Narberth Youth 6 pts. Haverfordwest Youth 5
On a wet and windy Saturday, the Narberth Youth squad endeavoured to emulate some of Narberth's great achievements regarding youth rugby. They were all geared up for the massive task before them, that of going head to head with a very strong and talented Haverfordwest Youth side in the semi- final of the Pembrokeshire Youth Cup. The game hung in the balance long before the kick-off, as the Lewis Lloyd Ground had been devastated by torrential rainfall during the night and early morning. The Narberth groundsmen had to work really hard before the pitch was deemed playable by referee Keith Davies. With a place in the cup final and league points at stake, it was Narberth's captain, Paul Brown, who chose to kick off and use the strong but swirling wind to their advantage in the first period. It did not take long before the young Otters were awarded a penalty well within range of the posts; however, the Narberth captain opted for a scrum, which was won cleanly by the Narberth pack, only for the advantage to be lost to the opposition through a Narberth handling error. This quite plainly could have been the Narberth team's undoing. As the captain's father said at half-time: "Better three points on the board, than an imaginary push-over try." However, Narberth continued to exert pressure on Haverfordwest for the rest of the first half, and were quite rightly awarded penalties for infringements by Haverfordwest, for which stand in fly-half Tom Richards made them pay twice, to give the young Otters a lead of six points at the interval. Narberth Athletic coach Jon Chinn was on duty for the day and spun his magic in the team talk. He reorganised the backline after centre and super prospect Gethin Salter twisted his ankle, and kept the team on track for what was to be a very exciting second half. With the wind on their backs in the second half, the young Haverfordwest side were once again under pressure by the Narberth pack, who continued driving them up field, for long periods. However, with 15 minutes to go, Narberth were caught napping and through sheer skill were cut to ribbons by the blistering pace of the number 11, who thankfully touched down in the corner rather than nearer to the posts. This try was unconverted. The dying moments dragged on as if forever, but to their credit the Narberth team, by now exhausted, kept on going to the bitter end and defended their line several times until final the whistle blew. Narberth Youth will play Whitland Youth in the final. Everyone concerned with the Youth section is very grateful to all involved in making this win possible, including all the sponsors, and look forward to representing them once again in what should be a very interesting finale to this competition.