RHYMNEY 33 pts NARBERTH 14
After losing their unbeaten crown to UWIC the previous week, Narberth suffered their second successive National League division two defeat on Saturday.
The 33 points to 14 defeat at the hands of Rhymney knocked the Otters off the top spot in the league and few could deny that the Brewers were the better team on the day.
Rhymney had the edge over the visitors in the loose, with quicker recycling and controlled phase play allowing their back division to run off at angles and keep the pressure on the Otters.
In short, the Brewers looked hungrier for success than the Otters, who may have let a touch of complacency creep into their game plan for there was a lackadaisical approach to defence and handling which gave the homesters the edge at the breakdown.
Wayne Booth put the Brewers in front with a penalty, before Aled Davies put Narberth back on terms with a similar strike at he other end.
However, Rhymney's dominance in second phase allowed them to launch a series of attacks which reaped rewards on the half-hour when wing Romily Barnett rounded off a crisp handling move with an unconverted try.
A second try from Barnett and another from centre Andron Abdul before the interval, both of which were converted by Booth, put the Brewers firmly in the driving seat with a 19-point lead.
A penalty from Davies after the change around reduced the arrears and then the Otters made sweeping changes to their line-up in a bid to get some purchase on the game.
Off went Alan Reynolds, Chris Macdonald, Chris Flattery and Simon Delaney, who were replaced by Jason Jennings, Lloyd Thomas, Dai Balkwill and Kevin Davies, respectively, but there was still a lamentable lack of penetration from the Otters' attack.
Davies chipped away at the deficit with another penalty, but an in-form Booth soon restored the margin with two penalties.
Going into the last quarter, the Otters started to get some cohesion going and wing Andrew Jones did well to claim an unconverted try following a tap penalty.
However, it did not signal the fight-back the large contingent of Narberth faithful expected, with Brewers fullback Wayne Bowen putting matters beyond doubt with an unconverted try.
Although disappointed with the result, Narberth will be hoping for a quick turnaround in fortunes tomorrow (Saturday) when they welcome Llantrisant to the Lewis Lloyd ground.
Will all please note that the game has an early 12 noon kick-off owing to the Wales v Argentina international at Cardiff later in the afternoon.