Beddau 10 Narberth 11
A late penalty by outside half Simon Daniel gave the Otters a slender one point lead, which was held until the final whistle in a nail biting finish.
The win, combined with the surprise defeat of Llangennech at Seven Sisters, has opened up a gap at the top of Division Two, between the leaders Narberth and the chasing pack.
What made the result all the more remarkable was that the Otters played with 14 men for most of the second half, as substitute hooker Puku Faletau was sent off for a high tackle on Beddau flanker Gavin Davey.
Although the Otters tried to run the ball at every opportunity in the first half, they were frustrated by the spoiling tactics adopted by Beddau, compounded by frequent stoppages for infringements.
Beddau centre David Harris opened the scoring with his third penalty attempt after missing out on two earlier chances and Narberth outside half Simon Daniel equalised with his second penalty attempt of the match.
The wind on the field was more deceptive than it looked from the stand, as Daniel's next attempt appeared to be on target, but was taken off course by the swirling wind and hit the left upright.
Eventually the Otters gained reward for their persistence when they edged into the lead from a try by winger Andrew Jones. When a penalty was awarded Simon Daniel kicked for the left corner.
After winning the lineout the pack drove for the line. The ball was worked out to winger Andrew Jones on the blind side and with a delightful run, he shrugged off the challenge from two defenders to cross in the left corner for an unconverted try.
In an attempt to press home the advantage, full back Aled Davies made an incisive break up the left. Tevita Manesitava took the ball on with a clever run after Davies was tackled but the move ended inside the Beddau 22 and there was no further scoring by either side before the interval.
Beddau took the lead following the first scrum of the second half. When the ball broke to outside half Owen Thomas he grubber kicked the ball up field from outside the 22.
In a neck and neck race with Tevita Manesitiva, the outside half grounded the ball first and the Otters paid the penalty for some sloppy defence. David Harris converted the kick from an awkward angle in difficult wind conditions.
Shortly afterwards, substitute hooker Puku Faletau was given the red card by referee David Williams.
Flanker Gavin Davey set off on a run for Beddau, and Faletau went for a high tackle on his shoulder and with the power of the tackle Davey was also struck above the shoulder.
Simon Daniel tried a long-range penalty effort from inside the Narberth half which was short and, after a quarter of an hour of the second half, coach Keith Eaton planted fresh legs.
Jamie Bohata, Chris Flattery and Chris MacDonald came on for second row Jason Jennings, prop David Balkwill and scrum half Lloyd Thomas after the three players had given their all.
Simon Daniel showed his versatility with kicking out of hand with some probing kicks and astute touch finders.
Aled Davies was just off the mark with two-drop goal attempts, one from long range and with about 10 minutes of the match remaining the Otters edged into the lead.
It came from an unlikely source. Number eight Gareth Bennett set off on a run just inside the Narberth half and kicked a high up and under, the first time the tactic had been used in the game. The kick caused panic amongst the Beddau players, who gave away a penalty.
Recognising the importance of the kick, Simon Daniel kept his head and put the ball between the posts.
When Beddau counter-attacked, Daniel played his part again with a massive touch finder from inside the Narberth 22 down to the right corner.
Beddau won the lineout and cleared up field.
A clever fly kick by flanker Alan Reynolds led to a chase up the left flank by Andrew Jones who almost broke clear. From the resulting scrum, an open side dart by substitute scrum half Chris Macdonald followed up by the pack brought the spectators in the stand to their feet.
Once again Beddau relieved the pressure and when they were awarded a penalty in the closing minutes you could have cut the tension with a knife.
In a kick which was almost a carbon copy of the attempt by Daniel in the first half which struck the upright, the ball appeared to be on target. However, the swirling wind took it outside the left upright, much to the relief of the large contingent of Narberth supporters.
Thereafter, the Otters held on to the one point lead with limpet like qualities until the final whistle.
Throughout the match Beddau held the upper hand in the scrums, but when the chips were down the Otters were not pushed off the ball in pressure situations.
In the second half the Otters were forced to draw all of their reserves in defence as Beddau had their tails up after the try and the departure of Faletau.
However, the Otters came back and for most of the remainder of the second half dominated play despite being a man short.
Emori Katalau, Jason Jennings and later Jamie Bohata were all prominent in the lineout and flanker Alan Reynolds was outstanding.
Centre Andrew Bowen took out at least three men every time he ran at the Beddau three quarters and was also resolute with his tackling.
It was no surprise that Alan Reynolds was nominated Man of the Match for his all round display by the Otters' team management, but it was a gritty performance in the circumstances by the entire squad on duty for the day.
Next Saturday Narberth are home to Abertillery. Kick off is at 2.30pm
Narberth fielded: Aled Davies, Wil Morgan, Tevita Manesitava, Andrew Bowen, Andrew Jones, Simon Daniel, Lloyd Thomas, Dai Balkwill, Kevin Davies, Alan Phillips, Jason Jennings (Captain), Emore Katelau, Alan Reynolds, John Bowen Gareth Bennett. Subs (All played): Chris Macdonald, Chris Flattery, Jamie Bohata, Puku Faletau.