High-riding Narberth are back on top of division two of the National League.

In their crunch top-of-the-table clash with promotion rivals Llangennech at the Lewis Lloyd on Saturday, the Otters ran out clear winners to leap-frog the students of UWIC at the head of the section.

And it was nothing more than delighted Narberth deserved, for their free-flowing attacking rugby was rewarded with three excellent tries, without similar reply from Llangennech.

All the visitors had to show for their efforts were four penalties from the boot of skipper and outside-half Mark Jones, who kept them in touch throughout the game, but it was never going to be enough to deny the determined Otters.

To be fair to Llangennech, however, they also contributed much to an entertaining match, and might well have grabbed a couple of touchdowns had it not been for some crucial dropped passes and some stubborn defence from the home side.

In fact, it was a fine all round performance by Narberth, right through from Wayne Jones at fullback to industrious hooker Kevin Davies in the middle of the hard-working pack, with impressive displays coming all over the the park.

Their attitude was typified by 'birthday boy' Chris McDonald, who celebrated his 30th birthday with an outstanding game at the base of the scrum; indeed the way he galloped around the field, he could easily have been mistaken for a two-year-old!

His incisive thrusts were a constant threat to the Llangennech defence and he and half-back partner Simon Daniel kept Narberth going forward with their clever tactical play.

Centre Andrew Bowen also gave a stand-out performance, both in attack and defence, while winger Andrew Jones caught the eye with his pacy running and went on to win the man of the match award.

The backs, however, can not operate without the ball and again the Narberth pack produced another powerful effort to provide a welcome supply of quality possession.

Solid in the set-pieces, they scrummaged particularly well, while second row pair Jason Jennings and Jamie Bohata were towering in the linesout.

The Otters signalled their intent early on. In fact, almost immediately from the kick-off, when a raking kick from the boot of fly-half Daniel had Llangennech back-pedalling.

Taking advantage of a good attacking position deep in their opponents' half, the Otters controlled the ball well with series of rucks and mauls, before possession was fed out to the backs, where Wayne Jones entered the line at pace and slipped a pass to winger John Whitticombe, who scorched over beneath the sticks.

Outside-half Daniel had no problem in adding the extras with the simple conversion as Narberth celebrated just the sort of start they wanted.

Rocked by this early setback, Llangennech's problems were soon doubled, when Narberth increased their lead to 14 points with their second try midway through the opening half.

This time good lineout ball enabled the pack to drive the ball forward and alert hooker Kevin Davies burst through to dive over for the touchdown.

Simon Daniel again made no mistake with the conversion.

After that, his opposite number, Langennech captain Mark Jones, kept the visitors in touch with two excellent penalty goals and he banged over a third just before the break when Narberth back row man Alan Reynolds incurred the wrath of the referee and was sin-binned for a 10-minute period.

With the difference now down to just five points, the Otters could not afford to relax and they were given a fillip early in the second half when Daniel extended their lead with his first penalty of the day.

Mark Jones again cut the deficit with his fourth penalty, only for Andrew Jones to seal the match for Narberth late on with a fine try in the corner, again converted by Daniel.

During the post match presentation ceremonies, Fijian international Emori Katalah, who has gained 45 caps for his country, presented Narberth chairman John Williams with his prized number five international shirt as well as with a plaque.

The match was sponsored by Tenby chartered accountants Alexander Partnership together with Narberth solicitors Hains and Lewis. The gold team sponsor was the Iron Duke, of Clunderwen, and the team sponsor Liz's Bakery and Coffee Shop, of Narberth.

The match ball was sponsored by Pembrokeshire Pictures and Malcolm MacPhee, of Princes Gate.