Llangennech 23 pts. Narberth 12

Leading by seven points at the interval, the Otters failed to press home that advantage in the second half as Llangennech took the lead with a penalty and an unconverted try and eventually in injury time scored a further try to rule out any chance of a Narberth comeback.

The turning point came in the 22nd minute of the second half when Narberth flanker Gareth Bateman was yellow-carded.

Llangennech had already narrowed the gap with a long range penalty, but when Bateman was sin-binned, Llan seized the initiative with a penalty by Aled Roberts and then one converted try by Ryan Thomas to take the lead which they held on to until the final whistle.

It had looked so different in the first half when the Otters played some excellent rugby and were rewarded with two tries.

The first came after 15 minutes when centre Neil Davies finished off a move which started form a lineout on the left and Davies touched down under the posts for a try converted by replacement winger Rhys Davies.

After 24 minutes, Llangennech had a penalty from 35 metres, but outside-half Aled Roberts hooked the ball to the left of the posts.

Llangennech did not score their first points of the match until after 33 minutes when winger Mike Davies beat the covering defence to touch down for an unconverted try in the right corner to finish off a move which was started by centre Nathan Bowen who broke through the Narberth defence.

The Otters had one more card up their sleeve, however, when Rhys Davies scored an unconverted try in injury time.

Ironically it came from a Llangennech attack inside the Narberth 22, but the Otters' pack wrestled the ball from their opponents and flanker Timoki Kaumahotoya broke away, ran outside the 22 up the left flank and then released the ball to Rhys Davies.

Normally a scrum-half, Davies did well as an emergency winger in this match and he set the ground alight for the Narberth supporters with a searing run along the touchline, outpaced the chasing defenders and touched down in the left corner for a try which he was unable to convert.

Fifteen minutes into the second half, Llan reduced the Narberth lead when Aled Roberts kicked a penalty from the halfway line.

Not surprisingly, this acted as a confidence-builder for the Llangennech team and when Bateman was yellow-carded, Aled Roberts was on target from 35 metres to reduce the lead to just one point.

Twenty-five minutes into the second half, Llangennech scored again when Ryan Thomas, their number eight, was the beneficiary to finish off a move with an unconverted try in the right corner.

With only four points separating the teams, the Otters were still in contention and tried desperately to cross the Llangennech line.

The Narberth pack continued to supply ample ball, but moves behind the scrum frequently broke down through a mixture of wrong decisions and handling errors.

Winger Tom Bonnell came within inches of a try in the right corner from one Narberth attack which had not broken down and if he had scored, it could have changed the eventual outcome, which was still in doubt until injury time.

That doubt was removed after 43 minutes when winger Mike Davies bagged his second touchdown of the match when he took advantage of some sloppy handling by the Narberth threequarters to pick up a loose ball and race over in the left corner for a try which Aled Roberts converted, to make it Llangennech's day in this mid-table battle.

Commenting after the match, Narberth forwards coach Sean Gale said: "Our work rate as a pack is very good, but with so many injuries coming at the same time and with four players playing out of position, it is difficult to come away with the points.

"Nevertheless, the squad of players and coaches are working very hard to overcome the situation and, although confidence is a bit low, there is no lack of commitment.

"In the changing rooms after the match, many of the players were black and blue simply through the effort they had been putting in to win the match.

"The pack played very well in both scrums and lineouts as a unit and there were stand out performances by Timoki Kaumaitotoya in the back row and by props Sean Lloyd and Justin Hughes."

Narberth fielded: Jonathan Morgan, Tom Bonnell, Mark Heywood, Neil Davies, Nick Jones, Matthew Davies, Andrew Davies, Sean Lloyd, Daniel Smith, Justin Hughes (capt.), Chris James, Alex Jenkins, Gareth Bateman, Timoki Kaumahotoya and Colin Davies.

Replacements: Rhys Davies, Sam Smith, Aled Harries, William Russell and Tom Slater.