Tenby U15s 12 pts. Crymych U15s 12

Sunday morning saw the as yet unbeaten Lydstep Haven sponsored Under 15s host Crymych. Tenby have never beaten Crymych; indeed the last time they played, a mere 50 points was the difference!

But this is a new Tenby side, same lads, but a different attitude. Tenby, often guilty of a somewhat slow start, hit the ground running.

It was obvious early on that they were going to give the district champions a game. The pack rucked and counter-rucked ferociously, and throughout the game stamped their physicality on the opposing eight.

Not one of them took a backward step. This helped the backs tremendously, as the whole Crymych backline are Pembs. county players.

Again, the backs fronted up to this and continued to put pressure on their opposite numbers in defence, while running exciting attacking lines with the ball.

For this reason, Tenby were camped in the Crymych half for the first 20 minutes, eventually scoring a forwards try, with the pack out-muscling the Crymych pack and driving 15 metres, enabling Olly Parsons to ground the ball. The conversion was difficult and missed.

This poked Crymych into action and they then had a strong 10 minutes in Tenby's half, eventually scoring a try after charging down a clearance kick.

This was converted to make the score 5-7.

Again Tenby came back into it and pressure whilst defending forced the Crymych centre to offload a hospital pass, which was intercepted by 'gazelle-like' second row Aled Waters, who charged under the posts from 30 metres. Jimmy Bridges converted to make it 12-7.

Tenby's tails were up, but a mistake in an offload gifted Crymych a try in the corner, but the conversion was missed. So it was 12-12 with 10 minutes left to play!

Tenby really went for it and almost crossed the line twice, but were thwarted at the last metre.

As the final whistle sounded, a mixture of disappointment and pride went through the players, coaches and parents, because Tenby were the better team for a large part of the game, but just couldn't convert pressure into points.

A good turnout in the club afterwards, and the boys realised what an achievement they had made. Half-an-hour after the game, messages of congratulations were coming in from other Pembrokeshire clubs, such was the achievement.

There were many superb individual performances, but this was predominantly a collective team/squad effort.

So, we march on, still unbeaten and growing in stature by the game.

Thanks go to Mike Evans for refereeing the game and again to all parents, grandparents and wags for your continued support. It really is appreciated.

Tenby U11s

Tenby Under 11s couldn't wait to play on Sunday after their two previous games were cancelled because of the bad weather.

The boys had still been training on the astroturf, doing a lot of skill work more than contact.

This showed during the game with Carmarthen, who had 15 boys for the game and two 12-year-olds playing. Tenby only took up 12 boys for the game which meant that all the other 15 boys turned up at home for a game with Milford.

Tenby from the first kick-off meant business, with the forwards showing plenty of aggression, especially at the tackle area.

Gus P. Dick, having his first start, had a superb game with his charging runs and his fearless tackling which resulted in him scoring two tries.

William Swales and Owain Evans have an outstanding partnership between them as they cover the ground together, whether it's in attack or on defensive duties. The pair have improved so much this season and it's no wonder they both star for the county as well.

Thomas Rees, playing at hooker, won a few against the head and carried the ball well, also linking well with Billy Kinnaer, who doesn't make mistakes and always seems to pop up in the right position at the right time.

Iori Hicks had his best game of the season as he whipped out numerous quick passes and often made the hard yards when they had a penalty. Harri Williams again ran superbly well, always getting over the gain line, and his passing and vision is well above his years.

The new centre partnership for this game saw Ben Millward and Dom Booth partner up with great effect. Although they have contrasting styles, the two complement each other well, as Dom runs the shortest route to the try line, often sending tacklers flying with his low body angles, while Ben organises the defensive line and runs such clever angles, putting in others outside him into space.

Dylan Scotcher, playing at fullback, was again fearless and also had good runs, with one in particular ending in a great try in the corner.

Thomas H.. Jones is now back up to speed with the boys after his operation in September. The coaches had missed him as he is so quick on the wing and comes off either foot with great effect, which Carmarthen found out when he scored two tries.

Tenby also took with them Ryan Scourfield from the U10s, who has been doing very well this season for Tenby and the county development side.

Ryan had a great game, making some big tackles and scoring a superb try. What the coaches like about him is that he always listens and wants to keep on improving.

This was an amazing level of character shown by the Tenby side as they pressurised Carmarthen all the time and kept the game flowing with numerous phases of play. What was remarkable was that the Tenby boys never dropped the ball once during the whole game, while making sure they worked hard in defence to keep a clean sheet.

Tenby won the game 12 tries to nil. Scorers were Thomas 2, Dom 2, William, Owain, Ryan, Dylan, Gus, Thomas R., Harri, Ben.

Selection this week will be difficult as the boys who came in for this game did extremely well and the boys who were not available last week are this week. The Sharks have a home game with Mumbles, coached by Dan Cotteril from the Ospreys, while the Tigers team have a home game with Fishguard.