With a swirling cold wind facing the players as they took the field at Heywood Lane for this division three west encounter on Saturday, Tenby set about their task of re-inforcing their status as one of the four leading clubs in the section, against a Gowerton outfit wallowing near the foot of the table.

Kicks dominated the initial phases, with both sets of half-backs attempting to work out which way to play the windy conditions. From one probing kick by scrum-half Dylan Lawrence, the speedy duo of Dan Shooter and flanker Andrew Dennis put the visitors under severe pressure, resulting in a hurried clearance kick deep in Gowerton territory.

From the resulting lineout, quick ball from the athletic Chris James saw the Tenby threes threaten the Gowerton line, with centre Gavin Brace cutting back inside the cover defence to set-up a ruck. With the visiting defence at sixes and sevens, Dylan Lawrence scampered over for a well-worked team try, converted by fullback Darren Rees.

It was Gowerton's turn to apply the pressure for the following 10 minutes and from a rare threequarter movement it took a fine covering tackle by Dan Shooter to prevent the away side from troubling the scoreboard operator.

The remainder of the half was a very scrappy affair, with neither side managing to put together any threatening phases of attack and it finished with the Gowerton fullback firing a penalty wide of the uprights.

Straight from the restart, the impressive Chris James took the kick-off and the resulting quick ruck ball gave newcomer Andrew Davies the opportunity to show his class with a break, well supported by Lee Tucker and centre Harry Bolton, who were both halted by some desperate Gowerton tackling.

The pressure continued, with both Nicky Allen and Phil Hughes stopped just short of the line, but the momentum was lost when a serious injury to Chris James stopped play while he received treatment.

Veteran Chris Brace came on as replacement, while at the same time coach Gareth Thomas decided to send on Scott Payne as a replacement for the hard-working Mark Badham. The stoppage and personnel changes signalled the second bout of scoring, with first flanker Andrew Dennis stealing the ball from scrum-half Gareth Davies and going over unopposed for a try converted by Darren Rees.

The increased pace of the game was maintained by the home side when Justin Richards charged through the tiring Gowerton defence to set-up an opportunity which was taken on by Darren Rees and Mark Stevens, but the chase to the line failed to result in a score.

The next attacking move, however, was more productive, with Dylan Lawrence (twice), Andrew Davies and replacement prop Scott Payne cleverly combining to put Andrew Dennis over for his second try of the game. With Darren Rees adding the extra two points, Tenby were now well in control and 21-0 in the lead going into the final half-hour.

However, the momentum set-up with this burst of scoring seemed to peter out as quickly as it materialised, with the next score coming in the final five minutes of the game from the boot of the reliable Darren Rees when Gowerton were penalised for killing the ball in a ruck set-up by another driving run by Richards, ably supported by skipper Nicky Allen.

Not to be outdone, Gowerton got in on this latest and last scoring burst when second row Phil Everall crashed over under the posts for a converted try.

This score was then followed immediately from the restart by the final score of the afternoon when Harry Bolton expertly gathered a knock-on from the Gowerton prop and his pace carried him clear of the defence to cross unopposed.

Tenby turned in a very stop-start type performance that was reflected in the scoring that came in three bursts over the 80-plus minutes. Coach Gareth Thomas took some comfort in the fact that the team at least grasped several of the opportunities that came their way, but must wish that a more consistent level of performance is turned in over the next few matches as they strive to maintain their standing near the top of the league.

Tenby: Darren Rees, Dan Shooter, Gavin Brace, Harry Bolton, Mark Stevens, Andrew Davies, Dylan Lawrence, Mark Badham (Scott Payne), Phil Hughes, Lee Tucker, Chris James (Chris Brace), Gene Hocking, Andrew Dennis (Michael Lewis), Justin Richards, Nicky Allen (capt). Sub not used - Ollie Brace.

Match sponsors were: Peter Kidney; Newey and Eyre; Steven Hilling and Martin Hurlow. Match ball sponsors were: Mike Rossiter; Evergreen Inn; Tenby Auto Centre; Dai Bolton (Bodie); Jonathan Boot; and a 'Tenby United supporter'.