The Narberth Youth team put in a battling performance in an exciting encounter at Pembroke on Saturday, but were denied victory by a try just minutes from the end.

Following their win against Aberystwyth last week, Narberth realised they faced a much more difficult challenge at Pembroke, but got off to a flying start with a converted try after just three minutes when fullback Gethin Salter outpaced the home defence to touch down.

A few minutes later, the visitors almost scored a second try when centre Daniel Davies showed his pace with a blistering run from his own half, only to be brought down a yard short of the line.

Pembroke slowly fought their way back into the game with some powerful forward play and, following a long kick-out of defence, stole a Narberth throw in to drive over in the corner. A converted try soon followed when a missed tackle allowed Pembroke's fullback to cut through near the posts.

From the restart, Narberth put the home side under pressure in their 22, with strong performances from Simon Griffiths, Rion Whatmore and Richard Sharpe in the pack, before busy hooker Paul Brown, well supported by prop Gareth Jones, forced his way over in the corner to bring the score to 12 points apiece.

Narberth soon retook the lead with a well worked try when, from a strong scrum, Sam Macnaghton spun out the ball to fly-half Rhodri James who threw a long pass to Gethin Salter hitting the line at pace to cross for a converted try.

In the second half, Narberth continued to battle hard but could not gain the possession that would have allowed them to take advantage of the wind.

Pembroke quickly crossed from a tapped penalty and, despite pressing hard on a number of occasions, Narberth had to accept defeat when a defensive error let Pembroke in for the winning score.

This was an encouraging performance by a young and rapidly improving Narberth side.

Narberth squad: Paul Brown, Daniel Adams, Gareth Jones, Aled John, Richard Sharpe, Rion Whatmore, Simon Griffiths, Gareth Bowen, Ben Jenkins, Dan Jenkins, Sam Macnaghton, Rhodri James, Tom Cummings, Dan Davies, Tom Parssells, James Wilson, Chris Absalom and Gethin Salter. Scorers: tries - Gethin Salter (2) Paul Brown; conversions -Rhodri James (2).