This Pembrokeshire Knockout Cup semi-final, played on a cold evening under floodlights, lacked the sparkle and passion of games of yesteryear when Narberth would have been overjoyed at winning by such a score.

Unfortunately, a lacklustre performance by the Narberth squad saw Whitland deservedly take the lead in the first half. Clearly the Whitland coaches and captain had built up a bit of 'hwyl in the dressing room and from the start showed intent to take the Otters on.

The early exchanges saw both sides resorting to a kicking game. It was disappointing that the Otters failed to change their game plan, with Whitland fullback Scott Newton safely fielding the high bombs and returning them with interest with 60-metre long kicks.

The early attacks by Narberth were being undone by infringements on the ground. Then it was Whitland's turn to infringe and after 10 minutes Ianto Griffiths attempted to kick a penalty, but the ball veered the wrong side of the far post.

A few minutes later, Whitland backs showed their threat when veteran scrum-half Andrew Jenkins fed fly-half Steffan James, who moved the ball to his centres, who fed winger Will Davies to almost sprint clear of the Otters' defence, but was pulled down in their 22, the ball being knocked forward.

At the scrum, Whitland infringed and Narberth were able to clear their line.

After half-an-hour, Whitland broke the deadlock when the Otters kicked into midfield, where Borderers flanker Jamie Thomas gained possession and, with some strong running, crossed the try-line, with Steffan James converting to give his side a deserved seven-nil lead

On 37 minutes, Narberth gained a penalty, which this time Ianto Griffiths was successful with.

This was followed five minutes later with a Narberth try, initially created by fullback Johnny Morgan, who gained useful ground with a long kick to touch which created a lineout for Narberth to win the throw-in and the pack proceeded to maul forward for Stuart Worrall to score an unconverted try, giving the Otters an 8-7 half-time lead.

Whilst Whitland had played with determination, Narberth prop Ollie Evans was constantly to be seen making determined efforts to cross the gain line, and in those last five minutes, the Otters managed to regain some authority over their old rivals.

In the second half, the Narberth coaches made a significant change, substituting leading points scorer Ianto Griffiths with young Niko Setaro.

Five minutes later, the ball reached winger Rhys Davies, who sped forward and, when challenged, passed to captain Steve Martin to touch down for a try, converted by Nick Gale.

Narberth number eight Lewis Wood was then sent to the sin bin with a yellow card, followed a few minutes later by the Whitland hooker, who was also sent to the sidelines for instigating a bout of fisticuffs between both packs, almost a throwback to yesteryear.

A minute later, Narberth again crossed the try-line, this time Johnny Morgan touching down. The try came from a clean catch at the lineout, the ball being quickly passed from Rhys Lane to Niko Setaro, who fed Johnny Morgan with a long pass and he sped over for the try, converted by Nick Gale.

Whitland' s Will Davies was yellow carded, followed five minutes later by Narberth's Rhys Davies for a late tackle.

Shortly afterwards, Narberth gave the opportunity for their subs bench to have a run out. Number eight Lewis Wood was replaced by Calum Tree, young Ashley Sutton came on for the injured Steve Martin and Adam Clarke was replaced by Steffan Phillips; then shortly afterwards, Zac Millar replaced hooker Dan Smith.

While the newcomers were settling into their roles, Whitland were given a chance to make ground. However, during one of the their visits into the Narberth half, the ball went loose in the 22 and ever-alert Johnny Morgan quickly gathered and speedily broke out, feeding winger Rhys Davies, who had no problem in stretching the Whitland defence to touch down on the far side. Nick Gale was unable to convert and the try proved to be the last score, giving Narberth a 27-7 win and taking them into the final.

As well as Ollie Evans, prominent in the Narberth pack were locks Alex Jenkins and Adam Clarke, both gaining good clean lineout ball to give scrum-half Rhys Lane opportunity to test the Whitland defence, while among the backs, Morgan Griffiths showed up well throughout the game with his strong running at inside centre.

Whitland backs also did well, with Newton Scott, Steffan Jones and James Stephenson prominent in all their attacks. Late on their pack scrummaged well, but their indiscipline let them down, particularly in the second half.

Afterwards, Narberth head coach Sean Gale commented that Whitland played well in the first half. Narberth had plenty of the ball, but did not make best use of it, which he found disappointing. He was pleased with the second half performance, with some really good tries and the youngsters performing well.

Whitland head coach Richard (Stag) Jones felt that they had a good first half, with Narberth getting back into the game in the last five minutes of that period.

"Unfortunately, in the second half, we made some silly mistakes, with indiscipline undoing much of the good work." hea dded "This has been an issue which the lads must learn to improve and they will then become a more competitive squad."

Match sponsors were Alta Cymru and Molson Coors, while ball sponsors were Simon Hart MP and Bill Ridge and Friends.

The sponsors' man-of-the-match was Ollie Evans.

Narberth fielded: Johnny Morgan, Rhys Davies, Steve Martin (capt), Morgan Griffiths, Nick Gale, Ianto Griffiths (Niko Setaro), Rhys Lane, Sean Lloyd, Dan Smith (Zac Millar), Ollie Evans, Adam Clarke (Steffan Phillips), Alex Jenkins, Gareth Batemen, Lewis Wood (Calum Tree), Stuart Worrall.

Whitland fielded: Scott Newton, Will Davies, Johnny Thomas, James Stephenson, Steffan James, Andrew Jenkins, Nathan Price, Marc Jones, Ryan Rees, Ben Kirk, Raff Williams, James Thomas, Jack Mason, Rhydian Davies. Subs - Jamie Styles, Dafydd Evans, Rees Thomas, Carl Smith.