After a superb start to their National League division one campaign, Narberth have gone off the boil a little of late and Saturday was no exception as they suffered their sixth defeat in seven outings.
Although Narberth struck first with an early try at Pandy Park, the visitors were unable to break their losing sequence as Cross Keys edged into the lead and then clung on with a dogged defence which managed to hold a resurgent Otters outfit out in the closing stages.
Both sides looked to play open attacking rugby, and it was Narberth who got off to the brighter start when brothers Mike and Andrew Jones combined well down the left to send Meurig Daniel over for an unconverted try in the fifth minute.
However, while Narberth contested well in the scrums, the Keys dominated the linesout, allowing them the platform to launch a series of attacks at the visitors' line.
It was only a matter of time before the Otters cracked under pressure, a touch of indiscipline giving stand-in fly-half Movete Oto'Ota the chance to reduce the deficit with a penalty.
Simon Daniel was less successful at the other end for Narberth, before Keys edged in front through an enterprising run by fullback James Pizey which sent Gwion Bowen over for an unconverted try.
Oto'Ota may have been forced to take over at pivot instead of his usual centre berth due to Keys' regular outside half Kevin Worgan being injured, but the Tongan had his kicking boots with him as he gave the homesters a nine point lead with two further penalties before the break.
Whatever the Otters' coaching team had said during the interval seemed to have hit the mark after the turn around with the visitors starting to fight back - although they were aided by some wrong options by the Keys and an uncharacteristic miscued penalty from Oto'Ota which he sent sailing under the bar from close range.
As the half wore on, Narberth started to gain some momentum in the linesout, allowing the experienced heads of Alan Phillips and skipper Simon Davies to take the game to the homesters.
Cross Keys closed ranks with an enveloping defence which contained the Otters' onslaught until hooker Craig Hawkins took proceedings by the scruff and found the much-needed chink in the homesters' cordon.
Splitting the defence, Hawkins made inroads from halfway, with the ever-reliable Gareth Bennett maintaining the momentum at the breakdown for possession to be recycled out for wing Nick Jones to dart over in the corner.
Daniel was off target with the conversion with just 10 minutes to go.
With just four points separating the teams, it made for a nail-biting climax, especially for the Otters' faithful band of supporters who had made the trip east, but they were to be frustrated in the end, with Cross Keys managing to hold out for the win.
Tomorrow (Saturday), Narberth are at home to Llanharan.