TENBY UNITED 19 pts.

SKEWEN 6

Tenby United made it two wins on the trot on Saturday with a hard-fought yet convincing 19-6 victory over Skewen at Heywood Lane.

Their fourth success in seven outings, the win puts the Seasiders in a comfortable mid-table position in National League division four (west) and came as just reward for an inventive and industrious display in atrocious weather conditions.

With heavy rain and high winds buffeting Heywood Lane, the United still managed to put on an attractive display of open attacking rugby to please the hardy band of supporters, running in three tries without reply.

While Skewen, having the wind in their favour in the first half, opted to play a tight rolling game in the greasy conditions, Tenby sought to run the ball at every opportunity, with their threequarter line knifing through the visitors at regular intervals.

In fact, had conditions been better, their pace behind could have netted them a higher try count, but they were often thwarted by the slippery conditions underfoot.

Although they had to come from behind, Tenby grew in confidence as the game wore on, with a well-disciplined defence making sure that the visitors never really threatened to reverse the trend.

Much of Tenby's ability to play an open attacking game came from the graft of their pack, particularly back row trio of skipper Nick Roch, Anthony Griffiths and Rob James, who absorbed Skewen's attempts to break the gain line through their opposite numbers, Lee Bevan, Richard Ball and Mark Whitlock, and battled hard to win possession off the ground.

Half-back pairing of Oliver Brace and Neil Powling also played an astute tactical game, Powling in particular standing out in the second half when he took advantage of the wind at his back to exploit space behind the Skewen line and work the touchline, safe in the knowledge that the Seasiders' Southern Hemisphere second rows, Gene Hocking and Ben Armstrong, were dominating the linesout.

Front row of Lee Tucker, Dafydd Lewis and Mark Badham were never happier than going forward, with Lewis in particular doing a superb job tidying up around the fringes of the linesout, while in midfield, Sion Brace and Neil Truman continually wrong-footed the Skewen defence with their imaginative handling.

Wings Gavin Brace and Jonathan Dodd made plenty of inroads with their bullish attacking runs, while fullback Darren Rees was assured under the high ball and always looking to use his pace to counter from deep.

Skewen took an early lead when outside-half Neil Golsworth slotted over a penalty, but Tenby took the game right back at the visitors with quick recycling and slick handling.

Powling missed a fairly simple penalty from in front of the posts, but it did little to knock the United's confidence, Sion Brace jinking through the Skewen defence from a scrum on Tenby's 22 before linking with Dodd who cantered the last 20 metres to bag an unconverted try in the corner.

Golsworth put a penalty wide for the visitors, before making amends with a superbly struck effort from long range to snatch back the lead.

Although Hocking and Armstrong won Tenby plenty of platform ball at the linesout, the conditions did not make it easy for either team, with numerous unforced errors on both sides, and the scoreline remained at 6-5 at the break - although Golsworth was unlucky to see another middle range penalty attempt strike an upright with what turned out to be the last kick of the half.

Powling missed another penalty for the United just after the turn around, while the Seasiders were also forced to lose the services of James early on, when the youngster was forced to retire with a neck injury.

His replacement, Justin Richards, has matured as a player in recent years and, as a great carrier of the ball, he brought another dimension to the United's game plan, making plenty of hard yards from the base to maintain the momentum.

Indeed, it was Richards who was instrumental in Tenby's second try when he took an off-load from Armstrong at a lineout and broke through.

Although the replacement number eight was held up on the line, Tenby won the resultant scrum, with Hocking claiming the push-over try, which Powling converted.

With good line kicking and solid defence, Tenby contained Skewen for much of the final quarter, with the visitors making little inroad into the United's territory.

Only real scoring opportunity fell to Golsworth, with a medium range penalty into the wind, but it dropped short of the target.

The Seasiders put the result beyond doubt when more graft in the loose allowed Brace to get his threes moving once more, with Dodd dribbling the ball through for the pacy Rees to gather and touch down in the corner.

Powling landed the conversion from a difficult angle to put the homesters firmly in the driving seat.

Although Skewen kept battling to the end, the United's confidence was on a high, so much so that they made three changes in the final few minutes, bringing on Will Crockford for scrum-half Brace, Chris James for Armstrong and Scott Payne for Tucker.

In the closing stages, the visitors threw everything at Tenby, but the Seasiders were content to sit back and absorb the pressure to cap a good all round performance under testing conditions.

The match was sponsored by Lewis, Lewis and Co. Solicitors and Tudor Merchants Finances Ltd., while the ball sponsors were Ted Shepherd, John Roberts and Des Brace.

Tomorrow (Saturday), the United travel up the line to take on Tumble.

Tenby United fielded: Darren Rees, Gavin Brace, Sion Brace, Neil Truman, Jonathan Dodd, Neil Powling, Oliver Brace, Lee Tucker, Dafydd Lewis, Mark Badham, Gene Hocking, Ben Armstrong, Nick Roch (capt.), Anthony Griffiths, Robert James.