Crymych 10 pts. Tenby United 13
Chevron sponsored Tenby United travelled up to the Preselis, focused on not only obtaining a victory against old adversaries Crymych, to counter the narrow loss they suffered the previous Friday away to Hendy, but also intent on not allowing the home side to gain a double, having narrowly been beaten 18-10 in the earlier encounter at Heywood Lane back in November. Unusually for a game at this level, both sides included ex-internationals in their ranks, with Tenby forced to play forwards coach Emori Katalau in the second row, while the home side were led at forward by Scarlets stalwart prop John Davies. With some late withdrawals, player unavailability, injuries and work commitments, from the team originally selected, coach Gareth Davies came up with some innovative changes, with prop Mark Brace moving across the front row to pack down as hooker, number 10 Tom Lewis trying his hand at scrum-half, returning second row Ifan Davies packing down at six and Youth player Dan Colley putting on the number 15 shirt. Tenby kicked off and both sides found some difficulty gauging the cold, gusty conditions as the strong, bitter wind seemed to swirl around, providing neither team with a distinct advantage. An early surge deep into the Crymych half by flanker Harry Bolton, Tim Kaumaitotoya and Emori Katalau threatened to break through the stretched home defence, but a dropped ball provided the opportunity to hoof the ball up field and a fortunate bounce presented Crymych with a two-on-one chance, which they squandered as the wing dropped what would have been a scoring pass. If Tenby needed a wake-up call, that was it, and they started to put some threatening moves together, with backs and forwards combing well to test the well-organised home defence, which stood firm under the onslaught. Straight running centre Mark Heywood led many of the threatening attacks and a penalty for slowing the ball down at the breakdown provided Tom Lewis with the chance to put Tenby in the lead, which he grasped with a superb kick into the swirling wind. Tenby were just about coping in the scrum, despite being under pressure from a front row containing wily campaigner John Davies, and Ben Cray was battling well against his experienced opponent. Detaching early from a retreating scrum, however, presented Crymych with the chance to bring the scores level, but the attempt screwed wide off the uprights on the wind. This was a rare penalty awarded to the home side as the referee pinged them regularly for a series of technical and offside offences; each kick being capitalised on, with Tom Lewis sending Crymych way back, deep into their half. From another Crymych penalty, their nippy scrum- half broke away and as the move threatened, Mark Heywood put in a superb crunching tackle on his opposite number to bring the threat to a grinding halt. Injured quite early on, centre Gavin Brace was eventually forced to leave the field and was replaced by Arthur M-M as a straight one-on-one replacement and he was straight into action, being called upon to tackle the fullback who had entered the line. The next Crymych threat came via Tenby second row Nicky Allen, who for reasons known only to himself, attempted a chip over the on-rushing defence, only to present the ball on a plate to the home side's speedy wing, who set off towards the Tenby try line. To his credit, Allen chased and just about nudged the wing into touch, although the home touch judge was reluctant to acknowledge the Herculean effort and it was down to the referee to reward the back-tracking Nicky Allen for his endeavour. The Tenby defence was proving too much for the enterprising Crymych outfit, who were doing themselves no favours by attempting moves carried out at a laboured pace, with indecision adding to the frustration. They eventually got on the scoreboard, however, when a dreadful penalty attempt to slot the ball into the corner was spilled by young fullback Dan Colley in midfield and, from the scrum, the referee harshly awarded a penalty try, when it was obvious from the touchline that the Crymych front row were driving in and not packing down straight. With a successful conversion, Crymych had taken a fortunate 7-3 lead with half-time approaching, but it was Tenby who finished the half on a high, with Mark Heywood, Dai Meyrick and Mikey Georgiau combining well to yet again threaten the Crymych line. Tactics were obviously changed at half-time by the respective coaches, with Crymych reverting to using the high up-and-under to test young Colley, while the Tenby number eight Kaumaitotoya started to use his considerable weight and know-how to lock out what was becoming a retreating set-piece, and tidy-up the base of the scrum. Within minutes of the restart, Crymych extended their lead to 10-3 with a penalty and Tenby were now up against a confident home unit chasing a win. Tenby didn't do themselves any favours by mis-using the ball they did secure,with a series of lateral attacks that swept from one touchline to the other, but had no 'go forward' and were easily repelled by the home side. Getting it right eventually, it was Ifan Davies who led the way with a scintillating break that went the length of the field, being carried on by centres Arthur M-M and Mark Heywood, and the sustained pressure brought its reward when from a penalty awarded for offside right under the Crymych posts, young fullback Dan Colley seized the initiative and his quick tap and go was driven on by the supporting forwards and a smiling Emori Katalau emerged from a mass of bodies, having grounded the ball over the whitewash for a well-taken team try. The kick from Lewis levelled the scores at 10 -10. Settling in well to his new-found position, it was Lewis who was again in the action, this time sniping away from the base of the scrum, throwing dummies as if there was no tomorrow and neatly linking with Dai Meyrick and Arthur M-M to put Crymych on the back foot. Getting back up-field, it was Crymych who spurned the opportunity to regain the lead, with an ambitious penalty attempt going well wide of the posts. In an attempt to inject some new ideas and fresh players into the game, coach Davies brought on Nicky Guymer to replace Damian Hanlon, Mark Brace was shifted across to his customary position of prop and Guymer packed down at number two, and the hard-working Nicky Allen was replaced by the versatile Wyndham Williams in the second row. Crymych were threatening to break through on several occasions, but the Tenby defence held firm, with flanker Harry Bolton back to his destructive best as he scattered would-be attackers with his aggressive tackling. Tenby had a slice of fortune when another penalty, awarded for offside, bounced back into play high off the upright and was somehow cleared before the home side could react. Despite the continued pressure being applied, the Tenby outfit kept their shape and discipline and led by Bolton, who was quick to pounce on a slow wayward pass from the scrum-half to the number 10, they started to exert some attacking pressure of their own. A sudden spate of what can kindly be described as 'silly kicks' handed the initiative back to the home side and it was only a very ambitious miss-pass, when a short quick pass to supporting players would have yielded a better reward, which prevented Crymych from snatching the lead. With the game rapidly coming to a close, and a draw seeming a fair result for the efforts put in by both sides, a surging run by Tim Kaumaitotoya, who had been far more influential in the second half, was carried on by fellow forwards Ifan Davies and Ben Cray. The sudden run had created a situation where some weary Crymych forwards were deemed by the referee to be 'lazy runners' and Tom Lewis duly seized on the opportunity to put Tenby back in front at 13-10. The drama was not to end there as Tenby nearly gifted the hard earned points to Crymych. Fielding the restart, for some unexplainable reason hooker Mark Brace went charging across the field from deep in his 22 and off-loaded the ball in the tackle to Harry Bolton, who was forced to hold on to prevent any quick ball situation developing, and fortunately for Tenby the penalty attempt sailed wide on the wind as the referee blew for full-time. The win maintains Tenby's third position, in what is becoming a very competitive league, both in terms of promotion and relegation issues, with nearly every game involving teams pushing for promotion or striving to grasp a win that will keep them in the division next year. Tomorrow's (Saturday's) encounter at Heywood Lane against fourth-placed Pontarddulais is one of the former examples, with both teams desperate to gain four if not five points to keep the pressure on current top dogs Morriston and Hendy. Looking at last week's results, and at the fixtures through to the end of the season, the door is still open for any two of seven sides to gain promotion and any two of four to face the dreaded drop. All Tenby can and need to do is to build on this encouraging performance and put together a winning/unbeaten run through to the end of the season. Tenby fielded: Dan Colley, Jimmy Davies, Gavin Brace (Arthur M-M), Mark Heywood, Dai Meyrick, Michael Georgiau, Tom Lewis, Damian Hanlon (Nicky Guymer), Mark Brace, Ben Cray, Nicky Allen (Wyndham Williams), Emori Katalau, Harry Bolton, Timoci Kaumaitotoya, Ifan Davies. Sub not used - Steve Handicott.