Although the Otters more than held their own against Premiership team Bridgend, the superior finishing and ball retention skills of the Ravens gave the visitors the edge, especially in the opening exchanges of this Konica Minolta Welsh Cup clash. Bridgend fullback Gareth David had a penalty opportunity after four minutes which he failed to convert, but he made the most of the next two opportunities after nine and 12 minutes, respectively, to give the visitors a lead of six points. After 22 minutes, the Ravens extended the lead with an opportunist try. An attempted clearance kick by Nick Jones went just over the line into touch. Bridgend took a quick lineout from in front of the stand with the backs lined up to attack. The ball was moved swiftly across the line, with the Narberth defence slightly out of position and winger Dan Connolly finished in style with a devasting run up the left touchline to cross for an unconverted try. Gradually the Otters came into the game and pressurised the Ravens' defence a number of times before the interval. Two cracking breaks by centre Steve Martin opened up the defence, but poor handling and wrong options resulted in the scoring opportunities being wasted. Otters' outside-half Aled Davies attempted a quick drop-goal from the 22, but the ball hit the posts. After 36 minutes, the Ravens went 18 points in front when more incisive running by Dan Connolly cut through the Otters' defences and Connolly's try was converted by Gareth David. Shortly before the interval, Narberth centre Richard Davies was yellow-carded. Eventually, after six minutes of the second half, the Otters got the much-needed breakthrough when Adrian Killa crossed for an unconverted try in the right corner with a blind-side break following a ruck. After making the initial burst, Killa found his path to the line blocked, but he touched down for the try with the assistance of his team-mates to break through the Bridgend defence for the first and only time in the match. Although it was not an aggressive game, more yellow cards followed in the second half, with Narberth flanker Gareth Bateman and Bridgend number eight Gareth Williams both incurring the wrath of the referee in the same incident and later, Dale Newell, a replacement flanker for Bridgend, was also sent to the sidelines for a 10-minute spell. Gareth David kicked another short range penalty for the Ravens and, although the Otters attacked at very opportunity, the Bridgend defence remained rock solid. Somewhat against the run of play, the Ravens increased their lead during injury time when replacement prop Phil Price went over for an unconverted try in the right corner as Bridgend booked a place in the quarter-finals with a win by a margin of 21 points. Otters director of rugby, Jonathan Dodd, was in positive mood after the match when he said: "The game got away from us in the first 20 minutes when we were a bit like rabbits in the headlights. After that, we got into the game and gave a good account of ourselves. "Bridgend have a very good defence. Even though we managed to go through a large number of phases and attack their territory, it was a tough nut to crack and we only scored one try. "As coaches, we were very pleased with the pace and tempo of our performance today and it bodes well for the future. There was some great play by centres Steve Martin and Richard Davies, scrum- half Adrian Killa and lock Chris James in this game of such intensity, against Bridgend who have been doing quite well of late. "I did not think that 26-5 was a true reflection of the game, although we must accept that Bridgend were true value for their score. We should have come back with a couple more tries of our own. "In fact, we were quite unlucky during the last 20 minutes before half-time when we were camped on their line for a long time. "Both sides came here to play rugby and we would be more than happy to play at that level every week. It may have been a different game if Bridgend had not taken their chances in the opening stages of the game. "Having said that, full credit to Bridgend who took any chances on offer when Narberth slipped up through lack of concentration. That is something we will have to learn from. It was a pity, as for long periods of the game we were more than a match for Bridgend." Gareth Williams holds the record for most first team appearances for Bridgend and was watching the match. The former Bridgend captain and Welsh international and British Lions back row forward said after the match: "I enjoyed the game, but I was a bit surprised that Bridgend came out and played such good cup rugby from the very beginning. The first 10 minutes was all Bridgend really, although Narberth almost scored from a breakaway. "Once Bridgend had a couple of penalties and a try, the visitors nudged in front and killed off Narberth with a second try before half-time. "Narberth must have been very disappointed not to have scored before the interval and it was always an uphill struggle for Narberth after that. "In fairness to Narberth, the second half was very entertaining. Narberth scored a good try in the bottom right-hand corner and 10 minutes before the end could have scored two or three times. It was just unfortunate that they failed to score. "Overall Bridgend deserved to win. It was an open game and an entertaining game, but it was not going to be a giant-killers situation and it never looked like that after 10 minutes or a quarter-of- an-hour." Narberth centre Steve Martin was selected as man of the match by the match sponsors, Young Brothers, of Llandissilio, in the Folly Farm Balcony Suite and NatWest Bank in the Otters Holt. The match ball sponsors were HSBC Bank, HNO Hughes and Associates, Sion Brace Construction and Blue Bridge Builders. The Marquee Cup sponsors were Whitland Male Voice Choir, Stephen Jones, of Croft Cottages, John Morris and guests, Gareth Charles and past players, Adrian Phillips Builders, G. D. Harries and Sons, Brian Toms and guests, Dingle Marquees and James Lawrence and guests. Narberth will be without a league fixture tomorrow (Saturday) because of the international match at Cardiff between Wales and Italy. Narberth fielded: Sion Brace (capt.), Nick Jones (Tom Bonnell), Steve Martin, Richard Davies (Neil Davies), Andrew Jones (Sam Cataki), Aled Davies, Adrian Killa (Andrew Davies), Ryan Perrott, Dan Smith (Tom Slater), Justin Hughes, Chris James (David Ebsworth), Jason Jennings (Alex Jenkins), Gareth Bateman, Andrew Dennis and Jamie Bohata.