Narberth 29 pts. Bridgend Ath.12

In an exhilarating game, a late second half burst of three converted tries in the space of five minutes, took this game away from a committed Bridgend Athletic team, to give the Otters a 29-12 bonus point home win. In a ding-dong first half, the only points came from wing Jonathan Morgan, who followed up the ball when it was hacked on from the halfway line and won the race for the touchdown for an unconverted try in the left corner. Four minutes into the second half, Athletic bounced back when prop Matt Muir scored a try, converted by fly-half Steven Lewis, after a period of pressure by the visiting pack. Midway through the second half, a short range penalty by Otters fly-half Ianto Griffiths regained the lead for his team. A long range penalty attempt from the halfway line by wing Nick Gale was off target, but Gale was back in action again quickly, with two successive tries, both of which were fine finishes to handling movements. Both tries were converted by outside-half Ianto Griffiths, who made testing kicks from the touchline look easier than they were. Gale has come into his own in recent games and clearly has the ability, determination and desire to convert half chances into points. Ianto Griffiths converted both and also converted the next try scored by centre Steve Martin. Although the other Narberth tries had been quite stunning, this try stood out as being the try of the match. The move was started by fullback Ashley Sutton well inside the Narberth 22. Since claiming a first team spot he has gained in stature with the confidence to display his undoubted skills. He ran at the approaching Athletic players, then stepped inside and outside before releasing the ball outside the 22. Wing Jonathan Morgan then produced some magic of his own by sprinting up the left touchline. Finding his path blocked, he hacked the ball on, caught it and then passed inside to Narberth captain and centre Steve Martin, who outpaced the chasing Athletic defenders to score a try, converted by Griffiths Bridgend Athletic had the last word with an unconverted try in the left corner, scored by wing Kyle Dobbin. Commenting after the match, Narberth director of rugby, Jonathan Dodd, said: "As coaches we were very pleased with the win and with the way which the boys played. "There were a couple of very good passages of play and, although we did not get anything from them early on in terms of points, we had a feeling that if we kept playing, the Bridgend Athletic team would crack eventually. When it happened, we had a nice purple patch. "Full credit to Bridgend Athletic who were a very competitive team, in a hard but very entertaining game. "We played as well if not better than we have recently, so full credit to the Athletic team for holding out for so long." The Health Centre Balcony Suite match sponsors, Fenton Vets, of Haverfordwest, selected Narberth wing Nick Gale as man of the match. In addition, there were other excellent performances by his back three colleagues Jonathan Morgan and Ashley Sutton. Throughout the match, the Narberth pack as a unit paved the way for the second half late try spree and flanker Stuart Worrall had another cracking all-round display. The Folly Farm Otters Holt match sponsors were Sally's Hen Do and the match ball sponsors were Whitland Male Voice Choir, John Mathias and Friends and Martin Lewis and Friends. Narberth fielded: Ashley Sutton (Tomi Jones), Nick Gale, Steve Martin (capt.), Richard Davies, Duncan Evans, Ianto Griffiths, Adrian Killa (Rhys Lane), Ollie Evans (Sean Lloyd) Dan Smith, Tom Slater, Adam Clark, Alex Jenkins, Timoci Kaumaitotoya, Stuart Worrall and Lewis Wood (Gareth Bateman).