The Narberth clubhouse was packed to capacity for the Rugby Club's annual dinner and presentation evening when guest speaker Stuart Davies was the star attraction.
Following a sumptuous dinner prepared by Sandy Mutch and her team, club chairman John Williams reviewed the success story of the club last season, with the highlight being the first team lifting the Division Two championship trophy.
The Athletic team had enjoyed the more meaningful levels of competition in the West Wales Premier League and had won the Pembrokeshire Junior Union Cup for a record sixth season in succession. In addition, the Under 18 team had won the Griffiths Cup following a closely fought contest with Haverfordwest in the final.
Apart from lifting the Division Two championship, the other highlights of the season included breaking the league barrier of scoring 1,000 points in Division Two, outside-half Simon Daniel scored 353 points to be the leading points scorer, Andrew Jones scored 19 tries in the league and the club's other winger, John Whitticombe, broke the individual match try scoring record with six tries, which had been held jointly by team manager Robert Lewis and former team manager John Davies with five tries.
Lock Lestyn Evans made his 150th league appearance for Narberth and centre Andrew Bowen made his 100th league appearance for the club. By the end of the season Bowen had played 125 league games.
Gareth Bennett and Andrew Bowen were the only players to take the field in all the league games and number eight Gareth Bennett was the first Narberth forward to drop a goal since the inception of the National League.
Former Welsh international and Swansea back row forward Stuart Davies congratulated the club on such a successful season. He thought that Narberth were worthy winners of the Division Two championship and it was just reward for being top of the table for most of the season. He was very impressed with the facilities at the ground and clubhouse and it was evident from the TV coverage of the season that Narberth received excellent support from supporters and sponsors.
He was sure that Narberth would do well when representing Pembrokeshire in Division One next season.
In a highly entertaining speech, he gave many interesting and humorous details of his experiences during his rugby playing career at club and representative levels. A number of his humorous stories featured his former Swansea team-mate Alan Reynolds who had made such an important contribution to the Narberth success story since joining the club from Whitland.
Senior coach Keith Eaton congratulated the players for all their hard work in training and in league and cup matches.
In addition, he mentioned the sterling work played by the management committee behind the scenes and he praised fitness advisor Martin James for his top class work with the players and for providing such excellent facilities at the Martin James Fitness Centre in Kilgetty.
Keith Eaton also paid tribute to Robert Phillips, his assistant coach, for his work with the forwards, and team manager Robert Lewis, together with assistant team manager Jeff Jenkins, for their management and administration skills.
Club captain Simon Davies spoke in similar vein and praised the team for putting in such a tremendous performance throughout the season. It was a particular honour to be captain of a club such as Narberth and he thanked players for their 100 per cent efforts and the club's supporters for their unflagging support home and away throughout the season.
It had been a particular privilege to be captain of the club during this season when so many club records had been broken and he and the players were looking forward to the challenge of playing in Division One next season.
Following the speeches, the following awards were made: First Team Player of the Year - Emori Katalau; Athletic Team Player of the Year - John Bowen; Most Promising Player - Andrew Jones; First Team Top Try Scorer - Andrew Jones; Athletic Team Top Try Scorer - Dean Rees; Most League Appearances - Gareth Bennett; Most Improved Player - Meurig Daniel; The Colin Phillips Trophy (First Team Players Player of the Year) - Andrew Bowen; Athletic Team Player of the Year - John Bowen; Most First Team Man of the Match Awards - Alan Reynolds; Most Athletic Team Man of the Match Awards - Ben Saunders; Club Man of the Year - Tony Jones; and Outstanding Club Loyalty - Shane Higgon.
Team manager Robert Lewis acted as master of ceremonies for the evening as usual in his own inimitable way.