Narberth 13 pts. Bonymaen 27

Division One leaders Bonymaen came to the Lewis Lloyd Ground knowing that a draw would guarantee the Division One Championship. What they did not know was that the Otters would be fired up for the occasion and determined to spoil the party. With 10 minutes of the match remaining, only two points separated the teams, but Bony showed their championship qualities by stealing two late tries to clinch a win and the title. The Otters gave notice of their intentions in the opening exchanges, with most of the play taking place inside the Bonymaen half. It was no surprise when winger Rob Irving put the Otters in front with a penalty after nine minutes. The Bonymaen half-backs were former Narberth favourites Adrian Killa and Gareth James. After 20 minutes, Gareth James levelled the scores with a penalty. Seven minutes later, the visitors went in front for the first time when second row Michael Thomas burst through the Narberth defences to cross for a try under the posts converted by Gareth James. The Narberth players continued to resist strongly and to attack at every opportunity. In the closing stages of the first half, the visitors were put under sustained pressure. An attempted clearance by the Bonymaen threequarters resulted in the ball becoming loose and gathered by the Otters for flanker Mathew Davies to cross for a try halfway out on the right, converted by Rob Irving. The move had been started when outside-half Wes Pooley attempted a long touch-finder for Narberth. The ball did not go into touch, but the Bonymaen backs succumbed to pressure and Narberth won the ball and made the most of the opportunity to score the try. With the points level at the interval, the Otters continued to play bravely in the second half. Flanker Ewan Hopkins regained the lead for Bony with a blindside break from a scrum near the Narberth line after 56 minutes for an unconverted try. Even when prop Sayasi Navunitale was yellow carded the Otters continued to compete on equal terms despite being reduced to 14 men. In fact, a penalty by Rob Irving during this period from 35 yards brought Narberth within sniffing distance of a surprise win. However, ultimately the superior fitness of the Bonymaen team and the lack of match fitness in some of the Narberth players allowed the visitors to increase the lead. After 71 minutes, winger James Davies raced up the right touchline for an unconverted try in the right corner and on the stroke of fulltime substitute prop Ryan Perrott went over for a try converted by Gareth James. Speaking after the match, Narberth team manager Robert Lewis, who had given an inspirational pre- match team talk said: "It was an excellent performance today as the boys played with a lot of heart and commitment. If we could have held our own in the scrums we would have won the game. "We have struggled with problems in the front row throughout the season and that was probably our undoing today. "The lineouts went well and we hit the rucks and mauls with passion. In addition we turned over a lot of ball, the backs tackled exceptionally well to a man, we put Bonymaen under a lot of pressure and at the end of the first half this pressure was converted into points. "Turning around at 10 points each was a fair reflection on the game. In the second half we struggled a little, with one or two players blowing up being short of match practice. "We still retained the commitment and, although Bonymaen are a very good side, we contained them and they only got away with a couple of tries in the last ten minutes. "If we had obtained tidy ball from the scrums we could have exposed Bonymaen and got a shock result today. "It was terrific to see the commitment by the players and to hear the support given to the Narberth team from the stand and terraces." Centre Mike Georgiou was nominated man of the match by the Folly Farm Balcony Suite match sponsors, NatWest Bank, in a match where all of the Narberth players put their hands up to be counted. The match ball was sponsored by Heather and John Howell, of Narberth, and Graham Searle, of Llawhaden. Tomorrow (Saturday), Narberth are home to Builth Wells in a re-arranged league fixture and the following Wednesday make the journey to Cwmllynfell for a re-arranged midweek fixture. Narberth fielded: Sion Brace (Mark Davies), Josh Freeman, Mike Georgiou, Neil Davies, Rob Irving, Wes Pooley, Andrew Davies, Martin Bowen (Peter Rodway), Adrian Chiffi (Fifitipuku Faletau), Sayasi Navunitale, Emori Katalau, capt. (Chris James), Jason Jennings, Jamie Bohata, Mathew Davies and Lewis Wood.