Bonymaen 57 pts. Narberth 8
Despite a spirited performance, the Otters had no answer to the superb all-round rugby produced on the night by Bonymaen, and the league leaders came out on top at Parcmawr. Bony outside-half Gareth James, a former Narberth player, gave his team the lead with a penalty from inside the 22 after nine minutes. Scrum-half Stuart Allen extended the lead when the Narberth defence bought a huge dummy and Allen slipped through the gap to touch down under the posts for a try converted by James. The visitors kept in contention and produced a number of attacking movements, but were unable to finish. Nevertheless, after 20 minutes, winger Rob Irving reduced the deficit with a short range penalty attempt. Although the visitors defended well, it was becoming more and more difficult to stem the flow and after 36 minutes number eight Allan Powell touched down for a try following a forward movement from a scrum and the conversion attempt by Gareth James hit the posts. An injury time try by Allan Powell, converted by James, gave the home team a lead of 19 points at the interval. In the early stages of the second half, the Otters made a concerted attempt to score with a series of attacks, but were unable to make the breakthrough. Centre Neil Wilcox finished off an excellent broken play move with a try in the left corner, converted by James, who then got in on the act himself with a try which he converted. Midway through the second half, Allan Powell crossed in the left corner to complete his hat-trick and the touchline conversion held no terrors for James, who converted calmly. Another flowing movement by the Bonymaen backs resulted in a second try for Wilcox, this time in the right corner. Naturally, James converted to notch up 50 points. The visitors showed their pluck when lock Chris James emerged from under a pile of forwards having scored a try from a period of forward pressure. Unfortunately for the visitors, Irving was unable to convert. The final try for Bonymaen came just before the final whistle when lock Chris Jenkins forced his way over for a try converted by Gareth James. In the words of Narberth senior coach Jonathon Dodd, "Once Bonymaen had built up a lead of 19 points at half-time, they knew that they had the buffer to really give it a go. "In this game tonight we came second best to a team who played some outstanding rugby. They did everything that we are trying to do and did everything extremely well. "We battled and defended well in the first half. Perhaps some things did not quite go with us, but then they started to get away and played some fine open rugby. "Although we tackled well, the lack of possession crippled us. Bonymaen are a very strong side and outstanding in the contact area. They won a lot of ball in turnovers and used the ball well. "You can see why they are where they are at the top of the table. "We had some chances, but for one reason or another they did not quite come off. As a side, we stuck at it until heads dropped in the last 10 minutes." In an additional comment, Dodd said: "Bonymaen have invested heavily and wisely in building up a squad and they played as a team. "Although the result was disappointing, the Narberth players could not be criticised for lack of effort. The boys will have learned a valuable lesson from this match, in where we have to go and what we have to do to get there, especially in obtaining and retaining possession. "At the same time, it is important to remember that it was only a year ago that we came here and registered a convincing win." Lock Chris James had a good all-round game for Narberth and was adept at retrieving the ball from kick-offs and up front there were other good performances by number eight Anthony Griffiths together with hooker Adrian Chiffi. This (Friday) evening, Narberth are home to the visitors Llangennech in another division one fixture. Narberth fielded: Sion Brace (Matthew Davies), Dan Shooter, Mike Georgiou, Neil Davies, Rob Irving, Phil Thomas, Adrian Killa, James Bannister, Adrian Chiffi (Gareth Jones), Fifitapuku Faletau (Martin Bowen), Emori Katalau, capt., Chris James, Rob James (Jason Jennings), Jack Mason and Anthony Griffiths.