Warlow boots Otters to defeat

Narberth 11 pts. Bonymaen 22

Narberth lost their opening league match of the season in Division One West of the ASDA Welsh National League, despite matching Bonymaen in most departments of the game, apart from points scoring. It was a frustrating afternoon for Narberth supporters in a match between two good teams. Bonymaen came out the overall winners after taking advantage of any mistakes by the Otters and of any scoring opportunities with which they were presented. It was also frustrating for the Otters' faithful that Narberth played with 14 men for over a quarter of the game. Two players, centre Richard Davies (first half) and winger Tom Bonnell (second half), spent time in the sin-bin after receiving yellow cards. To cap it all, winger Nick Jones received an out-of- character red card for some remarks made on the field during injury time. Bonymaen outside-half Paul Warlow gave his team an early lead after six minutes with a penalty from just outside the Narberth 22. After some years at Whitland, Aled Davies has returned to the Narberth fold and the outside-half had a chance to level the scores with a penalty attempt after eight minutes, but his kick from 35 metres was off target. When play moved to the other end of the field, Paul Warlow increased the lead with another short range penalty and after 15 minutes, Bony were nine points ahead when Warlow was successful with his third short-range penalty effort. After 20 minutes, Aled Davies came into the game with a bang as he converted a penalty from 42 metres. Fortunately for the Otters, when Richard Davies was yellow-carded, Warlow had a rare miss with his penalty kick from 40 metres. On the stroke of half-time, the lead was reduced to three points when Aled Davies kicked his second penalty from 40 metres to give heart to the Narberth players and supporters at halftime. If Bonymaen had deserved their lead in the first half, it was Narberth who made the running in the early part of the second half and it was only excellent defence by the Bonymaen team which kept the Otters at bay. The turning point came after 58 minutes when Bonymaen took the chance to score from a loose ball after a reverse pass by Aled Davies had failed to go to hand. With the ball bobbing around near the line, Bonymaen centre Ryan Llewellyn grasped the opportunity to score under the posts to give Warlow his easiest kick of the match with his successful conversion. The 10 points lead was extended five minutes later with Warlow's fourth penalty of the afternoon and when Bonnell was yellow-carded after 70 minutes, Warlow kicked his final penalty of the match. After Narberth had been reduced to 14 players yet again in injury time, Steve Martin showed what the Narberth team were capable of when he finished off a good attacking move with a try halfway out on the left, which Aled Davies was unable to convert. It was a disappointing result, which was recognised by Jonathan Dodd in his post-match comments, but he was also quick to point out the positive aspects of the game from a Narberth viewpoint when he said: "As coaches we were disappointed with the indiscipline in conceding so many penalties, which allowed Bonymaen to get into the game. "In other aspects of the match we played some of our best rugby for a number of seasons, so it was even more unfortunate that our mistakes cost us so dearly. "Full credit to Bonymaen. They had a very good defence, which held out under pressure, particularly during the second half. We can learn a lot from this game and move on." Narberth fullback and captain Sion Brace was nominated man-of-the-match by the match sponsors, G. D. Harries and Sons, of Narberth, and Maurice Cole, of the Cresselly Arms, Creswell Quay. The match ball was sponsored by the Landshipping Boys, the Taxi Boys, Malcolm Kennard, of Crundale, Carole Barrett, of Cartridge Choice - Cymru and the Narberth RFC Former Players Association. Open-side flanker Andrew Dennis was also singled out by Jonathan Dodd in his post-match remarks for having an excellent game and for his outstanding work-rate. Tomorrow (Saturday), Narberth continue their league campaign with a tough away fixture against Merthyr. Narberth fielded: Sion Brace (capt.), Nick Jones, Steve Martin, Richard Davies, Tom Bonnell, Aled Davies, Adrian Killa, Scott Payne (Tom Slater), Dan Smith, Justin Hughes, Jason Jennings (Tristan Bowen), Chris James, Lloyd Phillips, Andrew Dennis and Jamie Bohata.