With an away win over the Otters already under their belts and home advantage, Whitland could have been forgiven for thinking that they held all the trump cards when they welcomed Narberth to Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn for this National League division one fixture on Saturday.

However, what they did not expect in this much-anticipated Derby clash was to come up against a well-drilled Otters side who had obviously done their homework to such an extent that they not only comfortably secured the league points, but also managed to keep a clean sheet.

After the inconsistency of late, this was the same sort of Narberth performance that saw them unbeaten in the first six weeks of the season, and the Borderers had little to offer in return, with their below par pack - who had helped steer them to a 38-19 win at the Lewis Lloyd - completely outgunned in all facets.

Prior to kick-off, a minute's silence was observed for former Whitland president, Mr. W. G. (Bill) Allen, who had passed away earlier in the week.

The Otters came out of the traps like a greyhound, and showed far more drive and purpose throughout, with the Green and Whites hardly shifting out of first gear for the full 80 minutes.

With a solid front row centring on hooker Simon Delaney and a creative back row trio spearheaded by skipper Simon Davies, Narberth were able to keep the Borderers on the back foot for long periods.

Cornerstone of this was their ability to win platform ball at the linesout through locks Emori Katalau and Dai Ebsworth, which allowed half-back pairing of Chris Macdonald and Simon Daniel to control proceedings, Daniel in particular kicking well from hand to keep the ball just ahead of his dominating pack.

In fact, it was Daniel who opened Narberth's account just three minutes in when he slotted over a penalty.

The Otters increased their advantage shortly afterwards when Katalau won lineout ball to set up the drive which allowed prop Andrew Howell to claim an unconverted try in the corner.

If Whitland had been banking on Narberth making errors from their usual expansive game, they were to be sorely disappointed, with Daniel often eschewing the linking pass to his threes in favour of the boot to gain field position.

Sometimes, however, the intuitive pivot would completely wrong-foot the Borderers with his imagination, a neat chip via his knee, over the home defence, allowing centre Elgan Vittle to win the race to the touch down.

Daniel converted to put the Otters 15 points ahead.

On the half-hour mark, Whitland suffered a set-back when scrum-half Andrew Jenkins was forced to leave the field injured, to be replaced by Scott Penney.

Narberth increased their woes just before the break when fullback Nick Jones and wing Daniel Gravell both made inroads into the homesters' defensive cover, before Vittle was on hand to round off the move with an unconverted try.

Twenty points ahead at the interval, the Otters increased their advantage shortly after the restart when Daniel banged over another penalty.

With the points came greater confidence, with Narberth virtually ending things as a contest going into the final quarter when the ever-alert Vittle raced onto a neat grubber from Daniel to claim his hat-trick.

Things were not all one-way traffic, with Whitland mounting several onslaughts through Steve Griffiths, Lee Glanville and skipper Phil Morgan, but again Narberth had done their homework, closing the Green and Whites out with a grafting pack performance that denied them workable second phase and the options to use burly centres Mike Buckingham and Johnny Kaloi to any great effect.

Narberth had the final say with a dazzling display of support rugby that started from deep when fullback Jones slipped the home cover.

The Otters' pack secured second phase at the breakdown, with Katalau maintaining the momentum for Howell to claim his second.

Daniel converted and slotted a penalty in the closing stages, which brought the 40 up for the Otters and make revenge for their defeat earlier in the season all that sweeter.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Narberth face a home fixture against Tredegar, while Whitland travel to Beddau.