Tenby United 36 pts.
Hendy 8
A six-try victory and a bonus point to boot sounds on the face of it like a job well done.
But for threequarters of last Saturday's clash with Division Four West strugglers Hendy, Tenby United looked far from comfortable and in many ways the final score flattered them.
Arriving with only 15 players, the Carmarthenshire outfit could not field a recognised front row, so once again the game was played with uncontested scrums throughout, something that clearly did not benefit the home side's approach.
In spite of that, they began brightly, a fine surge from Sam Smith finding lock Gareth Edwards in midfield support. The visitors could only concede a penalty for slowing the ball at the ensuing ruck, but the usually reliable boot of Tom Lewis let him down as the attempted kick was shanked wide from 25 metres out.
Almost immediately, Tenby lost pacey fullback Dan Colley to an eye injury and he was replaced by Barry John.
Tenby forced a second kickable penalty early on, but on this occasion chose to kick for the corner and use quick lineout ball. They initially held on to possession, but the pass to stand-off Delwyn Brace was poor and he knocked on, bringing the move to an end.
The home side then got a reminder that the visitors were not there to make up the numbers, fullback Thomas hacking through a loose ball in midfield and almost winning the foot race to touch down. Good work from Mark Heywood ensured that he was back first to minor the ball.
Sam Smith continued to be at the heart of all Tenby attacks, loose head Damian Hanlon also showing up strongly early on, but a constant flow of errors kept the scoreboard blank at the end of the game's first quarter.
Ironically, the first points went the way of the visitors after the United were penalised for going in at the side of the ruck. Having been pushed back a further 10 metres for not retreating, the Seasiders offered up a difficult penalty chance. Visiting captain Evans took the responsibility and struck the ball magnificently between the uprights to gain the lead.
Tenby bounced back, setting up a series of phases of attack following a fine break from centre Gavin Brace. Gareth Edwards was in close support, again forcing Hendy to kill the ball and concede another penalty that the Seasiders opted to kick into the corner.
The lineout set up a series of pick and drives by the home eight that put enormous pressure on the Hendy line and resulted in another penalty. The pressure did eventually tell just before the half hour mark, Sam Smith feeding off a fine Tom Lewis pass to crash over for the score. Lewis missed what should have been a simple conversion.
The Carmarthenshire side were given an opportunity to cut the deficit almost immediately, after Barry John took a man out in the air with a mistimed tackle. Centre Evans again lined up the kick at goal and, although he once again had the length, he pushed his attempt just right.
The visitors' task was made more difficult just minutes later when number eight Rees was yellow-carded after blatantly picking up the ball from the base of a ruck when it was clearly not out. In fact, so obvious was the call that one of the visiting supporters cried ironically 'Ref, that was a shocking decision.'
Far from demoralising the visitors, this seemed to put more fire in their belly and a fine touch-finder from skipper Evans pushed them deep into Tenby territory. The Tenby throw was not straight and from the ensuing scrum, a neat move saw scrum-half Rees feed winger Harries, who plunged over in the corner. The difficult conversion was just missed, giving the visitors a narrow, but surprising half-time lead.
After some harsh words during the break, the United upped the tempo in the second period. They made their intentions to play a more mobile game by replacing prop Hanlon with back rower Rob James. A further replacement early in the second half saw fellow flanker Adam Ball replace hooker Mike Lewis, who left the field with a nose injury.
Whilst they showed more intent and more urgency in the early phases of the second period, the number of mistakes remained high and this prevented the United getting any real momentum in the game. In fact, their frustration only increased as Adam Ball knocked on over the try line following great work from Tom Lewis and Rob James.
To their credit, Hendy continued to defend manfully and seemed to be capable of causing an almighty shock. But the breakthrough for the Seasiders eventually came after a strong run from winger Jimmy Davies. He was brought down metres out in the shadow of the posts and after fine recycling, locks Wyndham Williams and Gareth Edwards combined to free young winger Sam Foster to gain the touchdown and give the home side a lead that they would never relinquish.
This seemed to puncture the visitors' self belief as from the restart, number eight Sam Smith took a clean catch and set off on a barnstorming 60-metre run. However, his pass to Rob James, who did well to provide support, was adjudged to be slightly forward.
Smith was not to be denied for long though, and after a mistake by his opposite number, he seized on the ball and plunged over near the posts for his second score of the game. This time Lewis added the extras to extend the lead to 17-8.
By now the defensive efforts of the visitors were starting to take their toll and the United were now imposing their dominance on the match. Gaps began to appear readily and flanker Adam Ball was on hand to cross for the crucial bonus point try that Lewis once again converted.
Hendy continued to try and run from deep in their own territory, but this only led to further mistakes and open side Harry Bolton almost made it to the line. He fell just short, but after the ball went back over the goal line off a Hendy knee, Rob James was on hand to pounce for try number five.
Skipper Lee Tucker did his bit for the front row union by bustling over for the final try of the game, which Lewis converted, giving the score an appearance that no-one thought would be there 20 minutes earlier.
This was far from a vintage United performance and they will be glad that they were not up against sterner opposition. However, they secured what was in the end a comfortable victory and seized a bonus point that could at the end of the season prove vital.
Tenby United's main sponsor is Chevron, with the match sponsors being Tredeml Print Design Studio and Printers.
Tenby fielded: Dan Colley, Jimmy Davies, Mark Heywood, Gavin Brace, Sam Foster, Delwyn Brace, Tom Lewis, Damian Hanlon, Mike Lewis, Lee Tucker (capt.), Wyndham Williams, Gareth Edwards, Emyr Hughes, Harry Bolton, Sam Smith. Replacements - Barry John, Adam Ball, Rob James, Justin Richards, Simon Griffiths, Emori Katalu.