Narberth 7 pts. Cardiff Met 18

Last Saturday, both teams were looking for a win, which for the visitors, lying in 11th place in the league, would give them more breathing space in this challenging season in the WRU Championship.

Before the game, there was an under 10s match between Narberth and St. David’s, with the home team winning. Later they formed a guard of honour for the senior teams when they came onto the field.

Then, before kick-off, a minute’s silence was held in memory of Brian Thomas, of Templeton, and George Phillips, who in earlier times had been a hard-working and committed committee member of Narberth RFC, serving in several different positions.

Narberth kicked off, but within two minutes the visitors scored their first try. Narberth fielded the ball and moved forward and when brought to ground, failed to win the ruck. The student scrum-half Ben Holt immediately dashed forward and, when challenged, dummied and passed to lock John George, who raced over to score an early try, with inside centre Tom Morgan converting to give Cardiff Met a seven-nil lead.

Kicking off again, both teams competed strongly in midfield. It was noticeable that the younger legs were getting to the breakdown quicker and had clearly been drilled to be effective in creating a challenging ruck.

On eight minutes, Narberth levelled the scores with an excellent try by Nick Gale, which he converted from a very acute angle. The movement started when the Otters successfully rucked the ball on the stand side and when scrum-half Jonathon Rogers ran diagonally, a large gap appeared in the defence, but he continued his run before passing out to fly-half James Stephenson, who fed outside centre Steve Martin. He sprinted forward, passing to Nick Gale when challenged. On receiving the ball at pace, Nick sprinted towards the try-line, managing to stay in field, and broke away from clutching hands to touch down in the corner.

On 12 minutes, Otters lock Adam Clark had to be stretchered off, having damaged his ankle on the heavy ground. He was replaced by Lyndon Bateman.

The game continued with neither team getting the upper hand, until a Narberth player was penalised at the ruck. The visiting kicker Tom Morgan had no difficulty in kicking the penalty.

Then the students really put distance between the teams when prop Ben Edwards touched down for a good try created by the pack, which Tom Morgan failed to convert, making the score 15-7.

This try came from winning an attacking ruck near the clubhouse end. Lock James Little received the ball and attacked the Otters’ line, before passing out to Edwards, who enthusiastically crossed to score in the corner.

The Otters responded with some close passing, finally involving Ollie Evans, who, using his strength, made ground, but eventually he was pulled down and was penalised when attempting to release the ball when in a promising position.

In the next incident, the Otters were penalised at the ruck and Tom Morgan quickly added another three points to bring the score to 18-7.

There followed a series of ruck situations where the whistle was blown for infringements, five in all, with only one in favour of Narberth. In each case, the attempted penalty kicks failed to find the posts.

The half-time whistle was blown, with the visitors still holding their deserved 18-7 lead.

Narberth supporters, unhappy at witnessing a disappointing first half, expected the Otters to come back on the field and turn the game around. Events did not improve, though, and within a minute of the restart, Narberth number seven Lawrence Reynold was momentarily concussed when he went in low to tackle. In these present times, a protocol is followed and, although he quickly recovered, he was withdrawn from the field and replaced by Marc Jones, who is normally a front row specialist, known for his foraging play; this gave him a difficult role.

When play restarted just inside the Narberth half the students again attacked and on 45 minutes a further ruck infringement occurred, with lock Lyndon Bateman being sent to the sin bin.

At this moment, the Narberth coaches withdrew Ollie Evans, replacing him with Dan Jacobs.

Cardiff Met were getting the better of the exchanges and were frustrating the Otters and also their supporters with their defensive strategy which seemed to err frequently on the offside, but the tactic went unnoticed and was effective in strangling the Otters’ efforts to attack.

With only 10 minutes of play left, the Otters again upped their efforts and at a lineout on the stand side in the students’ half, the Narberth lineout was foiled with some illegal interference. The referee awarded a penalty, which Nick Gale kicked to near the corner. Alex Jenkins jumped, this time unhindered, and a series of rucking efforts ensued, with the students managing to keep the Otters out. A scrum was awarded on the five-metre line. Narberth supporters, urging their team to push the students back over the line, were incensed when the referee penalised the home side for pushing before the ball went in.

A few minutes later, the Otters again attacked from midfield, with centre Ollie Reyland attempting to force his way forward, before passing to Jordan Roberts, who hurtled towards the line, only to be forced into touch well inside the visitors’ 22.

Narberth managed to regain the ball after the lineout, set up a series of PODs, before being awarded another scrum. This time the ball was released successfully and, moving it towards the far touchline, Jordan Roberts again attacked, but once again was forced out of play.

Excitement began to mount as Narberth again attacked with only minutes left. Again Ollie Reyland forced his way forward until he was tackled. At the ruck, the students were penalised, and penalised again, as they attempted to stop the advance.

Narberth chose to take quick tap penalties and were thwarted when the referee awarded a scrum, from which Cardiff Met managed to retrieve the ball and clear their lines, after which the referee blew for full-time.

Whilst the last 10 minutes were frantic for Narberth, it was all too late. Cardiff Met, which is a rugby centre of excellence, have to be congratulated for playing a very competent game and managing to hold the Otters where they are normally strongest, and on the day were deservedly winners.

The Otters, for their part, are still giving away too many penalties at the rucks and there is a lack of incisiveness at the foot of the scrum. Also at the moment they are unable to produce much inventiveness in the threequarters. Quick movement of the ball often produces positive results.

Later, Narberth head coach Sean Gale commented: “It was a very disappointing result. We gave away too many cheap tries in the first half and our defensive structure was naïve. Although we got back into the game second half, we failed to take four clear-cut scoring opportunities. Cardiff Met deserved the win and defended very well at the end. We are a side lacking in confidence and, as coaches, we must try to get the best out of our players in the remaining matches. From our perspective, a lot of improvement is required and we must gain confidence. We have a lot of good players, but we must play better in our remaining fixtures.”

Narberth man of the match went to Ollie Reyland.

Tomorrow (Saturday), Tata Steel are the visitors, kick-off at 2.30 pm. Always a difficult team to beat, it will be a real challenge for the Otters.

Narberth fielded: Johnny Morgan, Jordan Roberts, Steve Martin, Ollie Reyland, Nick Gale, James Stephenson, Jonathan Rogers, Ollie Evans, Dan Smith, Tom Kaijacks, Adam Clarke, Alex Jenkins, Gareth Bateman (capt.), Lawrence Reynolds (Marc Jones), Lewis Wood.