Tondu 29 pts.

Narberth 35

Resolute defence by the Otters during the closing minutes of this match, kept the marauding Waterwheelers at bay, after Tondu had eroded a substantial lead of over 20 points, which the Otters had established from a platform provided by the pack.

On the open, slightly wind swept playing field at Pandy Park, Tondu put Narberth under pressure during the first 10 minutes, but the Otters settled down and then dominated most of the game.

The superiority was established by the pack who had the edge in the set pieces.

The visitors led 16-9 at the interval. Narberth number eight Steffan Phillips got the touch down from a push over try following a scrum. Fly-half Ianto Griffiths converted and was also on target with three first half penalty kicks.

Tondu wing Jonathan Humphries scored the only try for his team in the first half.

The cross field diagonal wind had given Tondu a slight advantage on one side of the pitch during the first half and the Otters had that advantage in the second half.

The control exerted up front started to reap dividends for the visitors. Lock Alex Jenkins caught the ball cleanly at a line-out 15 yards out. The Narberth pack drove on with a rolling maul and lock Dylan Richards broke off, to crash over for a try converted by Ianto Griffiths.

Another try followed when the Narberth pack pushed the Waterwheelers back from a scrum, number eight Steffan Phillips picked up the ball and released scrum-half Rhys Lane who darted over for an unconverted try.

After a series of phases, when the Otters recycled the ball and moved it both ways across the field, wing Tomi Jones sliced through the Ton defence and slipped the ball to centre Morgan Griffiths who scored a try wide out, which was converted by Ianto Griffiths.

With the cushion of a 21 points lead, the Otters appeared to take their foot off the pedal.

Tondu then came back strongly in the last quarter of the game to make inroads into the 35-14 points lead.

Fly-half Matthew Murphy had scored a try early in the second half and blind side flanker Ashton Evans also crossed the line for two tries in the last quarter.

All three tries scored in the second half were converted by scrum-half Gareth Powell, which set-up a tense last three minutes with just six points separating the teams.

The fight for points evoked memories of the last game played by Narberth at Tondu two or three seasons previously on a wet and windy afternoon, when utility back Nick Jones, playing in the pivotal number 10 position kicked the Otters to a narrow win.

This time, it was the Waterwheelers who were chasing the points for a win, but the Otters re-grouped, held firm to come away with a bonus point victory.

Commenting after the match, Narberth team manager Robert Lewis said: "It was good to away from Tondu with the five points. At this level, there are no easy games and if you don't play well you can come unstuck. When we took our foot off the gas, it gave Tondu a chance to get back into the game and even snatch a late win.

"We held out and the five points away win has taken us to second place in the Championship table.

"These days, league rugby is a squad game and we are blooding young players which should hold us in good stead for the future.

"The young players in the squad are getting opportunities to gain experience of playing rugby at a high level and this can only be good for the future of the club."

The Narberth team management nominated flanker Timoci Kaumaitotoya as man-of-the-match. In addition, there were strong performances by the pack as a whole, led by the front row of Sean Lloyd, Dan Smith and Tom Slater.

As usual, Alex Jenkins was prominent in the line-out, fly-half Ianto Griffiths kicked well and young centre Morgan Griffiths improves with every game.

Full-back Jonathan Morgan had some good attacking runs as did wing Tomi Jones.

Narberth fielded: Jonathan Morgan, Tomi Jones, James Griffiths (Nick Gale), Morgan Griffiths, Jason Howells, Ianto Griffiths, Rhys Lane (Adrian Killa), Sean Lloyd (Owen Jordan), Dan Smith, Tom Slater (Ollie Evans), Dylan Richards, Alex Jenkins, Dylan Richards (Simon Griffiths), Timoci Kaumaitotoya, Stuart Worrall and Steffan Phillips.