There were champagne celebrations at the Lewis Lloyd ground on Saturday as Narberth secured the National League division two crown with two games still to go.

Runaway leaders, the Otters had already secured promotion to the upper echelons, and this 42 points to 26 victory over Oakdale was enough to put the icing on the cake and seal the championship.

However, although the Otters were full of running in the opening stages, the win was not as convincing as the scoreline suggests, with Dale not giving them an easy ride to the title.

In fact, it was the visitors who took the lead when fullback Dai Jones poached a try and outside-half Jeremy Lloyd converted.

The reliable boot of Simon Daniel reduced the deficit when he slotted over a penalty, before a quickly taken tap penalty by Andrew Jones created the space for Emori Katalau to race over for a try.

Daniel's conversion added the extras, but Narberth's lead was short-lived, with Dale lock Simon Jones rounding off a period of visitors' pressure with a try, which Lloyd converted.

'Veteran' back row man Alan Reynolds rescued the Otters when he won the kick and chase to the home line, and he almost picked up a try for his efforts at the other end when he raced up the line, but the move broke down from lack of support.

It was up to Daniel to rise to the occasion in fine style, the stand-off banging over four penalties in succession with his siege-gun boot to put Narberth back in the driving seat.

Oakdale bounced back with another try when centre Steve Barnes crossed from another tap penalty, but Lloyd was off target with the conversion.

Leading by three points at the break, the Otters increased their lead after the change around when Reynolds and centre Elgan Vittles conspired to send fullback Wayne Jones through for a try.

Although his conversion hit the post and bounced the wrong way, Daniel kicked a sixth penalty to increase the home advantage, while Lloyd was off target with a penalty from in front of the posts for Dale.

The Otters suffered a blow when lock Katalau, who had been in dominant mood in the linesout, suffered an ankle injury.

The South Sea Islander had to be stretchered from the field for hospital treatment, and could be sidelined for up to 12 weeks as a result.

Lloyd snatched an opportunist try, which he converted himself, to reduce the arrears to just four points.

In a nerve-racking final quarter Daniel missed a drop goal, before the Otters got their title dreams back on track when Daniel made amends by splitting the Dale defence and sending Andrew Jones over in the corner.

Daniel converted, but had less luck when Reynolds bagged himself the game's final try as a reward for all his industry after Wayne Jones had initially tested the Dale defence.