NARBERTH 36 pts

ABERTILLERY 17

Narberth continued to push the pace in National League division two on Saturday, moving five points clear of the field at the top of the table with a win over Abertillery.

Their seventh win in seven outings, the Otters were given a run for their money at the Lewis Lloyd ground, however, and did not really exert control until the final third.

In fact, Narberth went into the interval trailing by nine points, and found themselves 11 points adrift shortly after changing round, but they kept their focus to eventually run out victors by 36 points to 17.

Narberth stand-off Simon Daniel and his Abertillery opposite Craig Mapp swapped penalties early on in a keenly contested first half.

With the wind in their faces, the Otters were content to keep the ball in hand, Alan Reynolds probing off the base in his usual style and Andrew Jones, Chris Flattery, Gavin Jones and Daniel all enjoying runs at the Green and Whites.

However, although they questioned the visiting defence on several occasions, Abertillery had all the answers, and the homesters made few inroads into the opposition's 22.

Unusually, while Emori Katalau and skipper Jason Jennings, gave sterling service, Narberth did not have their normal platform of possession off the linesout and the Green and Whites threequarter line tested the home defence on several occasions with runs out from deep.

Frustration got the better of the Otters in the second quarter with indiscipline gifting Mapp three kickable penalties in quick succession, and the outside-half slotted all three to give Abertillery a 12 points to three lead after 40 minutes.

Daniel reduced the deficit at the start of the second half with a penalty, but the Green and Whites increased their advantage minutes later when hooker Mathew Williams jinked his way through some lacklustre Otters' defence to touch down for an unconverted try.

The fact that they were 11 points adrift seemed to galvanise the homesters into action.

Daniel banged over another penalty to reduce the arrears, before bustling centre Andrew Bowen bullishly carved his way through a sea of Green and White to net Narberth's first try.

Daniel converted and took the Otters into the lead for the first time with another well-struck penalty minutes later.

The stand-off was also on hand to add the extras when fullback Aled Davies joined the line at pace and managed to squirm his way through to touch down under the posts.

An infringement by Abertillery right at the restart gifted Daniel another crack at goal, albeit from the halfway line, but the prolific goal kicker sweetly slotted the ball between the uprights to further increase the home advantage.

Bowen, Daniel, scrum-half Chris Macdonald, Will Morgan and Flattery displayed excellent defence to negate any attempts by Abertillery to break the gain line in the closing stages, with Daniel kicking well out of hand to gain good field position.

Number eight Gareth Bennett put the result beyond any doubt in the closing stages when he ran in an interception try from just outside the Green and Whites' 22 and Daniel pocketed the conversion points.

During the interval, Mrs. Cynthia Evans, chairman of the Narberth Supporters Club, made a presentation of a cheque for £1,500 to Narberth chairman, Mr. John Williams.