Narberth 35 pts. Blackwood 13

In the longest league match ever played at the Lewis Lloyd ground, Narberth ended the match as comfortable winners, although Blackwood had made all of the early running. The match had barely started before the Otters were penalised for offside and Blackwood outside-half Jeremy Lloyd slotted over a penalty. Six minutes later, Lloyd, who was also the Blackwood captain, kicked his second penalty to extend the lead after a period of sustained pressure by the visitors. Narberth's outside-half, Gareth James, levelled the scores with two successive penalties kicking against the wind, but the visitors regained the lead through a well-worked try by winger, Lewis Hamer. Hamer was playing on the left wing, but cut inside to support a forward drive, and was on hand to break through a couple of half hearted tackles, before he crossed for a try halfway out on the right. Jeremy Lloyd converted. Gradually the Otters got back into the game. After 34 minutes Gareth James came close to scoring after an exciting chip and chase. From the resultant scrum on the right, the ball was moved left and winger Richard Rees cut inside in an attempt to force his way over the line. Although the move was stopped, scrum-half Adrian Killa was in support to dive over for a try near the post which was converted by Gareth James. Five minutes later, the Otters nudged in front with Killa's second try of the match after he finished off a move initiated by fullback Sion Brace together with centres Andrew Bowen and Elgan Vittle. James converted the try and in the second minute of injury time he had an ambitious penalty attempt against the wind from the 10-metre line, which was on target, but short of the intended destination. The Narberth resurgence continued in the second half. Playing with the benefit of the wind at their backs, the Otters prevented the visitors from getting on the scoreboard again. Gareth James extended the lead with a penalty in front of the posts and Richard Rees crossed for a try on the right, converted by James, to widen the gap between the teams. The move had started from a scrum and had been set-up following a thrusting run by centre Andrew Bowen. The ball was recycled quickly when Bowen was tackled, and Rees, who was always on the look out for a scoring opportunity, received the scoring pass from substitute prop Nathan Williams. The Otters retained a tight grip on the match, but their attempts to extend the lead were thwarted until the 13th minute of second half injury time. The move started with a counter-attack from the Narberth line. Following good runs by Sion Brace, Adrian Killa and Nick Jones, Richard Rees received the ball near the half-way line and not only outpaced the covering defence, but also cut back inside to score near the posts for his second try of the match, which was converted by Gareth James. It was a very good result for the young Otters' team, which is being rebuilt after a number of players left the club during the close season. There has been a steady improvement over the three league games played to date and the supporters enjoyed the open nature of the game, during which the Otters scored some good tries. The scrumaging was solid, and Emori Katalau not only won lineout ball for Narberth, but also disrupted the Blackwood lineout jumpers. It was a good all round team performance. The front row was solid, the back row combined well as a unit, the half-backs controlled proceedings, fullback Sion Brace was impressive and had a hand in a couple of tries, the centres were very strong and the wings did everything expected of them and generally the team defended well. Speaking after the match on Saturday, Rob Phillips, the Narberth director of rugby, said: "We are pleased with the result as at the end of the day it was our reward for the approach to the game. "From the first half performance there was plenty of room for improvement, but we have a lot left in the tank and we can build up, although we need to bring that about quite quickly so that we can perform and achieve what we know we are capable of achieving. "We have two matches this week, with a mid-week match against Bonymaen on Wednesday and a home match against Brynmawr on Saturday. Hopefully today's efforts will not have taken too much out of the squad. "The boys are learning all the time and in every game the players seem to take a step forward. Hopefully we can continue in that vein. "There is a good team spirit and the approach in training has been magnificent. "The players have been working hard and have shown the right attitude. Today's result is a reward for players who have been putting the hard-work in and those who are not prepared to display the same work commitment will fall by the wayside. "It will be a long hard season. The teams in the league are very even, but we must stick at it until the end of the season." Scrum-half Adrian Killa and flanker Gary Denver were nominated as men-of-the-match by the match sponsors, Princes Gate Spring Water and Gerald D. Harris and Sons, of Templeton. The match ball was sponsored by the Farmer's Arms, of Narberth, and the Former Players' Association held a very successful reunion of former players in the players' bar. Narberth fielded: Sion Brace, Richard Rees, Elgan Vittle, Andrew Bowen (Scott Penney), Nick Jones, Gareth James, Adrian Killa, Barry Davies (Nathan Williams), Kevin Allen, Alan Phillips Captain (Fifitapuku Faletau), David Ebsworth, Emori Katalau, Dafydd Bowen (Jason Jennings), Gary Denver and Lewis Wood.