Heywood Lane hosted an important basement battle in Division Three West on Saturday when fellow strugglers Lampeter were Tenby's opponents. It was an important fixture for both teams, that had already been billed as a six- pointer, with the result perhaps crucial at the end of the season. Lampeter kicked off and immediately set out their stall with some good driving mauls towards the Tenby line. Tenby's defence worked hard and remained intact, despite considerable pressure in the opening 10 minutes. The young front row of Johnny Lane, Nicky Guymer and Geoff Martin, all under 21 years of age, committed themselves well in the scrum, despite a great deal of pressure being exerted upon them. As Lampeter continued to pressurise the Tenby defence, the home side conceded a penalty and an early and deserved 3-0 lead. From the restart, Tenby looked to attack through a break by Will Crockford, who linked well with centres Paul Luger and Mark Heywood, who in turn fed the hungry-looking Jimmy Davies on the wing, taking play deep into the Lampeter half. Tenby were quick to the breakdown and Crockford fed the ball to his centres again, only for a good tackle on Paul Luger to put paid to the attack. This period of play saw some excellent inter-play between both backs and forwards, with Sam Smith, skipper Wyndham Williams and Jessie James displaying some fine handling skills. However, this hard work went unrewarded when a loose ball allowed Lampeter to clear back up to halfway. From the lineout, Tenby won clean possession through the hard-working Gareth Edwards and the ball was steadily moved deeper into the Lampeter half. A quick tap penalty taken by Crockford released bulky number eight Smith, who drove at the visitors before off-loading well to prop Geoff Martin. Sadly, Tenby were penalised at the breakdown for not releasing, allowing Lampeter to relieve the pressure. Lampeter, now back in the middle of the field, were held at bay by some hard work by Harry Bolton, Jessie James and Lane. This work, however, was undone as another penalty was conceded at the breakdown and due to some backchat to the referee, play was taken a further 10 metres, which made the kick at goal far easier - an opportunity which was taken by the Lampeter kicker to take the score to 0-6 Tenby once again attacked through their backline, seeing Jimmy Davies kick ahead into the Lampeter 22, but despite his good follow up, Lampeter were able to kick the ball back up field. Gareth Edwards was now starting to gain some dominance in the lineout and again won clean ball which was quickly spread across the threequarter line for winger Owen Thomas to link well with fullback Rose, who took play into the Lampeter 22. Tenby won a penalty at the breakdown which was kicked to touch on the visitors' five-metre line. Ball was won off the top of the lineout and fed out to Sam Smith on the charge, who showed excellent skills in holding on to the loose pass. Harry Bolton picked and drove at the line and, with the help of his pack, was driven over the line, but no try was awarded. From the resultant scrum, Tenby were penalised for collapsing and once again Lampeter were given the opportunity to clear their line and another excellent attacking opportunity for the United went begging. Both sides battled hard for possession in the loose exchanges and it was Tenby who gained the upper hand, allowing Jimmy Davies to kick and chase into the Lampeter 22. He was joined in his chase by Paul Luger and both were able to tackle the receivers and stop them from clearing the ball back up field. A big hit by flanker Harry Bolton saw Tenby continue to pressure the visitors on their own line, only for another infringement to go Lampeter's way. To make matters worse, some more backchat from one of the home team saw the referee once again push Tenby back another 10 metres and allowed the penalty to be cleared further up field. The resulting Lampeter lineout was stolen by Edwards and the pack began driving on, with Wyndham Williams making progress over the gain line, which allowed the ball to be fed out to the backs. A lovely flick on by Luger released Owen Thomas, who was forced into touch. Edwards once again stole Lampeter's lineout ball and the ball was driven forward by the pack. Quick ruck ball saw the ball fed to Sam Smith, who crashed over the line for Tenby's first score of the afternoon. Unfortunately, Thomas was unsuccessful with the conversion, leaving Tenby trailing by five points to six. Tenby temporarily lost the services of hard-working flanker Harry Bolton who, whilst helping to secure the ball at the ruck which set up the try, suffered a head injury which saw an enormous lump appear on his forehead. He was replaced by Stuart Tyrie. The restart saw Lampeter take control and take play into the Tenby half. Their efforts were soon rewarded with another penalty, which their outside- half slotted to extend the lead to nine points to five. Not to be outdone, Tenby worked hard to get back into the Lampeter half and after good hands by Del Brace, Mark Heywood and Paul Luger, Llewellyn Rose kicked ahead into the Lampeter 22. The visitors then infringed at the ruck, but Del Brace narrowly missed with his kick, leaving Tenby trailing 9-5 at half-time. The start of the second half saw Bolton rejoin the fray and he made an instant impact, along with James, chasing the ball from the restart and forcing Lampeter to kick to touch. From the lineout, Tenby attacked through their backs and the ball was kicked towards the corner flag on the Lampeter line. An excellent tackle on the visitors' winger by Jimmy Davies saw both man and ball driven into touch in goal and the home side awarded a scrum- five. Lampeter attacked the Tenby scrum and stopped the home team getting any advantage, but despite this, they still managed to work the ball from the base and continue to drive at the visitors. However, yet another penalty thwarted the attack, allowing Lampeter to clear. A further infringement in the Tenby half saw Lampeter extend their lead to 5-12. After the restart, Llewellyn Rose claimed a high ball and gained 20 yards, evading two or three tacklers with some excellent footwork. A well-worked backs move saw Rose enter the line and cut through and head for the line, only to be brought down yards short. From the ruck, Tenby continued to press, but a loose pass was intercepted by an alert defender and the ball was hacked downfield. Scott Payne, now on for the hard-working Johnny Lane, made an instant impact in the tight exchanges and some good tackling as the home team kept the pressure on. Despite his head injury, Bolton continued to put in plenty of tackles, but one massive hit on Lampeter's number eight at a quickly taken penalty was adjudged to have been within 10 and the home team were penalised again, allowing Lampeter to take the score to 5-15. Moving into the last quarter, Stuart Tyrie came on once again, this time replacing James, who had worked tirelessly all afternoon. From a penalty, Tenby kicked to touch and as the ball was fed from the lineout through the backs, they lost the services of Paul Luger, who was replaced by young winger Sion Jenkins, with Owen Thomas moving across to fill Luger's centre berth. Tenby continued to attack hard, but were continually thwarted by a loose last pass or knock- on at crucial times. Nicky Guymer was replaced by Mike 'Penfold' Lewis for the final 10 minutes and the eager-looking Lewis was soon making an impact at the breakdown, burrowing into mauls. Some good breaks, first by Crockford and then by Smith, saw Tenby advance towards the Lampeter line once again. A penalty at the breakdown allowed Tenby to pin Lampeter back to their five-metre line and, with quick clean possession off the top by Edwards once again, the ball was fed out to the threequarters, with Harry Bolton, out wide, linking well with winger Thomas and fullback Rose. Quick ball from the base of the ruck was fed inside to Sam Smith, who once again drove to the line, but was brought down short. His efforts, however, gained the home team a penalty and Stuart Tyrie took a quick tap and drove over for Tenby's second try, which was converted by Owen Thomas to close the score to 12-15. The final two or three minutes saw Tenby work hard to win the ball and take play back into the Lampeter half, but silly infringements stopped the home team from making any real progress and allowed Lampeter to clear any danger to hang on for the 12-15 win. The home team's disappointment was clearly visible at the final whistle and all realised that indiscipline at crucial times had been their undoing. On a positive note, however, Tenby's backline had looked much sharper with the return of centres Mark Heywood and Paul Luger, with many good attacking opportunities well taken during the game and some excellent handling skills throughout from the whole team. With Tenby's very young side becoming more and more experienced with every game and the team's spirit and togetherness better than ever before, there is still much optimism amongs the coaches, Neil Machin and Chris Brace. However, with neighbours Pembroke Dock Quins doing Tenby United no favours at all by going down at home to fellow strugglers Tumble, the Seasiders, still with just three points, now find themselves detached from a group of five teams all on nine points. The pressure is now on to travel next Saturday to local rivals Haverfordwest and get a result. Match sponsor - Alan Jones; ball sponsor - Mike Fry; man-of-match sponsor - J. V. Rowe. Tenby United fielded: Llewellyn Rose (Tenby Auto Centre Car Sales); Owen Thomas (Tenby Glass); Mark Heywood (N. D. Toy and Partners Ltd, Independent Financial Advisors and Mortgage Brokers); Paul Luger - Sion Jenkins (Anne and Jeremy Rossiter, of Londis Stores, Manorbier); James Davies (W3 Designs, Affordable Web Design); Delwyn Brace (Rossiters Funeral Directors, of Tenby and district); Will Crockford (Pam Pam Restaurant, Tenby); Johnny Lane - Scott Payne (Lewis, Lewis & Co Solicitors); Nicky Guymer - Mike Lewis (John Boot, of Lydstep); Geoff Martin (Bay Tree Restaurant, Tenby); Wyndham Williams (Alan Jones, Tenby Utd. RFC chairman); Gareth Edwards (Rumbleway Caravan Park); Steve James - Stuart Tyrie (Gavin and Dudley Scotcher, Capital Roasters Coffee Company); Harry Bolton (Neil Finlay Car Sales); Sam Smith (Mike Brace Home Maintenance Service).
