On a bitterly cold, windy, but dry afternoon, Chevron Texaco sponsored Tenby United travelled the short distance north to play a Crymych side keen to get the double over their high-flying visitors, while, at the same time, Tenby took the field intent on extending their unbeaten run to 10 victories.
An added incentive for Tenby was to avenge an earlier defeat by Crymych when they visited Heywood Lane - the last defeat suffered by Tenby in their impressive season. As it turned out, Crymych weathered the early storm of attacking play put together by a well- organised and motivated Tenby outfit, and, taking full advantage of the windy conditions in the first half, slowly gained the upper hand. They really capitalised on this in the second half as the United, unlike their opponents, failed to make use of the conditions and the possession they gained, as their organisation simple drifted away on the wind.
Before the kick-off, both sides stood for a minute's silence in honour of local player, Brian Williams, who sadly passed away the previous week. The start of the match was an omen for the remainder of proceedings as Tom Lewis failed to get the ball over the 10-metre line and referee Harries ordered a scrum back on the halfway line. Tenby destroyed Crymych at the initial scrum and took the ball against the head, but the attempted clearance kick by Lewis got caught by the wind and found touch in the Tenby half of the field. Tenby gradually worked their way upfield and another strike against the head saw number eight Sam Smith set off on a 40-metre run, barging would-be tacklers out of the way, although the effort was wasted as he attempted to continue his run, ignoring two unmarked men outside him and was brought down by the final defender short of the try line.
From the resulting scrum, again taken against the head, Lewis tried an attempted drop goal, only to see the ball sail well wide of the uprights. Crymych were using the windy conditions well, simply pumping the ball skyward and letting the wind do the rest, with excellent chasing by eager players turning good kicks into very good kicks. On one excursion into the Tenby half they took the lead when their impressive number 10, Gareth Davies, slotted a well-struck penalty, given for offside. Tenby were somewhat shaken by this score, as they had dominated play for the first 10 minutes, but struck back, with Arthur M-M making inroads towards the Crymych line, only to loose possession. Crymych took advantage to fly-hack the ball back deep into the Tenby half and a hurried clearance kick by captain Gavin Brace, who had got back well to cover, got charged down, but unfortunately for the home side, rolled over the deadball line before they could dab it down. Alex Jenkins was next to show the visitors what to do with hard-earned possession when he set off on a rampaging run at the heart of the Crymych defence, forcing them to concede a penalty right on halfway, and to everybody's amazement Lewis indicated a shot a goal -into the very strong wind. To his credit, the ball sailed tantalisingly close to the crossbar as it just dipped short of the target. This close attempt acted as a wake-up call to Crymych, who very quickly reverted to plan A and hoofed the ball up-field when they next gained possession, and again it took an alert Gavin Brace to race back from the opposite wing to just get to the ball before the eager chasing Crymych player. Not to be denied a further score, however, entering a ruck from the side gave Davies the opportunity he needed to increase the lead and his well-judged penalty sailed between the sticks to make it 6-0. Sam Smith was next into action with a superb arcing run, and when he was stopped, his fellow forwards were up in support to drive Crymych back deep into their own half. The ball was then released to the backs, with Rhys Thomas feeding Tom Lewis, who swung a miss-pass to Arthur M-M, who hesitated for a split second and started to crab across the pitch, allowing the onrushing defence to smother the attacking move. The resulting scrum was again won against the head and forced the Crymych number eight Williams to concede a penalty, which Lewis dragged wide of the target. With the half drawing to a close, and Crymych keen to take as much advantage of the favourable wind as possible, they forced a situation where Tenby strayed offside and Davies was successful with his third pot a goal. This was followed by the influential Alex Jenkins leaving the field injured, being replaced by Chase Hann. The half ended with Lewis dismissing the opportunity of taking the option of a penalty shot at goal and driving the ball low and hard close to the Crymych line. The resulting lineout was secured and when the drive was stopped, the ball was quickly shovelled out to Lewis, who finished the half as he had started it, with the ball not achieving its goal, as he attempted his third drop goal. The second half started with a series of aimless kicks as both sides attempted to judge the strength of the windy conditions, now either in their favour or working against them, but it was Lewis, with a sharp turn of speed, who created the first real scoring threat when his run along the touchline, and neat chip over the last line of defence, was halted as the covering Crymych player booted the ball dead.
Tenby were struggling to make any real inroads into the Crymych half, despite the possession they secured, and in an attempt to instil some urgency into the team, coach Kenny Davies replaced Arthur M-M and props Brace and Martin with Neil Powling, Ed Ayres and a returning Ben Cray. The move seemed to back-fire, as domination in the scrums, which Tenby had achieved from the off, swung in favour of the home side as the United struggled to establish the set-play platform they had enjoyed up until that time. Indeed, the game now switched firmly in favour of a home side urged on by their noisy, and jubilant, supporters.
This enthusiasm was somewhat dampened when flanker Oakman was yellow-carded for slowing the ball down at a ruck and Lewis slotted over his first successful penalty to close the scores to 9-3. Sensing that being a man short, and with a score eventually on the board, Tenby might attempt to up the pace of the game, Crymych increased their efforts and some aggressive and powerful tackling, aided by some sloppy play by the Seasiders, forced a situation where Davies was well positioned to attempt a drop at goal and, unlike his counterpart, Lewis, his attempt sailed into the wind and cleared the crossbar, nullifying the three points scored by Tenby. Capitalising on a visiting team that seemed void of ideas, with main play-makers and gainline breakers, Lewis and Smith, not being allowed to influence their attacks, Crymych took the opportunity to turn the knife by putting the visiting scrum under immense pressure on their line. With the entire Tenby back row having to stay put to prevent a push-over try, the ball was quickly released to man-of-the-match Gareth Davies, who neatly slid the ball through a gap in the onrushing defence and dived on it as it slid over the try line. His simple kick from in front of the posts made it Crymych (Gareth Davies) 19 Tenby 3. Despite several attempts to at least get another score on the board, Tenby were glad to hear referee Harries blow for time as Crymych marched off the field to the cheers of their very supportive crowd, and a well-deserved beer in the club. Tenby were left to reflect on how they managed a performance that was nowhere near their usual, well-organised game, but, courtesy of a couple of Six Nations games, they at least have a couple of weeks off to put things right on the training paddock, as well as allowing time for a few key players to return from injury and unavailability. Tenby fielded: Tom Dennis, Will Crockford, Paul Luger, Arthur M-M (Neil Powling), Gavin Brace, capt., Tom Lewis, Rhys Thomas, Mark Brace (Ben Cray), Mike Lewis, Geoff Martin (Ed Ayres), Ifan Davies, Alex Jenkins (Chase Hann), Emyr Hughes, Sam Smith, Nicky Allen.