NARBERTH 15 pts

CAERPHILLY 19

Narberth's dreams of a Millennium Stadium date with the Principality Welsh Cup ended at the Lewis Lloyd ground on Saturday as they were edged out of the competition by Caerphilly.

However, the Otters did not disgrace themselves against the Premier division opposition and almost pulled off a shock result, leading by 15 points to 12 going into the closing stages.

While the Castletown men secured their place in the quarter-finals with a converted try late on, Narberth served notice that quality rugby is alive and well in the depths of West Wales with a superb display of possession rugby.

On their current form, Narberth and Caerphilly could end up facing each other in division one of the National League next season, and the Otters showed they have nothing to fear from 'top flight' opposition,

Playing into the strong wind, Narberth took the game to Caerphilly from the outset with a series of controlled drives.

Such was their phase play that the Castletown men hardly got a touch of the ball in the opening five minutes, so it was something of a surprise when the visitors took the lead against the run of play.

A penalty kick from Luke Richards gained the visitors good field position, with possession being strung out to centre John Colderley who crashed over for a touchdown.

Richards added the extras to put the Castletown men seven points ahead, but Narberth came right back with excellent ball retention, support and alertness.

Jamie Bohata and Emori Katalau never felt intimidated in the linesout, supplying Narbeth with useful platform ball, and it was Katalau's industry which led to the Otters opening their account.

Pinching a lineout off Caerphilly's throw, the Fijian international set up 'veteran' back row man Alan Reynolds who darted over on the blind side for a try.

Stand-off Simon Daniel was just off target with the conversion from wide out into the wind.

Both teams tended to cancel each other out for the remainder of the half, with Narberth's superb defence smothering any half breaks by the visitors.

That's not to say that there weren't chances. Former Welsh fullback Justin Thomas came close, but the wind carried his chip over the dead ball line, while Daniel and Richards both missed penalty kicks.

Turning around just two points ahead, the Premier division club must have had a stiff talking to by their coaching team of Terry Holmes and Charlie Faulkener, because their pack, in particular, tightened up their game after the break which somewhat limited the Otters' opportunities.

Introduction of Andrew Jacob at stand-off for the injured Seone Tuipulotu also boosted the visitors, with the half-back marshalling his forces well at pivot.

It was Jacob who was inspirational in increasing the Castletown men's lead when he fed impressive number eight Andrew Williams who barged through for an unconverted try.

However, the Otters never allowed their heads to drop, mercurial scrum-half Chris Macdonald catching the visiting defence napping with a quickly taken tap penalty inside the Caerphilly 22.

The influential half-back completely wrong-footed the Castletown men with a diagonal run and then squeezed through for the try.

Daniel converted to put the teams back on terms and then brought the crowd of around 2,000 partisan supporters to their feet when he slotted over a penalty to give the Otters the lead and a glimpse of a famous victory with just 15 minutes to go.

However, as fitness levels began to take their toll in the closing stages, the Castletown men upped the pace and regained the initiative when flanker Ben Watkins bagged a try from open play and Richards converted.

Daniel came close to converting a penalty from the halfway line which would have pulled the Otters to within a point of the visitors and set up a nail-biting climax, but the ball dipped below the bar, leaving Narberth beaten, but certainly not unbowed.

Narberth have a break this weekend due to the Six Nations internationals.