Tenby United 31 pts.

Hendy 23

After an entirely forgettable start to their league campaign, Tenby United made it two wins on the bounce with an entertaining victory over Hendy at Heywood Lane on Saturday.

The Seasiders bagged five tries against a youthful Hendy outfit, with man-of-the-match back row man Jason Ronowitz stealing the plaudits with two superb scores.

On a breezy afternoon, the United looked nervous from the start and gifted the Camarthenshire side an early penalty attempt after they were guilty of being offside after fumbling the kick-off. The shot at goal was pulled wide, however, with the conditions not proving ideal for the place kickers.

Both sides looked to keep the ball in hand early on and this inevitably led to some errors. But it was the visitors who struck first with a flowing move that began deep in their own 22 following a speculative kick through from the United. An excellent counter-attack with some fine interplay from Hendy's threequarters and loose forward,s together with some fairly innocuous Tenby tackling, saw the mid-table visitors cross wide on the left. The score went unconverted.

This seemed to stir the United and some good work from Ronowitz and stand-off Del Brace pushed the home side into their opponents' 22 for the first time. Tenby were able to exert good pressure at the scrum, as they continued to do throughout, but could not convert this into points.

Hendy hit back again with some well-constructed phase play of their own, but a handy turnover allowed scrum-half Tom Lewis to clear effectively into the visitors' half. Again the United gained a foothold deep in Hendy territory, but an interception and an indiscretion from the home eight allowed the visitors to clear their lines.

The first United score was not long in coming, however, and came following some excellent lineout work by player-coach Emori Katalau. The former Fijian international provided top class ball that the home backs used well, releasing fullback Neil Powling wide out, before he raced 40 metres to touch down wide on the left. Tom Lewis couldn't add the extras, leaving the score level at 5-5.

In a game of see-sawing fortunes, Hendy once again found themselves in the home side's 22 and managed to get a ball against the head at a scrum, but they squandered the chance, knocking on at the base. Tom Lewis used his siege gun boot to clear home lines once again from the following scrum.

Hendy were once again on the front foot shortly after when a Del Brace pass was intercepted, but Dai Meyrick showed good pace to put in a strong covering tackle to snuff out the danger.

As the game went on, the Seasiders became increasingly dominant in the scrum and began taking lineout ball on the opposition throw, but occasionally they were guilty of keeping the ball too tight when quicker release to the backs may have paid dividends.

One such forward movement did nearly pay off, though, Emori Katalau and loose-head Damian Hanlon showing good speed and deft hands in a move up the left flank, Hanlon only being denied a score by a Hendy hand knocking the ball dead.

The reprieve was brief, however, Jason Ronowitz picking up from the base of the scrum and showing pace and power to crash over to give the United the lead. The score was beautifully converted by Del Brace to give the Seasiders a 12-5 cushion.

Once again the game swung the other way, Hendy putting the home side under enormous pressure and forcing them to concede a succession of penalties in the shadow of their posts. However, a fumble from the visitors when they looked odds on to score allowed Jimmy Davies to hack clear.

Soon the visitors were awarded another close range penalty and this time they opted to take the points and reduce the deficit to just four points as the half was drawing to a close.

But just when Hendy thought they could go into the interval and draw breath, Ronowitz struck again. From a scrum on halfway and in the centre of the pitch, he picked up and outstripped s succession of Hendy defenders, fending another off before he touched down for an outstanding score. Brace slotted the conversion again to give the United a 19-8 lead at the break.

The unpredictable nature of the match continued straight from the re-start. A hopeful kick ahead from the visitors combined with a horrible bounce saw them streak away for a try that was not converted, but put the visitors back within a converted score.

Tenby soon found themselves back in the Hendy 22 after another pinpoint kick from Lewis. After Katalau stole another lineout, the Tenby eight drove tightly and allowed hard-working hooker Terry John to burrow over. Del Brace converted once again to push the United back out in front by 26 points to 13.

The home side's defensive frailties were exposed soon after, however, when they gifted the visitors a soft try. From a quickly taken penalty, Hendy formed a ruck on the United 22. The visiting open-side spotted a gaping hole in the home defence and burst through the centre of the ruck to score and reduce the deficit to eight points once again.

The Seasiders were put under even more pressure when they lost stand-off Del Brace to a yellow card for a high tackle in midfield. The visitors seemed sure to close the gap even further when they worked a two-on-one situation on the right, but some poor communication saw the pass go astray and the chance missed.

The home eight were now having to work hard as the visitors sensed the opportunity to snatch victory, Nicky Guymer showing good strength and technique to earn a penalty after the visitors were adjudged to have held the ball on the ground.

Things got worse for the Seasiders soon after, Terry John being harshly shown a red card by referee Stan Griffiths for an alleged head butt.

The home eight worked hard in the last 12 minutes, replacement Jonny Lane using his significant bulk to good effect and veteran Rob Thomas coming off the bench and showing some good touches. The United forced their way into the visitors' 22 and won a penalty, but perhaps rashly they opted to run the ball and missed out on points when a shot at goal may have proved a better option.

Hendy realised they had to run everything now and did so from behind their own line, only to be forced to concede a five-yard scrum. Although a score did not result from this, the United threequarters worked a good move shortly after, Jimmy Davies cutting through in midfield and feeding replacement Dan Colley, who did well to squeeze in at the corner for the decisive score.

There was just time for the visitors to claim another score after some mystifying decisions from the referee, but the United claimed a vital home victory to build on their superb win at Trimsaran the week before. They can now travel to Cefneithin tomorrow (Saturday) with a sense of optimism that they can come away with a positive result.

Tenby fielded: Neil Powling (rep Patrick), Dai Meyrick, Barry Bowen (rep Dan Colley), Gavin Brace (capt), Jimmy Davies, Del Brace, Tom Lewis, Damian Hanlon (rep Jonny Lane), Terry John, Simon Griffiths, Emori Katalau, Ben Cray, Nicky Guymer, Tom Jones, Jason Ronowitz (rep Rob Thomas).