In a scoreline reminiscent of yesteryear, the Borderers ground out a hard fought victory over the Otters and were indebted to a fine performance by their pack boosted by the control of the Whitland half-backs.
Although the surface held up well at Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn, the playing conditions were atrocious, with the wind eventually approaching gale force combined with driving rain.
Spectators who enjoyed the comforts of the stand were only able to appreciate the difficult playing conditions for the players of both teams when bracing themselves to walk from the stand to the car park after the match. The rain drove in their faces and the strong wind even made walking somewhat hazardous.
Narberth fullback Nick Jones had the opportunity to give his team the lead with a penalty after two minutes, but the kick went wide of the posts. An ambitious penalty attempt by Jones from the halfway line after 15 minutes was on target, but the ball dropped just short of the posts.
The Borderers' pack had begun to have an advantage over the Narberth pack to set up a number of attacking movements against the wind. After 28 minutes, the Otters conceded a penalty and outside-half Aled Davies put the Whitland team in front with a straight penalty kick from 30 metres.
Two minutes later, Nick Jones had an opportunity to level the scores, but again his penalty attempt was off target.
The fleet-footed Narberth backs were kept on a tight leash, but one move in the later stages of the first half looked promising. Winger Matthew Davies looked certain to score in the right corner to finish off a rare passing movement, but the referee's whistle ended the move as the final pass was forward.
Influential Whitland scrum-half Andrew Jenkins was yellow-carded shortly before the interval, but again Nick Jones was unable to convert the penalty and the visitors were unable to take advantage of Whitland being a player short during the time Jenkins was off the field.
At the start of the second half, Aled Davies missed out on a penalty attempt from 40 metres.
However, after parity in numbers had been restored with the return of Jenkins to the pitch, Davies had another penalty attempt from the right touchline, but his kick struck the upright.
It was now the turn of the Narberth team to play with 14 men for a period when prop Nathan Williams was yellow-carded.
Aled Davies missed out on the subsequent penalty attempt and no points were scored during the time that Williams was watching from the touchlines. As the game went on, the result looked more and more likely to go Whitland's way and Aled Davies struck a decisive blow after 25 minutes with a 40- metre penalty kick.
Speedy Whitland winger Dion Thomas chased up a kick ahead by Andrew Jenkins and got close to the ball before it went over the line and out of play.
A third penalty for Aled Davies in the closing stages put the game well and truly out of the grasp of the Otters.
Whitland senior coach Domenico Setaro said after the match: "The coaches were quite pleased with the way in which we played today. In the corresponding fixture at Narberth, the Narberth pack did a job up front to pave the way for the Narberth win.
"We knew that it was important to match their pack and today we had parity and probably were a little bit better.
"With that service you can go forward to play good rugby and that was the difference between the two games.
"Our scrummaging was good today and our lineout work OK. Behind the pack Aled Davies played well in the conditions to show that he is a quality number 10.
"After matching Narberth up front, everything else was then a bonus. We held the Narberth backs in check and deserved to win.
"All of the forwards, including the substitutes, played well and hooker Huw Devonald, making his first start for a while after recovering from injury, had an impressive game. Prop Alun Davies showed his strength as a ball carrier, flanker John Bowen had a consistent all-round game and Lee Glanville was penetrative at number 12."
Jonathan Dodd, Narberth's director of rugby, accepted that Whitland were the better team on the day. In his post-match comments, he said: "Whitland deserved to win in a match which did not provide a lot of entertainment for spectators because of the strong wind and rain.
"The Whitland half-backs exerted control and this told in the end. Although the penalty count was quite even, we gave our penalties away in the wrong areas so that we either had to defend our line for long periods or the penalties were kickable. "Full credit to Whitland. They were the better side and adapted to the conditions a lot better, with half-backs Andrew Jenkins and Aled Davies taking the right options for most of the game after the Whitland pack had the edge up front.
"Number eight Lewis Wood kept going for us, even though we were often on the back foot, lock David Ebsworth played well against his former club with props Justin Hughes and Nathan Williams also having good games, although not as dominant as in most matches.
"Our aim is still to finish in the top four in the table and if both the clubs have a good run in the Pembrokeshire Cup we might play each other again. After one entertaining game and one hard fought game, with honours even, in the event of the clubs meeting in the cup, it will be a case of winners take all on the day!"
Borderers outside-half Aled Davies picked up the Man of the Match award from the match sponsors, Mason Bros, of Lampeter Velfrey, Celtic Homes and Builders, Coors Brewers and Young Bros, of Llandissilio.
The team sponsors were Classic Kitchens, of Whitland, Silverhill Windows, of Red Roses, Stoddart Tyres, of Tiers Cross, Allen & Partners, of Whitland, W. G. Davies, of Landore, and Lloyd Davies, Builders of St. Clears.
The match ball was sponsored by Woodfield Nursing Home, of Narberth, K. P. Thomas & Son Ltd, of Templeton, Jonathan Boot, of Lydstep, D. W. Landscapes, of Whitland, Steve Williams Autos, of Tenby, Tom Scourfield, of Carew Quarries, Wade Removals Ltd, Ken Davies, Funeral Director, of Clunderwen, Ieuan Griffiths, Builder, of Whitland, Haven Colourprint UK, of Pembroke Dock, Arthur Lewis, the Studio of Laugharne, and Bargain Box, of Narberth.
Whitland fielded: Gavin Morris, Dion Thomas, Colin Jones (Matthew Hughes), Lee Glanville, Will Davies, Aled Davies, Andrew Jenkins, Alun Davies (Gareth Williams), Huw Devonald (Aled Harries), Andrew Morrilo (Romeo Colella), Raff Williams, Aled Evans (Carwyn Davies), Ryan Michael, Phil Morgan (captain) and John Bowen.
Narberth fielded: Nick Jones, Andrew Jones, Steve Martin, Neil Davies, Matthew Davies, Steve Williams, Chris MacDonald (Andrew Davies), Nathan Williams, Dan Smith (Fifitipuku Faletau), Justin Hughes (captain), David Ebsworth, Emori Katalau (Jason Jennings), Jamie Bohata (Matthew Davies), Lloyd Phillips and Lewis Wood.