Another defeat - but Otters have cause for optimism

Narberth 8 pts. Caerphilly 21

Despite yet another defeat, Narberth did enough in this match to suggest an improvement in performance and results over the next few months. If anything, the Otters had the majority of possession, although attacking moves faltered due to mishandling, and occasional defensive errors proved to be expensive. Commenting after the match, Jonathan Dodd, the Narberth senior coach, said: "We had 60 per cent of the game and played very well, particularly up front. Unfortunately, we took some poor options in the first half and put ourselves under pressure at silly times. "Three hesitant lapses cost us three tries and we found it hard to score when we were in attacking positions. "Decision making amongst the backs was not as good as usual, but the forward play was the best it has been for a long time. "It was a nice time for Wes Pooley to come into action after half-time. He showed some nice touches considering that he has only had one training session with the club. "In future, if Wes Pooley calls the shots at number 10 and the pack can put in the type of performance displayed today, we should start to perk up behind. "In addition to the three major defensive errors, we also made three crucial errors in attack, so that the six mistakes cost us the game. "Caerphilly played some good, even if it was limited rugby. However, it was nice to see a side come down here to play rugby. We came back strongly in the last 20 minutes, but it was too late then to make a difference. We also started strongly, but fell away a little in between. "We have had a poor run of late and we must be more optimistic after today's good performance despite the result. "Caerphilly deserved to win as they capitalised on their chances, but we are disappointed as we thought that we had the majority of the game." Rob Irving gave the Otters the lead following an excellent start when he scored a penalty after six minutes. Within three minutes, the Cheesemen were in front. On being awarded a penalty, the visitors opted to kick to touch and the forwards drove the ball on after winning the lineout. The pack then set up a handling movement by the backs and centre Phil Price spotted a gap and cut right through the Narberth defence to cross for a try converted by fullback James Balfrey. For the remainder of the half, Narberth continued to have the edge territorially, but were unable to make the vital breakthrough. The visitors came back and left wing Craig Marshman came close to scoring. Following this attacking movement, Caerphilly were awarded a scrum close to the Narberth line and number eight Geraint Leyshon won the ball to dart over for a try converted by James Balfrey a minute or so before the half-time whistle. At the start of the second half, another defensive lapse allowed the Cheesemen in again. The Otters lost the ball from an attacking movement near the halfway line and Caerphilly had another scrum near the Narberth line after hacking the ball on. Once again Geraint Leyshon did his speciality act of picking up the ball at the base of the scrum and powered his way over for a try, again converted by Balfrey from the touchline. The introduction of substitute outside-half Wes Pooley brought more sparkle to the Otters behind the scrum. Although Pooley naturally made mistakes because of his unfamiliarity with the Narberth style of play, he set up a number of attacks and with the length of his kicking out of hand showed that he could give the Otters more armoury in both attack and defence. In the last 20 minutes, Narberth ran the ball repeatedly towards to Caerphilly line, but only broke right through the defences on one occasion. After good combination between the backs and the pack, substitute flanker Jack Mason made ground and space with a powerful diagonal run to set up a try, which was finished well by substitute centre Steve Martin in the left corner. Unfortunately, the conversion attempt proved to be outside the radar of winger Rob Irving. There were some excellent individual performances by the Narberth players, with skipper Emori Katalau, who played as a flanker in this match, dominating the lineout in tandem with lock Chris James. The front row of Martin Bowen, Simon Delaney and Fifitipuku Faletau worked hard throughout and inspired the pack to their best performance in recent weeks. Behind the scrum, Wes Pooley made a difference when he came on in the second half, centre Neil Davies had a good all-round game, Andrew Davies relished the opportunity of playing at number nine for 80 minutes and fullback Mathew Davies had a sound all-round game. The performance of the Narberth fullback caught the eye of the match sponsors, Celtic Inns and Preseli Service Station, who nominated Mathew Davies as man-of-the-match. The team sponsors were Graham, Heating/ Plumbing/Bathroom Supplies and the match ball sponsors were the Pwll Trap Boys, Michael Richards, of Narberth, and the Landshipping Boys. Tomorrow (Saturday), Narberth face a difficult task in the fourth round of the Konica Minolta Welsh Cup with an away fixture at Sardis Road against Pontypridd. Narberth fielded: Mathew Davies, Rob Irving, Mike Georgiou, Neil Davies, Mark Davies (Steve Martin), Phil Thomas (Wes Pooley), Andrew Davies, Martin Bowen, Simon Delaney, Fifitipuku Faletau (Peter Rodway), David Ebsworth (Jason Jennings), Chris James, Emori Katalau (capt), Adrian Chiffi (Jack Mason) and Anthony Griffiths.