Bridgend Ath. 20 pts. Narberth 34
Five superb second half tries, combined with resolute defence in the first half, gave the Otters their first away win against Bridgend Athletic. Newbridge Fields is a vast expanse of playing fields with a number of rugby and football pitches near Bridgend town centre. It is open to the elements and Narberth were playing against a strong wind in the first half, but fortunately there was little or no rain. Bridgend centre Stuart Morris had an opportunity to put Athletic ahead after three minutes, but he was off target with a penalty kick. Six minutes later, following a Narberth attack inside the Bridgend 22, Otters' outside-half Aled Davies kicked a short range penalty to put the visitors in front. The lead was short-lived as within minutes Stuart Morris had levelled the scores with a penalty kick. The Athletic team used the wind advantage cleverly, but were unable to cross the Narberth line because of a well-organised defensive unit. Stuart Morris did have another penalty opportunity from 30 metres, but in testing conditions the kick from the touchline proved to be too difficult. The scores were level at the interval, but within minutes Bridgend Athletic took the lead when Stuart Morris slotted over a difficult penalty kick from 35 metres. This seemed to spur the Otters into action and three tries came in the space of 10 minutes. The first was scored by Nick Jones in the right corner after he combined well with winger Tom Bonnell as they slipped the ball to each other in a great movement up the right touchline. Aled Davies made a difficult conversion kick from the touchline look easy and added the two points. Two minutes later, the Otters had scored in the left corner following a defence-splitting break by number eight Lloyd Phillips from near the halfway line. Although he was tackled near the posts, Narberth replacement scrum-half Andrew Davies slipped the ball out and winger Andrew Jones went over for an unconverted try. Four minutes later, Andrew Jones had scored again in the left corner following an excellent combined move between the Narberth forwards and backs. This time Aled Davies converted from the touchline. Although the visitors were on top, Bridgend Athletic were by no means down and out and came back with a counter-attack which resulted in a try by number eight Dan Apsee near the right corner, which was converted by Stuart Morris. After 30 minutes, Narberth's Under 20s Welsh international Lloyd Phillips picked up the ball following a scrum and raced away to cross for an unconverted try in the right corner. Two minutes later, Phillips went over the line for his second try following another great run and Aled Davies converted to give the visitors a lead of 19 points. During the last 10 minutes of the match, both prop Tom Slater and replacement scrum-half Andrew Davies were yellow-carded to reduce the Otters to 13 players. The Narberth players pulled out all of the stops in defence to prevent Bridgend Athletic from scoring, but in the last move of the match, Stuart Morris went over to score a try near the posts from a tapped penalty which he converted himself. Commenting after the match, Narberth team manager Robert Lewis said: "It was a very entertaining game. Narberth played very well, the forwards particularly in the first half when we were up against strong winds. "All eight of the pack defended very well, especially in the first quarter of an hour when we were under the cosh a bit on our own line. The boys dug in and tackled everything in sight. "When we turned around at three-all, it was a good score for us and in the second half our fitness told in the end. "We ran in a few tries with good passing amongst the backs to move the ball wide and both wingers Tom Bonnell and Andrew Jones ran well. "Bridgend Athletic never gave up and we had to tackle from start to finish. It was an excellent team performance; it was the first time for us to win here and it was great to come away with a bonus point. "Back row forwards Lloyd Phillips and Andrew Dennis were outstanding. Tom Bonnell was excellent on the wing and Neil Davies looked solid at centre. "The only minus point was the first half injury to scrum-half Adrian Killa, but he is hoping to be fit again within a couple of weeks." The Narberth team management were spoilt for choice in selecting the man-of-the-match following such an excellent team performance, but in the end decided to give the award to flanker Andrew Dennis. Tomorrow (Saturday), Narberth are home to Llangennech. Since being beaten by Llangennech in the away match back in November, Narberth have had an unbeaten run in the league and will be hoping to continue that run tomorrow. Narberth fielded: Sion Brace (capt.), Tom Bonnell, Nick Jones, Neil Davies, Andrew Jones, Aled Davies, Adrian Killa (Andrew Davies), Ryan Perrott, Justin Hughes, Tom Slater, Chris James (David Ebsworth), Jason Jennings (Alex Jenkins), Gareth Bateman, Andrew Dennis and Lloyd Phillips.