Tenby United 3 pts. Penclawdd 15

With a side showing seven positional/personnel changes from the previous week's victory away at Gorseinon, Coastal Cottages sponsored Tenby United had a reality check against a mediocre Penclawdd side, and went down 15-3.

Without a recognised play-maker and kicker in the number 10 shirt and only one recognised lineout jumper in the pack, it didn't take Penclawdd too long to sort out what needed to be done to achieve an away victory and maintain their good start to the season.

Kicking off, Tenby attempted to string together a series of attacks, but the Penclawdd defence held firm and when the visitors got hold of the ball and attempted to do the same, they were met by some solid tackles and the first quarter of the game was played between the 22s, with neither side threatening to score.

The big Penclawdd pack were putting the home eight under great pressure at scrum time and number eight Richard Rossiter and scrum-half Dan Thomas were up against it at the base of the majority of the scrums as they attempted to get the ball away.

Tenby did get some quality possession from Luke Dedman at the lineout, as well as from several counter rucks, but a combination of poor options and the tricky cross-wind prevented anything worthwhile from developing.

Penclawdd were first to trouble the scoreboard when pressure on a Tenby scrum ended with referee Lewis awarding a penalty, which was slotted over by Stephen Snell.

Within minutes, the home side were given the chance to draw level, but centre Del Brace pulled his penalty attempt wide of the uprights.

Play became very scrappy and disjointed as both sides continued to struggle to piece together any worthwhile attacking moves, but the home side drew level when Dan Colley successfully converted a penalty awarded by referee Lewis.

As the game drifted towards half-time, the only significant piece of action was an 'all-in' bout of handbags, ending with both number sevens being yellow-carded and referee Lewis calling half-time with the scores tied at 3-3.

With the visitors kicking off, it was Tenby who initially threatened, with wing Simon Stanford chasing a kick through and pressurising fullback Owen Jones into a mistake and, just as the home crowd were cheering a potential score by the supporting Luke Dedman, referee Lewis blew for an infringement.

The United continued to put Penclawdd under pressure and a concerted effort involving Dan Colley, Dan Thomas and hard working forwards Robbie Clark and Luke Dedman, stretched the visitors' defence, but they held firm and the scoring opportunity was lost.

Penclawdd strung a move together from deep in the Tenby 22 and a scrambling defence, in which Simon Stanford and Tom Dennis were prominent, just about held firm to prevent a score in the corner. From the quick restart, Jack Guerreiro and rampaging prop Robbie Clark tested the visitors' disorganised defence, but some sloppy tackling allowed Penclawdd back into the Tenby 22.

The injured Robbie Clark was replaced by fellow prop Johnny Palmer and following on from that switch, coach Katalau sent on Tom Richards for Del Brace, with Richards slotting into outside-half and Jack Guerreiro switching to centre.

Capitalising on the personnel changes, Penclawdd, through burly centre Jonathan Terry, tore through a non-existent home defence to release the ball to fellow centre Chris Mason, who strode over under the sticks. With Stephen Snell adding the extras, Penclawdd took a commanding 10-3 lead.

Urged on by a very vocal crowd, the United threatened the Penclawdd line and a deliberate pat down of an intended Tenby ball transfer ended with the Penclawdd player spending 10 minutes in the bin, but the Seasiders' third kicker of the afternoon, Tom Richards, failed to take the three points on offer.

The game entered the final quarter with Tenby still struggling to threaten the visitors' line and, despite turning to his bench and bringing debutant Jason Scarfe on to replace scrum-half Dan Thomas, and coach Katalau replacing Harry Bolton, it was Penclawdd who crossed the line for the all-important try, with substitute Rob Watkins crashing over wide out for what turned out to be the final score of the game.

A final flurry of activity saw Tenby threaten the Penclawdd line, but the visitors' defence held firm and from a penalty close to the line , the United surprisingly opted for a scrum, when they had struggled for the majority of the game at set-piece time, and any ideas they had of gaining possession and threatening to score were scotched as the Penclawdd eight applied pressure and easily dealt with the situation as referee Lewis blew for full-time.

In a game dominated by penalties, the whistle and the wind, both sides struggled to get their game going and it became a stop/start affair for the full 80 minutes.

Coach Katalau and his coaching team will have a tough time this week getting a side together to travel to Lampeter, who followed up their 20-3 home defeat to high-flyers and local rivals Llandeilo, with a comprehensive 23-3 away victory against strugglers and bottom side Pontarddulais.

The Tenby club would like to thank DJ's nightclub from Penally for their match sponsorship and Wayne John, of Manorbier Mowers, who was the match ball sponsor

Tenby fielded: Dan Colley, Simon Stanford, Del Brace (Tom Richards), Tom Dennis, Barrie John, Jack Guerreiro, Dan Thomas (Jason Scarfe), Rob Clark (Johnny Palmer), Nicky Guymer (capt.), Geoff Martin, Ben Cray, Luke Dedman, Rob Tuttle, Richard Rossiter, Harry Bolton (Emori Katalau),