites being considered. The Club had feared something like this was in the mind of officials after the Bryntaf school proposal and a massive protest campaign was immediately mounted. This involved local politicians, residents, schools, Members of Parliament, the Sports Council of Wales, the Central Council for Physical Recreation, the press including national papers and, of course, the various sporting bodies to which the Club was affiliated. Every member of the Council was contacted and the Club’s position fully explained. A huge petition was organised which was signed by thousands of people in a few weeks. It is fair to say that the Councillors always denied that pitches were under threat but the impression was that Council officers were not so committed to them. However Councillors have to get elected and officials do not and within a month the Harlequins Ground had been removed from the list of sites under investigation. St. Peter’s were later to receive advice from a leading barrister that the agreement regarding the dressing rooms would be held to cover the pitches and therefore could have tested the matter in the courts if the Council had persisted. It was not the end of the matter as we shall see.
It was left to the South Wales Echo’s inimitable cartoonist ‘Gren’ to see the funny side of it with a cartoon reproduced in this book.
Peter Mitchem was captain of the Baseball team newly promoted to Division 1 and they did well in their new surroundings. A second XI was formed again in 1984.
Peter was, of course, the brother of Alan and Eric who are mentioned elsewhere in this book. It is a feature of St. Peter’s R.F.C. rather more than most clubs that members of the same families have appeared throughout its history. In recent times perhaps the most impressive have been the Murphy brothers. The family originally lived in the Parish and the elder boys attended St. Peter’s school. All six brothers currently play for the Club – Chris, Sean, Donagh, Michael, Kevin and Finbar.
In the 1984/85 season Mike Murphy took over as House Secretary from Richard Arnold who retired due to increasing business commitments. Michael Evans returned as captain and the 1st were to enjoy another great season. They had lost only three games by the end of January. One of these was to Rumney in the W.R.U. Cup when the game was lost 15-16 when Rumney scored 6 points with a try and a conversion from the touchline in the last seconds of time. St. Peter’s revenged this with a victory at Rumney 7-0 in mid season but Rumney had the last say by winning the East District semi final at the Harlequins Ground 12-7 again taking the lead late in the game. Rumney were destined to go on to retain the Championship and also to win the new Wrexham Lager Inter District competition. St. Peter’s had again finished top of the East District table but were left with nothing to show for it. However it was a fine season with 30 wins and 2 draws from 40 games a 78% achievement rate equal to the best since the Club entered the Union. When these statistics are mentioned it must be remembered that the Club has one of the strongest fixture lists outside the first class ranks as a glance at the results in Appendix 10 will show. The number of points was a record at 960. This total was reached with the help of a new record score against Thornbury in February of 111 points.
Stephen Matthews scored 248 points and Andy Bird who had returned to the Club from first class rugby scored 222 points. The style of play is indicated by the fact that the leading try scorers were wings – Gareth Snook with 32 and Paul Deacy with 31. Robert Ringwood, Paul Ring and, before he left for college, Martin Stephens played for the East District and Ringwood became another St. Peter’s District cap.
The 2nd XV were led by Peter Sutton and won 30 and drew 1 out of 37 games and they too scored a record number of points with 901. They failed to retain the East District Cup when they were narrowly beaten in the final by Llanharan. Their strength is illustrated by the fact that six players represented the Cardiff and District team which reached the final of the Howells Cup. These were Stephen Matthews, Mike Baldwin, Terry Thompson, Sean Murphy, Sean Quigley and Martin Ford.
Paul Barry brought his experience, which included captaining the East District to the captaincy of the 3rd XV and they won 24 and drew 1 from 29 games scoring 808 points. The 4ths were led by Michael Payne again and won the majority of their matches while a 5th XV was formed for the first time in late September 1984 and under Joe Dunleavy went on to win 10 out of 14 games.
The Youth team while not enjoying the success of previous years still won 16 and drew 3 from 31 fixtures. Captain Timmy Carless, Nigel Harewood and Kevin Murphy were selected for the Cardiff and District Youth team. Harewood was the top points scorer with 98, which included 14 tries.
Paul Barry organised another well supported Easter Tour to Nottingham while the Youth went to Blackpool.
Another development proposal for the Harlequins Ground was made. This involved building houses on two plots adjacent to the dressing rooms. While it did not involve the pitches, the Club was still opposed to the development since it took up land which could he used for sporting developments in the future. It must be remembered that the Club holds 104 W.R.U. Debentures and once Clubhouse debts are paid off in the future the sale of further ticket rights could he used for sporting developments at the ground. Once Club opposition was clear the proposals were withdrawn.
In the summer of 1985 a St. Peter’s Cricket Club was formed as part of the R.F.C. It was the first St. Peter’s Cricket Club since the war. Also a ladies baseball team was formed. The mens baseball sides enjoyed their best season for many years and with Michael Thomas, the former rugby outside half as Secretary replacing Michael Payne who retired, and Paul McCarthy, the former 1st XV captain, as baseball captain, the 1sts won Division 1 and so gained promotion to the County League for 1986. The 2nds also gained promotion from Division 6 to complete an eventful summer.
Joe Crocker retired as coach and full back Simon Harris became player-coach for the 1985/86 season. Frank Sullivan was elected Membership Secretary and was replaced as Chairman of Selectors by Pat O’Brien. Michael Evans remained as captain for what was to be an eventful season to complete the century of St. Peter’s rugby. All five senior sides began excellently. The 1sts won all 10 Silver Ball games scoring 47 tries and all 10 East District Championship matches scoring 297 points. They were in splendid isolation at the top of both tables and finished second in the try scoring competition associated with the former. Unfortunately a series of injuries to key players came as the team prepared for the final stages of the season. Only three defeats had been conceded by early February but several others then occurred as the side lost some confidence and struggled to regain its earlier form.
In the East District semi final the opponents at the Harlequins Ground were Llanharan. It was a similar situation to two years before in that Llanharan had come to the ground in mid February needing to win to keep their championship hopes alive and had lost to St. Peter’s 22-4. Surprisingly other contenders also lost their last games and Llanharan claimed the fourth place in the competition. The semi final was a hard one and St. Peter’s, while failing to recapture the early season form, led 13-7 with minutes to go only to concede six points in the late stages. The referee decided against playing extra time and the Rocks had to travel to Llanharan a few days later for a re-play in which they never settled and lost 11-4. For three successive seasons St. Peter’s had topped the table having played all the other leading contenders but had failed in the final stages. It is no wonder that the club has always supported the principal of a league for the competition.
In the Silver Ball St. Peter’s met Taffs Well in the semi-final at Glamorgan Wanderers’ ground, the first time the club had reached this stage. The match was won easily 37-12 with Stephen Matthews collecting 25 points through two tries, three penalties and four conversions. Rumney joined St. Peter’s in the final after a hard series of matches to make it the first all Cardiff final of this famous trophy.
At sevens, in spite of considerable disruption due to injuries, the Club did well reaching the semi-final of the East District Tournament before losing to the winners, a very fine South Glamorgan Institute team, and the final of the Old Penarthians Tournament. Gareth Snook was outstanding in both.
The East District side won the Wrexham Lager Inter District Championship for the first time with four of the Rocks featuring prominently in its ranks. They were captain Michael Evans, Paul Ring, Robert Ringwood and Paul Deacy. Deacy joined the growing list of District caps. In addition Chris Churcher was selected for the Glamorgan County ‘B’ team.
With Colin Morgan absent for most of the season, Stephen Matthews seized the opportunity whilst playing at outside half of shattering Chris Bird’s individual points record with no less than 441, a figure with which whole teams would be satisfied. Thus he now holds both the senior and youth records. The top try scorer was wing Gareth Snook with 38 who thus became the first to seriously challenge Lawrence Camilleri’s record of 44.
Stephen Cooper led the 2nd XV from scrum half and they too had a fine season. They entered the Mallett Cup for the first time since that fateful day back in 1934. Since gaining W.R.U. status the club had avoided this cup since the six game rule effectively meant that several normal 2nd XV players could not play by the final stages of the cup. The Management Committee decided that the overall strength of the club in the 1980s now justified putting up with this handicap and so it proved when the team lost narrowly to Llanishen 1sts in the quarter final. In the Harry Parfitt Trophy they won all 8 games and topped the table. They beat Adamsdown 1sts in the semi final and met Cardiff Internationals in the final at Llanishen. The CIACS scored an early try but then the sides were locked together in a hard struggle before a late dropped goal gave the CIACS a 7-0 victory. It was nonetheless a fine performance by a second XV against the Internationals who dominated Cardiff and District rugby in 1985/86 winning all the trophies. The final 2nd XV results were 31 wins from 38 games with a record number of points of 984.
Several of the 2nds were selected for Cardiff and District including Mike Baldwin, Gareth Snook, Paul Tucker, Chris Murphy, Sean Murphy, Chris Norman, Sean Quigley, Martin Ford, Stephen Matthews and Bobby Matthews.
The 3rds led again by Paul Barry went even better by winning all bar four of their 30 matches. In the Ninian Stuart Cup they lost 3-4 to the eventual winners CIACS 2nds in the semi-final. It was a fine performance but what a pity they could not win a cup last won by St. Peter’s 1sts in 1930.
The 4ths led by Billy O’Keefe, playing in his 25th consecutive season, and 5ths led by Joe Dunleavy also had good seasons to prove again the strength in depth of the club.
The Youth found it hard to repeat the success of previous years and a long run of narrow defeats for captain Anthony Jenkins’ side was the result during the first half of the season. In the second half of the season they improved considerably and won the majority of their games. They were unlucky to only draw with Welsh Youth Cup finalists Cardiff 15-15 during this spell. Most of the team are available next season and six were selected for the District team at the end of the season while Jenkins had a Welsh trial. Clearly the Club can look forward to the future with great confidence.
A new feature in 1986 was the formation of a regular Veterans side. Frank Sullivan was the Secretary and some of the players are shown in the familiar faces in the photograph in this book.
The climax to the season was the Silver Ball final played at Cardiff Arms Park. Before a huge crowd the two teams who had dominated the second class season, St. Peter’s and Rumney, met again. After Stephen Matthews had given the Rocks the lead with two fine penalties he left the field injured. The usual superiority of the Rocks in the scrums was not apparent until the last quarter of the game and the Rumney pack won a considerable amount of ball but defences were tight and points not easy to come by. In many ways it was a mirror image of the East District final of 1984 when St. Peter’s lost narrowly in spite of winning the game in the forwards. This time it was Rumney’s turn to wonder whether their efforts would lead to points. They scored a penalty late in the first half but did not equalise with another until half way through the second and only took the lead with a third penalty with 15 minutes left. For St. Peter’s supporters it seemed that Rumney had taken the lead late in the game to win narrowly as they had done in the East District final of 1984, the W.R.U. cup in 1984 and the East District semi final in 1985. In spite of St. Peter’s victories in other games between the teams, it was these defeats that mattered and the thought that it was happening again seemed to spur the players to greater efforts. Several strong drives in the scrums won balls against the head and with injury time being played one such ball reached outside half Colin Morgan deep in his own half. Morgan had been injured and it was only his fifth game of the season for the 1sts. The lack of match practice showed and he had been having a poor game. With the seconds ticking away he made a clean break through the middle, chipped the ball over the full back’s head and won the race for the touch down by inches. It was the final moment of the game and St. Peter’s had won 10-9.
A week later a team sadly depleted by injuries met Cardiff Athletic in the final of the President’s Cup, which is played between the Silver Ball winners and the Usher’s Trophy holders. St. Peter’s had finished second in the latter competition and hence came close to claiming the President’s Cup without playing a final. The game was a fine one with two good tries to each side before the Athletic won 16-21.
The Club’s habit of just failing to win trophies which, during much of the season seemed to be within grasp, was thus broken decisively by the winning of the Silver Ball, perhaps the most difficult of all competitions. In view of the strength of the St. Peter’s fixture list it is very hard to reach the final stages of the competition and the triumph will not be easy to repeat. The success marked a fitting end to the first century of St. Peter’s rugby. The old warriors who had worked so hard for the club in its early years would have been proud to see it at the top of Welsh District rugby.
