Tenby United's second team made the short journey to Crickmarren on Saturday for their Junior Union league match against old rivals Pembroke Seconds. The team selected by manager Chris 'Faddy' Thomas and coaches Mark Badham and Craig Hamilton contained a mixture of experienced old heads with some bright and enthusiastic youngsters, with the very experienced back row of Nicky Allen, Richard Rossiter and Justin Richards looking particularly tasty for a second team game.
Tenby kicked off in sunny conditions and, as expected, many of the early exchanges were keenly contested by the two teams, Pembroke having a similar balance of youth and experience in their side, with a handful of players experiencing their first taste of senior rugby.
It was Tenby who looked to take the early advantage, with a drive by number eight Justin Richards setting up second row Dai Rees, who broke up field and linked with Marc Wooles, only for the winger to be brought down just short of the home team's line.
The boot of veteran Pembroke outside-half Lee Roberts kept Tenby at bay on numerous occasions in the first quarter-of-an-hour, and it was Roberts who opened the scoring after 10 minutes with a well-struck penalty to give the home team an early three-point lead.
This score against the run of play seemed to spur the Seasiders into raising their game and soon Richards was at the heart of a drive once again as he charged over the line, only to be held up.
Further drives from Jimmy Edge, Richard Rossiter and Nicky Allen allowed scrum-half Steve Williams to feed quick ball out to his backs and Jimmy Edge crashed over out wide for the game's first try. Richard Rossiter was unsuccessful with the extras, giving Tenby a narrow five points to three lead. The back row that had looked impressive on paper before the game now started to live up to its billing, as from the restart Rossiter linked well with Nicky Allen, who fed on to a rampaging Justin Richards, who gained some 30 yards, before a loose pass ended the promising looking attack.
Tenby continued to work the ball into their opponents' half with good driving and ruck work by the likes of Ed Pritchard, Nick Griffiths, Matt Jones, Dai Rees and skipper Simon Griffiths.
As the ball was worked to the line, a quick feed by Williams at the base to Richard Rossiter saw the flanker crash over out wide and, with Llewellyn Rose not faring any better with the conversion, Tenby now led 10 points to three.
With Tenby now holding the ascendancy in many areas of the game, it was the turn of their backs to show their strength. Rose and Simon Rossiter ('Rosie and Jim') performed well in both defence and attack outside Will Crockford, who enjoyed a very sound performance out of position at fly-half.
It was Crockford, in fact, who added to Tenby's score after a drive by Ed Pritchard and then Richards once again allowed Williams to feed quickly from the base for his outside-half to round his man and score under the posts.
With the conversion by Rose this time successful, this extended Tenby's lead to 17 points to three. Pembroke now looked to attack the Tenby line, but excellent defence by the back row and threequarter line, who were up at the opposition very quickly, stopped any real progress for the home side.
This tough defence paid dividends when a Pembroke handling error allowed the alert Jimmy Edge to pick up and race over for his second score of the afternoon. Rose was again unsuccessful with the extras, but Tenby went into the break with a well earned 22 points to three advantage.
Faddy, Mark and Hammy made three changes to the side at half-time, bringing on Olly Dugmore, Alex Eldred and Ben Large for Matt John, Marc Wooles and Simon Rossiter, respectively.
The first 10 minutes of the second period saw some poor handling by both teams and play was confined to the centre of the pitch with possession going back and forth.
It was Pembroke, however, who managed to get themselves together soonest and worked the ball deep into Tenby's half. With some good work by their pack, hard working young flanker Dan Williams was driven over out wide for a well-earned try, that Roberts was unable to convert, leaving his side trailing by 22 points to eight.
This score seemed to rally the Tenby side and they were soon performing to the same high standard that they had in the first half, with pacy winger Alex Eldred making ground before linking with flankers Allen and Rossiter, with the latter touching down under the posts almost unopposed.
Despite the ease of the kick, Rose managed to hit the post and missed the extra points, leaving the score at 27 points to eight in Tenby's favour.
Tenby were soon on the scoresheet again through replacement winger Jim Kinear, on for Jimmy Edge. After a fine steal by Will Crockford at the tackle area in midfield, he fed out to Ben Large and Steve Williams, whose good running angles allowed Kinear to come in at pace to claim his touchdown out wide. This time it was Simon Griffiths's turn to miss the conversion, taking the score to 32 points to eight.
The final five minutes saw Tenby's most impressive score of the game after a cleanly taken lineout by Dai Rees on halfway was fed out by Williams at pace to Crockford, who threw a lovely miss-pass out to Dai Otten, who came into the line at pace from fullback to coast over in the corner.
He was unsuccessful with his own conversion, giving Tenby victory by 37 points to eight. After the previous week's disappointing start at Crymych, it is hoped that the fortunes of the Seconds will continue to grow and improve. Faddy, Hammy and Bads urge all players to attend training at Heywood Lane on Thursday evenings at 7 pm.
Tomorrow (Saturday), they entertain Pembroke Dock at Heywood Lane, with kick-off at 2.30 pm. With the 1st XV on away duty, all supporters of Tenby United are urged to go along and support the boys.
Team fielded: Dai Otten, Jimmy Edge, Llewellyn Rose, Simon Rossiter, Marc Wooles, Will Crockford, Steve Williams, Nick Griffiths, Simon Griffiths (capt.), Ed Pritchard, Dai Rees, Matthew John, Nicky Allen, Richard Rossiter, Justin Richards. Subs (all used) - Jim Kinear, Alex Eldred, Ben Large, Olly Dugmore.