Merthyr 29 pts. Narberth 10

Narberth faced a confident Merthyr outfit on Saturday, but at half-time the Otters had managed to gain a 10-5 lead, even though the home side had the better of the half through their aggressive pack

The Otters, however, were resolute in defence and stifled their mauling efforts, suggesting a battle royal second half..

Changes were made to the Otters at half-time, with prop Tom Slater being taken ill with a sickness bug and centre Jason Howells being withdrawn due to a hamstring injury. The Martyrs, meanwhile, upped their game to maximise the use of the slightly sloping ground, with the Otters facing an extremely bright falling sun.

In the first half, Narberth, playing down the slight slope, kicked off and immediately the Merthyr pack gathered and drove forward. Narberth defended strongly, but were penalised twice and with each penalty, the Merthyr fly-half, Steven Lang, was able to work the touchline. Driving forward each time, the Merthyr pack finally released the ball and hooker Louis Jones drove over for the touchdown near the corner. Lang failed to convert.

Narberth came back strongly, with fullback Johnny Morgan scything through the opposition to within five metres of the line. Merthyr won the subsequent ruck and were able to clear the danger.

On 14 minutes, Otters number eight Gareth Batemen was yellow-carded for an adjudged high tackle.

Three minutes later, outside-half Ianto Griffiths landed a well-taken penalty to bring the score to 5-3.

The Otters did well to hold out during a period when the opposition might have been expected to score with Narberth down to 14 men due to the sin-binning.

Sadly, though, the Otters' lineout was not functioning with its usual efficiency, allowing Merthr to gain the initiative.

However, on 39 minutes, the Merthyr fullback kicked high into the Narberth half, Johnny Morgan gathered and, spotting a gap in the defence, sped through and outpaced the chasing defenders to score a well-worked individual try, which Ianto Griffiths converted, giving the Otters a 10-5 lead and in the process silencing the Merthyr supporters.

Unfortunately, immediately before half-time, Ianto Griffiths failed to place another penalty kick between the posts.

With Narberth having made their enforced half-time changes, with Steffan Jones replacing Tom Slater in the frton row and Rhys Lewis coming on for Jason Howells at inside centre, the Martyrs struck quickly.

Turning a Narberth attack when the ball bounced near the touchline on halfway, the fullback Jeff Flye gained possession and with the Otters' threes already advanced forward, he was able to break free to score, with a conversion by Steven Lang giving Merthyr a two-point lead.

Narberth were attacking, but failing to win the subsequent breakdowns and losing some lineouts on their own ball. So on 53 minutes, following a period of pressure from the Merthyr pack, well supported by the kicking of fly-half Lang, and after several five-metre scrums, the ball was eventually released and flanker Ossian Davies broke away, passing to number eight Tom Daley, who scored midway between the touchline and the posts. Fly-half Lang again added the extras.

Narberth made several substitutions, Callum Tree replacing lock Steffan Phillips, Ashley Suttton replacing wing Rhys Davies and Jim Kaumaitoya replacing flanker Nio Aioni.. 

On 65 minutes, Ianto Griffiths failed to score with a penalty kick.

On 70 minutes, Merthyr replacement Richard East scored an unconverted try after a series of individual drives down the slope with Merthyr winning the rucks.

There followed a sparkling period of play by the Narberth threequarters, with replacement centre Rhys Lewis making some incisive breaks, but on each occasion the wrong option was taken, the centre choosing to continue his break and being stopped a metre from the line with unmarked players outside.

These moments turned the game, giving Merthyr a flattering lead.

This was immediately followed by a yellow card for hooker Dan Smith, which thereafter resulted in uncontested scrums, and finally on 76 minutes, Martin Luckwell scored an unconverted try to give Merthyr a 29-10 victory and a bonus point.

Later, a frustrated head coach, Sean Gale, stated he was very disappointed with the performance. Too many lineouts were unnecessarily lost, the scrums were not as secure as normal. He felt the players did not measure up.

"We are not playing well away from home," he said. "The set-piece play on the day was poor and elementary mistakes made and unfortunately to our cost there were also defensive mistakes."

Hopefully, a few injured players will return for tomorrow's (Saturday's) tough encounter with Pontypool, kick-off 2.30 pm.

Narberth fielded: Narberth fielded: Johnny Morgan, Nick Gale, Steve Martin, Jason Howells (Rhys Lewis on 40 minutes), Rhys Davies (Ashley Sutton on 60 minutes), Ianto Griffiths, Rhys Lane, Ollie Evans, Dan Smith, Tom Slater (Steffan Jones 40 minutes), Alex Jenkins, Steffan Phillips (Callum Tree on 60 minutes), Stuart Worrall, Gareth Bateman, Nio Aioni.(Jim Kaumaitoya),