Scintillating play by the Wanderers' threequarters in the second half set up this victory for the visitors and booked a place for the Whitland team in the final. Wanderers' scrum-half Adam Davies opened the scoring with an unconverted try, before Athletic winger Tim Plumb crossed for a try converted by fullback and captain Shane Higgon. The Narberth lead was increased four minutes before the interval with a short range penalty from Shane Higgon, but the Wanderers had the last word when centre Wayne Morris kicked a short range penalty to reduce the deficit to just two points. After 47 minutes, the Narberth team suffered a setback when centre Andrew Bowen was sin-binned. Wayne Morris attempted to kick the penalty which was awarded, but his left-footed kick curled to the right of the posts. Much to everyone's amazement, Whitland lock Alan Evans was on the ball and followed up to cross in the right corner for an unconverted try. The Wanderers had another chance to score when Bowen was off the field, but centre Alistair Bowen misdirected the kick. Boosted by the lead of three points, the Whitland threequarters started to string some exciting moves together. Their endeavour and enterprise was rewarded when a superb handling movement was finished in the left corner by fullback Anthony James, who came into the line and he crossed for an unconverted try. The scoring was completed by Wayne Morris when he cut through the Narberth defence from a lineout to cross for a try under the posts which he converted himself. Speaking after the match, Whitland coach and team manager Arwyn Thomas said: "It was a very good game played at a fast pace and extremely competitive in the first half. "In the second half, our forwards picked up the pace of the rucks and the mauls to give us a quick ball which the backs executed. "It was high tempo stuff, with good quality rugby, and we are delighted with the style played to win this game. "It was a key moment when Narberth centre Andrew Bowen was yellow-carded and during the period he was off the field we penetrated the backline and took advantage quite well. "Substitute Mathew Davies came on and made a massive contribution. He hit the line hard and broke through and his play made a difference. "We had 30 players available for this evening's match and only three of that squad are over 23 years of age." Narberth captain Shane Higgon was realistic about the outcome. "We were outplayed and the better team won on the night," he said. "It shows what happens when you do not play rugby regularly. They were quicker to the breakdown, stronger in the tackle and did not drop their passes. "We have only played three games in nine weeks, which is not good enough for a club like Narberth, and we lacked match practice. "We did our best, but our best was not good enough on the evening. "The Whitland team were more committed and when they got behind they scored. They beat us with good rugby by creating space, putting people into space and they had a very quick back three." The Athletic front five were excellent and dominated the set-pieces as well as working the lineouts well. The two young flankers, David Thomas and Jack Mason, ran themselves to a standstill and the back three did very well, but the Narberth team did not have enough of the ball in the second half. Apart from the performance of Mathew Davies for Whitland, scrum-half Adam Davies together with centres Alistair Bowen and Wayne Morris caught the eye. Lock Alan Evans took his try well and there were also good performances up front from flanker Craig Williams and number eight Cerith McNally. Narberth Athletic fielded: Shane Higgon, Oliver Torkington, Tom Dennis, Andrew Bowen, Tim Plumb, Rob Nicholas (Andrew Young), Gary Nicholas, Martin Bowen (Fifitapuku Falatau), Aubrey Young, Peter Rodway, Martin Davies, Peter Jennings, David Thomas, Jack Mason, Alex Hill (Gary Denver). Whitland Wanderers fielded: Anthony James, Ross Michael, Alistair Bowen, Wayne Morris, Mathew Howells, Kristian Richards (Mathew Davies), Adam Davies, Alan Proctor (Paul Bevan), Dafydd Lewis, Ian Heycock, Alan Evans, Arthur Goodyear (Arthur Harry), Gareth Downs, Craig Williams and Cerith McNally (Bowie Phillips).
