Tenby 36 pts. Llandeilo 19

On a still, sunny, warm day, ideal for playing rugby, Tenby United entertained Llandeilo at Heywood Lane in their latest Division 3 West encounter, with both sides keen to get back to winning ways, having both come away from their previous game with defeats against the top two teams in the division.

Right from the off, the home side went onto the attack with fullback Darren Rees taking full advantage of a lucky bounce to set-off a move involving Nicky Allen, Dan Shooter and Gavin Brace, only to see the final pass fall behind the supporting Neil Powling.

The first chance to get on the scoreboard fell to Tenby, but a penalty miss by Darren Rees failed to capitalise on the opportunity.

Undeterred, Rees was again in the thick of the action when from an excellent mark under pressure he released scrum-half Andrew Davies, who in turn linked with partner Sion Brace and centres Brace and Powling to take play once again deep into Llandeilo territory. Scrum-half Davies was hurt in the move and this somewhat took the momentum out of the attack, with hooker Mike Lewis having to stand-in as acting scrum-half. Slow ball allowed the visitors to re-group and stem the attack.

With Davies back on the field, a quick tap and go had Llandeilo in all sorts of trouble, with Gavin Brace bundled into touch close to the corner, having been cleverly released by fly-half Brace.

Despite having the majority of play, the home side had nothing to show for all their endeavour and a combined mistake fielding a high ball by Darren Rees and Dan Shooter set-up an attacking scrum for the visitors. Attempting to clear the ball from the resulting scrum, a wayward Tenby kick went straight to fullback Ian Jones, who set-off on a weaving run to link-up with skipper Huw Davies, who crashed over the line sufficiently close to the posts for Arwel Davies to slot over the conversion and put the visitors seven points in the lead.

Tenby took their time to respond to this unexpected reverse and despite the odd charge by props Mark Brace and Scott Payne, coming off excellent quick ball from the lineout by both Chris James and Gareth Edwards, Llandeilo were frustrating the home side with some dogged defensive work.

It took an inspirational piece of skill by captain Sion Brace to break this deadlock with an excellent take off his toes and a jinking side-stepping run that saw him slide over in the corner, with the supporting Justin Richards causing the stretched defence to have to mark his presence.

Within minutes of this score, it was Brace again who went on a zig-zag run, linking with centre Gavin Brace before putting Dan Shooter over for an excellent try. With Darren Rees adding the extras, the home side were now 12-7 in front with a promise of more to come.

With half-time rapidly approaching, Tenby maintained the momentum and a charge involving Justin Richards sucked-in the visiting forwards for Mark Brace to gather the ball and gain vital extra yards. This released the eager threes, who combined well to send a jubilant Neil Powling galloping over for the third try in a blistering five minute spell and a 17-7 interval lead.

Starting the second half as they finished the first, an excellent spoil from the kick-off by Chris James caused all sorts of panic in the visitors' defence and in attempting to run the ball from deep, a crunching tackle by Sion Brace on Arwel Davies allowed the supporting Neil Powling to hack the ball through to score wide out.

Relaxing somewhat with a 22-7 lead, the home side paid the penalty when a combined move off the base of the scrum, involving the number eight and scrum-half, saw Alex Griffiths, aided by a very fortunate bounce of the ball, scamper over wide out. A superb conversion by Arwel Davies brought the visitors to a threatening 22-14 scoreline.

As with the restart for the second half, Chris James stole the kick-off, only to see the supporting Justin Richards knock-on with a promising attack brought to an abrupt end.

Determined to get back into scoring mode, Tenby were set on their way when a bone-crunching tackle by centre Gavin Brace set-up an opportunity to initiate a move that involved Cone James, back row men Anthony Griffiths and the venerable Nicky Allen.

A late tackle on Dan Shooter brought the promising move to a halt, but from the resulting penalty, Tenby neatly created a lineout opportunity on the visitors' line. With hooker Mike Lewis finding the athletic pair of Cone James and Gareth Edwards, the Tenby eight drove over the line several times, only for the referee to determine that Justin Richards, Anthony Griffiths and Gareth Edwards were all held-up.

It came as no surprise when from a five-metre scrum number eight Anthony Griffiths picked-up and charged over for a try, converted by Darren Rees, and Tenby had put the game safe with a 29-14 lead.

The game drifted a bit, with Tenby sitting-back on their lead, but following another thndering Sion Brace tackle on centre Roets, the ensuing ruck erupted in a flurry of punches and pushing, with prop Scott Payne and second row Arwel Price getting the offer of a 10-minute rest from referee Thomas.

Craig Hamilton entered the fray as the replacement prop, with Justin Richards having to sit out the next 10 minutes.

Coach Thomas took this break in play to switch Will Crockford from wing to scrum-half, to replace an injured Andrew Davies, with young James Davies slotting into the wing position.

Hamilton was immediately into action, stealing a ball in a rolling maul to set-up yet another Tenby attacking opportunity, which was halted when the visitors were penalised for collapsing the maul.

With his 10-minute penalty up, Scott Payne stayed on the sidelines and young Adam Rees came on as a replacement for Justin Richards and Jeremy Rossiter replaced promising Gareth Edwards.

With the game won and the full complement of replacements now on, Tenby took their foot off the gas and were made to pay, when some sloppy, ineffective tackling allowed Llandeilo in for a try, which Arwel Davies just failed to convert.

Sensing the need to up the pace again, the home side went straight onto the attack and a pick-up from the base of the scrum in midfield by the influential Griffiths, released Nick Allen, who combined cleverly with centre Gavin Brace. Brace linked with supporting fullback Rees who, with an unmarked James Davies on the outside, decided to go for the line and was held-up. From the resulting scrum, Griffiths decided it was time for his second score and crashed over with several defenders hanging-on. Rees slotted the final conversion and the game ended with Tenby 36-19 winners.

A good performance in patches, but it will be the lack of consistency that will cause coach Gareth Thomas and his coaching team most concern over the next week as they prepare for the local derby at Haverfordwest tomorrow (Saturday).

With one or two players set to return from injury and unavailability, it will be interesting to see how he mixes youth and experience for a match the club has been looking forward to for some weeks. With Haverfordwest coming off the back of a defeat by fellow challengers Kidwelly (a team beaten by Tenby), and keen to return to winning ways, it will make for an interesting contest.

Tenby: Darren Rees, Will Crockford (James Davies), Dan Shooter, Gavin Brace, Sion Brace, Andrew Davies, Scott Payne (Craig Hamilton), Mike Lewis, Mark Brace, Chris James, Gareth Edwards (Jeremy Rossiter), Anthony Griffiths, Justin Richards (Adam Rees), Nicky Allen.