An early start due to the Wales v New Zealand international later in the day, and delays on the motorway which meant they didn't arrive at Bedwas's Bridge Field ground until just 20 minutes before the scheduled 11.30 am kick-off, certainly put Narberth off kilter on Saturday, with the Otters going down to a 60-25 defeat.

The problematic journey up the line had obviously affected the concentration of the Otters, giving them little time to prepare psychologically for this important clash which, with just one success out of the last five games, they needed to win to keep them on an even keel in National League division one.

Although they did take an early lead, through a Gareth James drop goal after 70 seconds, the Otters were rather lethargic in shaking off their travel fatigue, allowing the homesters to run in eight tries to three.

With only one home win under their belts this season to date, Bedwas had a point to prove, particularly skipper Deri Mattravers, back after a prolonged shoulder injury to lead from the front, and, while the Otters held their own in the set-pieces, they were no match for the homesters in the loose and by half-time the visitors found themselves 19 points adrift.

Number eight Mattravers himself picked up the first of Bedwas's tries in the fifth minute when he was on hand to round off a looping attack initiated by former Bridgend stand-off Paul Williams and centre Nathan Hill.

Fullback Andrew James converted, before Narberth pivot James reduced the margin to one point with a penalty.

Both sides looked to keep the ball in hand as much as possible and the inventive Bedwas threequarter line had the Otters' defence stretched at times, increasing their lead on the quarter-hour mark when wing Stefan Sankala breezed through and James added the extras, before extending the margin further with a penalty.

Although Jamie Bohata and Jason Jennings held their own in the linesout for Narberth, the visitors were unable to utilise possession to great effect in the face of some tight defending by the Bedwas eight.

Bedwas have tightened up on their phase play of late, and it enabled them to break the gain line and make the hard yards before giving their threes a head of steam, with Hill and Sankala combining to send captain Mattravers over for his second try, which went unconverted to leave Bedwas 25-6 ahead at the break.

The effervescent Hill increased the advantage after the change around when he split the Narberth defence to grab a fine solo try.

James converted and then added the extras after Sankala picked up his second touchdown when he seized on a loose ball and ghosted through.

Another try, this time from hooker Jonathan Tilley, and another sweet James conversion appeared to end the game as a contest, but Narberth were given a new lease of life going into the final half-hour when the coaching staff opted to make a swathe of substitutions.

Among the replacements coming on was scrum-half Chris Macdonald, who soon made his presence felt, providing vital quick ball for his threes from the base.

A slick threequarter move involving centre Elgan Vittle and fullback Martin Davies sent wing Nick Jones over for Narberth's first try, which James converted, but the euphoria was short-lived, with the Bedwas pack probing the Otters' defences before linking with their threes to send Lee Pearce over for a try, converted by James.

Daniel Gravell picked up a superb solo effort for the Otters when he followed up a chip ahead and ran in from 50 yards.

James missed the conversion, but was on hand to add the extras when Jones claimed his second of the afternoon in the right corner following an angled run.

However, Bedwas had the last word when Hill claimed his hat-trick by rounding off a jinking run with another try.

James added the conversion to bring his personal tally for the afternoon to 20 and take him over the 100 points mark for the season so far.

Narberth will be no doubt hoping for better travelling conditions tomorrow (Saturday) when they again hit the road to take on Beddau.