Last Sunday, Tenby U14s travelled to the north of the county to take on Fishguard U14s.
Due to the half-term holidays, the team was depleted, therefore six of the U13s were called upon to make up the squad to 17. These boys did Tenby proud, and were not daunted in playing a 'year up.'
Tenby kicked off, playing up the slope. For the first five minutes the home side took the initiative, and drove deep into the Tenby's half. Following a maul 10 metres from the Tenby line, the county prop, Paul Young, powered his way over the line for the home side, the try going unconverted.
This was the wake-up call that Tenby needed, and the back row of Robbie Tuttle, Adam Ball and Nick Drewitt began to make their presence felt.
Adam Ball went over for the first converted Tenby try, making the score 7-5. This was shortly followed by a storming run from flanker Nick Drewitt who scored an excellent try in the corner, followed by a fine conversion by Adam Ball from the touchline.
Powerful centre Ben Field-Thomas was next on the score sheet, taking the ball on the burst and piercing the home defence to score a cracking try, again Adam Ball adding the points.
Adam Ball then scored his second try of the day, which he converted to make the half-time score 28-5.
Due to a neck injury, Paul Woods had to leave the field during the first half. Fortunately, however, the injury proved not be be serious.
Fishguard kicked-off the second half, with Tenby taking control. Scrum-half Sam Foster had a fine game, finding his outside-half Steve Handicott, who in turn brought the backs into play.
Ben Field-Thomas and Johnsie Lewis made storming runs in the centre, with support from Barrie John, Paul Brooks and Gareth Merriman. Ollie Morgan, at fullback, James Dick, Jack Lawrence and John Walker also produced fine performances.
Adam Ball opened the scoring in the second half by picking up a loose ball and bursting through from 30 yards, the try going unconverted.
Tenby were now in a rampant mood, cutting the Fishguard defence to pieces, with centre Johnsie Lewis and forward Adam Hughes both unlucky not to get on the score sheet, as the referee adjudged that both had made double movements.
Adam Ball scored his fourth try of the morning, to round off a fine display.
The last try came from forward Richard May, who went over from a forward surge, making the final score 43-5.
This was again an excellent performance by the Swifts. Thanks to parents for support and help with transport.
Squad: Jack Lawrence, John Walker, Barrie John, Adam Ball (capt.), Steve Handicott, Johnsie Lewis, Ben Field-Thomas, Richard May, Paul Woods, Adam Hughes, Paul Brooks, James Dick, Robbie Tuttle, Gareth Merriman, Sam Foster, Ollie Morgan, Nick Drewitt.
TENBY SWIFTS U11s 33 pts
HAVERFORDWEST U11s 0
The Under 11s made their third visit of the season to Haverfordwest last Sunday to complete a hat-trick of wins over the Blues and extend their unbeaten record.
Led by Matthew Gray, captaining the side on his debut, we saw another outstanding display on a heavy ground against opponents who contested everything.
With a number of leading try scorers missing, this Tenby side showed that it is teamwork that counts and overran the opposition, scoring five tries and four conversions without reply.
Patrick Roberts led the way with two tries and four conversions, putting in a storming display in tight and loose play.
Joseff Morris, playing at hooker, and Jack Baker are now becoming regulars on the score-sheet and scored one apiece after some exhilarating runs. Jamie Williams scored the other try and is fast modelling himself on Johnny Wilkinson.
The new half-back pairing with James Canton worked well and Matthew Davies shored up the midfield defence to snuff out any Haverfordwest attacks. Kiefer Thomson, in the unusual position of fullback, handed in a classy performance and came up in attack when the opportunity presented itself.
Oliver Goldwait, back in his favourite position in the pack, relished his role and made plenty of yardage, as did Robert Jones, whose play is maturing as the season progresses.
Finally, Matthew Gray, captain in his very first match, looks a useful addition to the side and executed some technically correct and brave tackles.
Tenby fielded: Matthew Gray (capt.), Kiefer Thomson, Matthew Davies, Jamie Williams, James Canton, Robert Jones, Joseff Morris, Jack Baker, Oliver Goldwait, Patrick Roberts.
H'WEST U10s 12 pts. TENBY U10s 12
Tenby travelled to Haverfordwest with the memory of a draw from the last encounter and on this occasion the Seasiders hoped for more.
The team was led by example by the talented Lloyd Thomas who as per usual brought determination and power to the Tenby backline. His encouragement in the leadership role brought the best out of all the squad.
Sam Ormond continued his progression in the game with some good runs and tackles, with great support from Daniel Thomas.
The home side was instantly on the back foot from the first whistle, with wave upon wave of Tenby attacks.
Ianto Griffiths was kept on his toes by his opposite scrum-half, but showed his true colours by battling hard to win this private battle between the number nine jerseys.
Pressure eventually turned into points when a great forward onslaught from Lewis Davies, Henry Lawrence and Alex Thomas created limited space for Lloyd to take the initiative and score a first class try, which Ianto converted sweetly.
During the second-half, the home side found a new lease of life and put Tenby on the defensive, which brought out monster tackles from Joseph Richards, Lewis Canton, Michael Robins and yet again with another try-stopping hit from fullback Lewis Hodgson.
However, after minutes of consistent pressure, the home side penetrated the Seasiders' defence to score a well-deserved try, which was not converted.
Tenby took the bull by the horns, in the form of Daniel Gosnold, who carved his way through the centre on a powerful run, which allowed Andrew Cooke to wow the crowds with yet another of his charging attacks. This brought the visitors back into the home side's 22 and gave Lloyd another sniff of their line, which he hunted out with a brilliant try. It was not converted.
With injury time being played, Haverfordwest tried with all their might to score an equaliser, which seemed a non-starter as the Tenby defence was solid. However, the whistle remained silent for a few extra minutes, which gave the home side just enough time to crash through to score a final converted try to bring the scores level at 12-12.
Well done Tenby. The ground was heavy and the opposition very strong. Excellent work by you all. Keep it coming lads.
H'FORDWEST U9s 5 tries TENBY U9s 1
This was a big disappointment after last week's brilliant win over Pembroke. All the hard training over the last few weeks seemed to have been forgotten and in particular the tackling.
Haverfordwest scored five tries, three of which were down to players running through two or three would-be Tenby tacklers.
There were a few glimmers of class: Harry Owen's touchline run and try in the corner; captain Curtis Hurlow's powerful run which was denied a try, having early put a foot in touch (which was verified by the video-referee!); and Cai Evans's mauling.
Let's hope this was just a 'bad day at the office' for the players, or was it disco mania?
Team: L. Evans, P. Robins, C. Hurlow, C. Evans, H. Owen, A. Heesom, P. Horsley, L. James, R. Fairlie, S. Turton, R. O'Neill.
H'FORDWEST U8s 3 tries
TENBY U8s 1
Tenby Under 8s played their first game of the season against a much more experienced Haverfordwest team, and only lost by three tries to one.
Tenby showed plenty of promise with Daniel 'the squirt' Fairlie making several good runs and proving to be the inspiration of the side.
Joe Dennis and Jimmy John also made good runs, while Daniel Storer and Robert Luly tackled well.
Ben Hinksman, Daryl Williams and Dylan Griffin, all playing their first games in the red and black, contributed to a good team performance, with Daryl scoring the Tenby try.
Team: D. Fairlie, J. Dennis, J. John, R. Luly, D. Storer, B. Hinksman, D. Williams, D. Griffin.