Tonmawr 15 pts. Narberth 7

Narberth have slipped down to third place in the Division One West table after losing out to Tonmawr in a match which could determine which team will finish runners-up to Carmarthen Quins in the table.

As a result of losing their third league match on the trot, although the Otters have one game in hand, they now find that Carmarthen Athletic, Corus and Felinfoel are snapping at their heels in the table, with arch rivals Whitland not too far behind.

On a foggy day at Tonmawr, the Whitworth ground was covered in mist, which made it very difficult at times for spectators to follow the game.

There was little to choose between the two teams on the day, but Tonmawr just about deserved to edge it for not conceding as many penalties as Narberth.

The visitors had an early chance to open the scoring with a penalty, but the decision was reversed after some remarks to the referee and Narberth were forced to defend. If the penalty had been taken by the Otters, it was a kickable position on the 22 in front of the posts.

After eight minutes, both teams were reduced to 14 players following an incident between Narberth prop Ryan Perrott and Tonmawr hooker Darryl Harvey, which resulted in both players leaving the field after being shown the red card by referee Phil Fear and the incident left Ryan Perrott with a fractured jaw.

The Green and Whites made the adjustment to 14 men quicker than the Otters and opened the scoring with a try by outside-half Steve Lewis after 14 minutes, which he converted himself.

Aled Davies missed out on a penalty opportunity after 27 minutes, but two minutes later the visitors drew level following an excellent move initiated by a storming run from winger Tom Bonnell out of defence and into the Tonmawr half.

Play moved inside and when Aled Davies threw out a long pass to centre Steve Martin, it gave Martin a chance to weave his magic and slice through the Tonmawr defence to cross for a try near the left corner, which Aled Davies did well to convert.

With scores level at half-time, the large number of Narberth supporters present had some cause to look forward to the second half in optimistic mood.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it was Tonmawr who scored first with an unconverted try by flanker Edge Ozoigwe.

The Otters kept pressing forward at every opportunity, but were sent back a number of times through indiscipline.

When Steve Lewis slotted over a penalty after 34 minutes it meant that the visitors would have to score twice to win the match and, although chances were created, none was finished.

Commenting after the match, Narberth backs' coach Clive James said: "It was a very disappointing result. We played well in patches, but the ball does not seem to be going for us at the moment.

"The big problem that is costing us is the indiscipline. Rightly or wrongly, we are just giving away too many penalties.

"We created some good stuff and got into scoring positions, but the lack of discipline and penalties are costing us dearly. We end up back under pressure, rather than pushing on and scoring ourselves.

"The sending off of two players affected both sides. We took off a forward to play seven in the pack and Tonmawr took off a winger. It took us a while to get anything going, but the seven forwards did very well. There were good performances by Jason Jennings and Alex Jenkins in the second row, the front row and by flankers Andrew Dennis and Gareth Bateman.

"Everyone did their bit and we cannot fault them.

"Our lineout is one of the best in the league, but there is a lack of concentration at times in the set-pieces and we have the odd lapse when we are in vital positions.

"Behind the scrum, Andrew Davies had a really good game at scrum-half, centre Richard Davies did well and Tom Bonnell ran hard on the wing.

"We have got to get the show back on the road quickly as we cannot afford to slip up again away from home, but our next match is a difficult away fixture at Maesteg on a Friday evening before the IrishiInternational.

"Friday night fixtures away are always difficult as players are rushing home from work and Maesteg in particular is our furthest away fixture.

"This result was also very disappointing for our supporters who come rain or shine to follow the team around throughout the season and it is a tribute to their loyalty that we had more supporters present than the Tonmawr team."

Narberth are without a fixture tomorrow (Saturday) because of the international in Rome between Italy and Wales.

The Otters are also without a fixture on the following Saturday because of the international at Cardiff between Wales and Ireland, but the team will be in action on the evening before on Friday March 20, with a testing away fixture at Maesteg.

Narberth lock Jason Jennings was nominated as man-of-the-match by the Narberth team management after the match.

Narberth fielded: Matthew Davies (Nick Jones), Tom Bonnell, Steve Martin, Richard Davies, Jonathan Morgan, Aled Davies (Adrian Killa), Andrew Davies, Ryan Perrott (Tom Slater), Dan Smith, Justin Hughes captain, Jason Jennings, Alex Jenkins (Luke Kendall), Gareth Bateman, Andrew Dennis and Jamie Bohata.