Tenby United 28 pts Cardigan 24

Outside-half Lloyd Thomas was the toast of Tenby United on Saturday as his personal haul of 16 points and a 75th minute try helped the Andrew Price, FBM Holidays & Molson Coors sponsored Seasiders edge out a strong Cardigan side, moving them to within just three points of second-placed Newcastle Emlyn. In doing so, they were setting up what is certain to be a thriller of a game tomorrow (Saturday) when the United travel to Emlyn to challenge for the promotion play-off place in Division 3 West of the Swalec Leagues.

Tenby's previous encounter against Cardigan away on November 3 last year, when the Seasiders managed to pinch the win in a game that was extremely closely fought by 10 points to nine, seemed a million miles away as the players swapped the wind, rain and barely playable pitch of that day for a beautiful sunny afternoon and almost perfect playing surface at Heywood Lane.

The Seasiders wanted to move the ball from the off and take advantage of the conditions which suited their open style and, after two minutes of pressure from both forwards and backs, the Cardies' over-eager defence overstepped the offside line, and United outside-half Lloyd Thomas was able to register the first points of the afternoon.

The majority of the first half saw the Seasiders moving quality fast ball, courtesy of a strong forward platform, and using both talented centres in Toby Smith and Callum Wilkinson to cause the visitors' defence a lot of trouble, before getting it out to the hands of speedy wingers Stanford and Guerreiro, who both ran well and defended equally as well all afternoon.

The scores were levelled with a Cardigan penalty kicked by fly-half Mike Diggle on 15 minutes, but it was all Tenby after that and, with most of the play happening deep in Cardigan territory, points were sure to rattle up for the Seasiders.

And they did, as the rest of the first half points came courtesy of a fine Toby Smith try after he spotted the Teifisiders' defence asleep and barged over after taking a quick tap penalty, another Lloyd Thomas penalty and a Jason Ronowitz try, which was converted by Thomas. The try came as lively flanker Ronowitz plucked the ball out of the sky at the back of a lineout and jinked past three defenders to touch down under the posts.

These first half points meant that the United went into the oranges (kindly sponsored by Mo Crockford) at half-time with the scoreboard reading 21 points to three in their favour and they looked to be on course for their fourth league win in a row.

Cardigan, however, had other ideas. They came out of the interval like a totally different team and turned the tables by forcing the Seasiders to defend early on and in fact for most of the second half.

Cardigan strung a series of moves together which were defended well through gutsy and committed defence from the home side, with the back row of Ronowitz, Hansford and Pat Roberts all tackling well and showing a total disregard for their own safety, and it was this commitment to his team and to the club that led to Luke Hansford ending up on the operating table in Morriston Hospital after severely breaking his jaw during a try and possibly game-saving tackle for the United.

It wasn't long before Cardigan were able to breach the home defence and they did so on 45 minutes following a move that meant Llyr Griffiths could sneak over for they try, which was converted by Diggle. Two more Cardigan tries, both from Rhydian Jenkins and converted by Diggle, actually gave the visitors the lead after 66 minutes by 24 points to 21.

It was by no means game over for the Seasiders, though, and their knack for closing out these tight games without feeling the need to panic paid off as they began to dominate at scrum time and were using the ball to great effect by moving it through the phases, kicking for territory through Thomas and Toby Smith and running the ball when the time was right.

As the clock ticked down, the relentless Seasiders' pressure caused a Cardigan defender to commit a dangerous high tackle and the ensuing yellow card on 70 minutes meant that their already stretched and struggling defence would be pushed to its limit for the remainder of the game, with just 14 players left to try and halt the United getting back into the lead.

With the Seasiders' pack causing big problems for the visiting scrum, it was an easy decision for acting captain Will Crockford to opt for the set-piece when another Cardigan offence on their own five- metre line saw Tenby awarded a penalty.

With just five minutes remaining, the Seasiders shoved Cardigan towards their line and Crockford got the ball to Lloyd Thomas, who managed to evade three defenders and crossed for a fine try, which he also converted to give himself a tally of 16 points and his side the lead again.

Tenby hung on to this and ran out deserved winners in the end by 28 points to 24 thanks to an excellent performance from one to 15, including replacements, which again saw them dig deep and come away with the points against a strong Cardigan side desperate to stay above the relegation zone as the season reaches the critical stage.

As mentioned above, the Seasiders travel to Newcastle Emlyn tomorrow (Saturday) to play an extremely important game that with a win can see them leapfrog their hosts into second spot in the table. This is sure to be a real battle between two very talented sides and if the game at Heywood Lane between them earlier in the season is anything to go by, it wont disappoint. Please come along to support the boys, with kick-off being at the later time of 3.30 pm in Emlyn.

Tenby United fielded: Dan Colley, Simon Stanford, Toby Smith, Callum Wilkinson, Jack Guerreiro, Lloyd Thomas, Will Crockford, Pat Roberts, Luke Hansford, Jason Ronowitz, Roy Osborn, Luke Dedman, Lee Tucker, Gareth Jones, Rob Clark. Replacements - Richard Rossiter, Ashley Bonser, Greg Caine, Cameron Wood.