Carmarthen Athletic 7 pts. Narberth 6
A quarter of the way through the Swalec League Divison One West season and, having completed two derby fixtures, Narberth's record against their neighbours isn't one to shout about.
First they lose to arch rivals Whitland when the form book suggested otherwise and now they have lost to Carmarthen Athletic when they should have put the game to bed in the first half.
That failure to capitalise on their superiority cost them a probable victory, especially when the home side had flanker Lawrence Reynolds sin-binned midway through the opening half.
Under heavy skies and a tacky pitch that was bordering on boggy, running rugby was never going to win the day and inevitably the game ended in a slug fest between the packs.
In early scrums, the home side dominated; at rucks and mauls it was more even, although the home side could lay claim to winning that battle, too, given the amount of possession Narberth turned over. At the lineouts, neither side conquered that battle, although a steal at a crucial lineout minutes before the end of the first half resulted in Reynolds making amends for his indiscretion earlier in the match to score the game's only try. That was converted by Ricky Williams.
Prior to that score against the run of play, the only points of the match had come via two Aled Davies penalties after Narberth had made in-roads through a dogged defence. Quite how the home side managed to prevent the Otters from scoring is anyone's guess, as both Mark Heywood and Steve Martin went close as the visitors biffed their way through the midfield before spreading it wide.
Despite going into the break a point down, Narberth would have felt confident of sneaking the win, for turnovers aside; they were the better side in the first half. The second half's performance couldn't have been more of a contrast.
Possession was given away during contact, the scrums became ineffective and the lineout became more of a shambles and that was for both sides. The second half was as turgid an affair as you would ever be able to see. Neither side looked like scoring and the only opportunity to do so came at the very end, with seconds remaining on the clock.
Narberth were awarded a penalty after the Athletic tried to run the game down by taking the ball into one ruck after another and, although it was given away on the halfway line, given the way Davies struck both penalties before, there was no reason for doubting he would make it.
It was the final kick of the match. The ground lay silent as both teams and sets of supporters looked on. Davies ran up and unable to gain a firm footing on the heavy pitch, the kick came to nothing.
It was an uneventful finish to a forgettable half, the only highlight being the way the home side celebrated the win. It obviously meant a lot.
Narberth head coach John Dodd was philosophical about the defeat and didn't bemoan his team's second half performance.
"We didn't get our game going at all. We didn't finish our chances; we played in the wrong areas and our lineout faltered. We had opportunities to score and didn't take them and that's what cost us."