LLANELLI
WANDERERS 4 tries TENBY U8s 3
It was wet, cold and very muddy at Lanelli on Sunday, but that did not dampen the spirits of the newly formed Tenby Under 8s.
The game was fast and furious from the off, despite the heavy conditions, and Tenby were unlucky to concede an early try.
'Squirt' once again showed his great speed and how to duck and dive on several occasions.
Excellent runs by Henry, Ben and Daniel kept the boys going forward and the pressure was rewarded with a try by Jimmy.
Some brave and hard tackles from Rob, Jimmy and Jo stopped the Wanderers on several occasions, but at half-time it was 2-1 to the home side.
After a well earned drink and quick face wash, Tenby reapplied the pressure with some aggressive play, especially from Jo. What did he have for breakfast?
Two excellent runs by Darryl did result in tries and Rob, Jimmy and Squirt were all unlucky not to score in the dying seconds, but despite the terrible conditions they never gave up.
Congratulations to both sides for an enjoyable match in atrocious conditions and to Mervyn who enjoyed the mud as much as the boys!
Team: D. Fairlie, J. John, R. Luly, J. Dennis, D. Storer, B. Hinksman, D. Williams, H. Pritchard.
LLANELLI
WANDERERS U9s 5 tries TENBY UTD. U9s 5
Tenby United Under 9s travelled east last Sunday to play Llanelli Wanderers on a wind-swept, rain-lashed morning. The 60-minute journey must have taken its toll on the young Vikings, as no sooner had the game started than they found themselves a try down.
Even the late arrival of Harry Owen, whose father decided to take the scenic route to Llanelli, couldn't stem the constant flow of maroon shirted Wanderers, as they rattled up five tries before the break.
The only inspiration to emerge from the first half was the superb tackling of captain Cairan Broomhead, who saved at least three further scores.
Was it the 'jet-lag' wearing off, or was it Mike Evans's half-time lecture, which included "not visiting a certain MacDonalds on the way home" if things didn't improve, whatever it was it certainly worked.
The Vikings were rampant during the second period. Harry Owen set them on their way with a fine try after a mazy run, and Curtis Hurlow grabbed number two after a neat passing movement between Loui Fecci and Ryan O'Neill.
Philip Horsley and Cairan Broomhead had good runs halted by equally good home tackling, but Broomhead's strength and speed eventually brought Tenby their third try.
An excellent tackle from Luke James stopped a rare Wanderers forage into the Tenby half and the loose ball was picked up by Hurlow to outstrip the covering defence to score.
Robert Fairlie's powerful burst almost tied the scores, but he was bundled into touch at the corner.
In the dying minutes, good harassing from Fecci, O'Neill, James and Cai Evans resulted in a stray pass from the Llanelli side and the alert Sam Turton picked up to sprint clear to score.
As the final whistle blew, the big smile on Mike Evans's face said it all, but it wasn't half as big as the smiles we got when we pulled into MacDonalds!
Tenby Vikings: S. Turton, C. Evans, R. Fairlie, P. Horsley, R. O'Neill, C. Broomhead, L. James, C. Hurlow, L. Fecci, H. Owen.
LLANELLI
WANDERERS U10s 12 pts TENBY RFC U10s 7
It was umbrellas at the ready for the young Seasiders' encounter with the Wanderers. The long trip and the bad weather took its toll on the young players. The weather and the pitch had seen better days, but nevertheless was the venue for a tough encounter.
Ianto Griffiths took over as captain and showed the home side what an excellent scrum-half he is. His passing from the base of the scrum in such wet and muddy conditions was well executed.
This allowed Lloyd Thomas to inject his skill in attacking runs which brought out some good defence from the home side who showed the Seasiders they were a force to be reckoned with in this department.
Their attacking skills were also putting Tenby under the cosh, which required all players to play a defensive role for most of the first half. Lewis Davies, Andrew Cooke, Daniel Thomas, Daniel Gosnold and Alex Thomas all braved the elements to ensure the Wanderers never crossed the line.
Even though the home side found the Tenby defence strong, they continued to attack with good flowing rugby, which seemed to have paid off when one such attack ended up with the ball being carried over the line. However, a strong and defiant back-line, led by Lewis Canton, held this player up and then with the assistance of the pack drove him back eight to 10 feet.
This brought quick thinking from the Wanderers who retrieved the ball and passed it along their back division for the winger to run in at the corner unopposed. Fortunately for Tenby, he got slightly carried away and also ran over the dead ball line! No score.
During the second half, Tenby upped their momentum through Lloyd, Joseph Richards and Lewis Hodgson, but none of these veterans could make much impact on a well-drilled defence.
It was still very close during the second half, with breaks from both sides being halted by good mass tackles and sometimes by the nasty conditions.
Denny Paxton took the bull by the horns with some midfield charges, which were taken over by Henry Lawrence, who without doubt had the best game for the Seasiders. He was strong in attack and awesome in the ruck and maul situations.
But the pressure eventually took its toll when the home side finally made it over the line with a powerful try, which was soon followed by an even better one.
With time passing by, the Seasiders tried to gain some pride, which they did, in the form of an individual try by Tom Baker, which was converted sweetly by Ianto.
The conditions and the distance travelled seemed to dampen the young squad's usual ability to play. The tackling was not at the usual top level and the support play is a definite area to be looked at on the training ground.
With all that said, the boys still managed to produce an exciting game of rugby for myself (A.H.) and Adrian to be proud of, and hopefully all the parents watching too! Well done.
PS. Man-of-the-match - the referee. Well done my son!
TENBY SWIFTS U11s 35 pts LLANELLI
WANDERERS U11s 21
This was a nerve-jangling match in which Tenby did not secure victory until the dying minutes. Llanelli Wanderers were one of the best teams the Swifts had faced this season and it appeared that the writing may have been on the wall for their unbeaten tag when the home side scored a converted try in the opening exchanges.
There then followed an almighty tussle between two equally matched teams on a rain-sodden pitch with the ball like a bar of soap. These conditions did not prevent both teams from exhibiting a high degree of skill in a match which went to the wire, with the lead changing hands three times.
Tenby were captained by Oliver Goldwait, who was back in the thick of the action in the second row, packing down alongside the athletic Joseff Morris. Patrick Roberts, at number eight, held the pack together with his strong play in tight and loose, and the front row of Yannic Parker (back after injury), Jack Baker and Robert Jones contested everything in scrum and lineout.
Kiefer Thomson, back in his favourite scrum-half berth, dealt with some difficult ball superbly to provide a good service to outside-half Jamie Williams. Jamie, along with high-scoring centre Toby Smith, were often called on to assist in the tight situations as the Llanelli pack tried to out-muscle Tenby.
Despite that commitment, they both created space for themselves to score two tries apiece and save the day.
Matthew Davies's tackling was once again in the JPR mould at fullback and he made a fine individual run at the close to score the last try and knock the final nail in the Wanderers' coffin.
The two James', Canton and Criddle, shared the wing slot with aplomb, and it was James Canton's quickly taken throw-in which set Jamie Williams off on a touchline run to score the try that broke the deadlock when it looked as though a drawn game was on the cards.
All five tries were converted by the faultless boot of Patrick Roberts to make the final score of 35 pts to 25.
As indicated, Llanelli were a top team and this was evidenced by the three tries scored by them, all of which were converted.
It must be said that over the season this team has matured and gelled and is now one of the most formidable units at this age level in the country. Well done lads, you've done Tenby proud, even if you did give us a bit of a scare at the beginning of this match!
Tenby fielded: Oliver Goldwait (capt), Yannic Parker, Robert Jones, Jack Baker, Joseff Morris, Patrick Roberts, Kiefer Thomson, Jamie Williams, Toby Smith, James Canton, James Criddle.