The West Wales Premier League encounter between Narberth Athletic and Carmarthen Quins proved a very unequal contest.

The Quins fielded a squad with experienced players combined with up-and-coming youngsters.

In fly-half Barri Thomas they had a player of much greater skill and experience and outside him were players of speed with equal kicking abilities.

In the circumstances, the Athletic stuck gamely to their task and the pack fought every inch of the way, competing in the lineout and winning their tight situation possession; they also tackled bravely throughout.

However, there is a limit to coping with a stronger team able to gain possession from rucks, who harassed the base of the Narberth scrum and who were quick to stop the Athletic gaining many yards.and quickly stifle the Narberth attacks.

In the first half, the Quins had the 'rub of the green' with several of their tries coming from passes which were borderline forward passes. In addition, as the game wore on, the Athletic scrum-half, Lewis Jones, was constantly harassed at the base of the scrum, resulting in fly-half Kyle Kean receiving the ball under pressure from the marauding Quins, who lined up close to the Narberth threes.

As the Athletic made ground, frequently the Quins pack rucked at the breakdown, often successfully gaining extra possession. In the lineout, lock Ifan Davies jumped well, giving the Athletic good ball, while the pack were able to maul forward, but several times their advance was stopped by unfortunate infringements.

The Quins inside centre Steffan Davies opened the scoring with an easy penalty, followed by an early converted try.

Narberth's James Davies failed with a relatively easy penalty kick and the Quins clearly had the edge in this department, with between tem Steffan Davies and Barri Thomas converting six of the eight tries scored.

At half-time the score of 27-0 was indicative of the Quins' dominance and good fortune, although the Quins took their chances well.

Narberth suffered a few injuries, with Ed Pritchard replacing John Edwards in the front row, while Ben Morgan lasted only five minutes in the second row before dislocating his shoulder.

Gaining more possession, the Quins threequarters enjoyed their second half, with the pick of the tries coming from number 10 Barri Thomas, who scored an excellent individual try. He gathered a rolling ball in his own half, sprinting forward and kicking over the advancing defence, before picking up the bouncing ball to sprint clear and touch down under the posts, with Steffan Davies converting.

The Athletic defence began to weaken and through injuries ended with 14 men, with further tries giving Carmarthen Quins a 58-nil away win..

Throughout, the Athletic had stuck to their task, their tackling was endless and only simple infringements stopped them crossing the Carmarthen try line. Against lesser sides they would have had a fairer share of the game and spoils.

Narberth Athletic fielded: Nathan Evans, John Morse, Jake Philpin, James Davies, Joe Philpin, Kyle Kean, Lewis Jones, John Edwards, (Ed Pritchard), Nathan Lloyd Ryan Rees (Ben Morgan), Ifan Davies, Daniel Owens, Tom Jones, Paul Brown, Derri Galvin (capt).