The wet and windy weather that had dominated the festive period relented on Saturday afternoon and the pitch was in reasonable shape as the two teams took to the field in front of a sizeable crowd taking full advantage of an opportunity to get away from the TV and turkey.
Tenby, fielding a development side, started brightly enough, with Andrew Davies and Sion Brace combining well to provide Will Crockford with the chance to test the home defence, which just managed to force the winger into touch close to the corner flag.
The resulting lineout was secured by Milford who in turn tested the visitors' defence with a sweeping threequarter movement that was stopped short by a crunching tackle by Gavin Brace on the home fullback.
Quick ball from the ensuing maul saw the Tenby threes sweep the length of the field, ending with the talented Dan Shooter putting James Picton clear for the winger to go over in the corner. Darren Rees just failed to add the extra points.
The home side relied heavily on their fullback to gain any worthwhile territory, but all attempts to break the visitors' defence were more than adequately held as Tenby stood firm and coped with a series of attacks on their line.
Lack of support to maintain the momentum was a big failing for Milford as Tenby always appeared to have the extra man in defence to stifle any threat posed.
Fullback Darren Rees was revelling in the extra space and time afforded in playing a team one division below the regular Saturday opposition and very cleverly put Will Crockford away, only to see the winger again bundled into touch just short of the line.
The home side occasionally stretched the Tenby defences and the use of the rolling maul, aided by the slope, was a threat in short bursts, but with fitness already becoming a telling factor, it was Tenby that got onto the score sheet next.
Quick ball from a ruck deep in the Tenby half saw Gavin and Sion Brace link-up with Shooter and the eager Crockford to put fullback Darren Rees over in a move that went the length of the field.
With Tenby now starting to control the game, it was the home side that was under pressure and from the restart the forwards secured quick possession, only to see the threequarters over-elaborate to squander an excellent attacking opportunity.
To compound matters, James Picton was sin-binned for crawling all over a tackled player and the pendulum quickly swung back to the home side, with Tenby forced to spend the remainder of the half pinned down in the corner as Milford hammered away with their forwards. Better use of supporting players in this situation would undoubtedly have got Milford on the scoresheet, but 'white line fever' took over and Tenby managed to prevent a score.
The second half started as brightly as the first for Tenby, with first Rees, Sion Brace and Shooter combining well, only to see the home side being penalised for preventing the ball emerging from the ruck – an offence that the official repeatedly seemed rather loathe to correctly penalise with his yellow card.
The influential Anthony Griffiths got in on the act when he tested the home side with a couple of charging runs from the base of the scrum, the momentum being carried on by the industrious front row trio of Lee Tucker, Nicky Guymer and Scott Payne, ably supported by the promising and highly mobile Gareth Edwards.
The pressure paid dividends when Dan Shooter was on hand to slide over close to the posts and with Darren Rees adding the extras, Tenby were now sitting on a 17-point lead and looking to add to the tally, as well as keep a blank scoresheet in the 'against' column.
The home eight were now tiring and Tenby, reinforced with Mark Badham on for the rested Scott Payne, started to apply the pressure with the busy Andrew Davies revelling in the quick won ball being regularly delivered. The scrum-half made one searing break, only to see his try-scoring pass go to ground as the supporting James Picton tried to take the ball with one hand.
With a constant supply of possession, the game should have been an ideal opportunity to put together some of the moves practised on the training field. Instead, the visitors wasted this opportunity and seemed to be intent on attempting a string of over-elaborate moves that saw the game develop into a comedy of errors.
The sequence was broken briefly when Gavin Brace went over for the fourth try of the afternoon, with Rees adding the two points for Tenby.
The score resulted from one of the few occasions when Tenby simply passed the ball swiftly to the next supporting player - no miss one or two or chip over the top - which stretched the home defence to the point where they simply ran out of players. This simple play method was repeated straight from the restart, with forwards and backs combining well to take play deep into Milford territory and set a platform for the next score. However, for reasons that mystified the crowd, and some of the players, the referee brought the game to a close when he blew for time with 10 minutes remaining, thus bringing down the curtain on a winning end to 2003 for the cup holders.
With a run of four consecutive defeats in the league, it was vital for Tenby to secure a win with performance and a sound defensive showing as an added bonus. While the targeted victory was secured and the defence held firm for a rare 'nil points against', coach Gareth Thomas will not be best pleased with the performance of some of his senior players. He will no doubt be reminding them at this week's training session of what is expected on Saturday as they return to league duty and face a Hendy side desperate for points and survival in the division.