Narberth 18 pts. Pontypool 26

As an opening game of the new season, this Championship League clash at the Lewis Lloyd on Saturday was an entertaining and fiercely contested match, with both teams keen to make a good start to the campaign

A proverbial game of two halves, Narberth deserved their half-time lead of 8-5. Unfortunately, they picked up a yellow card three minutes before half-time, but during this period in the second half they still played with dogged determination and flair to gain a 15-5 lead with a thrilling converted try.

Before the game started, a minute’s silence was observed in respect of Mrs. Elizabeth Headlam (mother of player Lawrence) and Rowland Rogers, a former player.

Narberth kicked off and the early minutes saw both teams testing each other’s resolve. The Narberth backs looked sharp, with new fly-half Jonathon Rogers linking well with his threes and centre Ollie Reyland crossing the gain-line with some determined straight running.

However, on six minutes, Pooler scored with a well-worked try. The Otters, held in their half, attempted to break out, with scrum-half Rhys Lane making a sniping break, only to be brought down, with Pooler winning the ruck. This situation stretched the Otters’ defence and by a change of direction, left wing Nathan Brooke received the ball and created a gap with a neat side-step to race over the last 10 metres to score an unconverted try in the clubhouse corner.

As the game developed, Pooler began to play a more open game, but the Otters kept them back, with fly-half Rogers kicking well.

The Otters, having held Pooler, began a series of attacks and Pooler attempted to slow down the rucks and were penalised, with Jonathon Rogers scoring with an excellent 40-metre kick.

During the next period, both sides suffered the wrath of the referee, with both being constantly penalised.

Then, on 30 minutes, Narberth, gathering the ball in their 22, broke out, with the threes showing their speed of movement. Centre Ollie Reyland forced his way forward, before feeding out to left wing Liam Hutchins, who was tackled, but, with the Otters retaining possession, the ball reached hooker Dan Smith close to the line and he wasted no time in diving over to score his side’s first league try of the season, which Jonathon Rogers failed to convert.

The next 10 minutes saw both packs fiercely defending the various forays, but on 40 minutes, newcomer, second row Lyndon Bateman, was yellow-carded and from the sin bin, he was relieved to see the Pooler kicker fail to score from the resultant penalty.

The whistle blew for half-time with Otters supporters enjoying the 8-5 lead.

A half-time collection was made in aid of the Cardiac Risk in the Young charity, with both sets of supporters generously supporting the cause.

Pooler kicked off the second half with Narberth down to 14 players. However, within three minutes, the Otters scored a brilliant try, with fullback Johnny Morgan, as last receiver, speeding over the line and Jonathon Rogers converting.

The try started with the Otters winning their lineout and the pack moving the ball forward in a series of rucks, before releasing scrum-half Rhys Lane, who quickly fed Jonathon Rogers. The ball was moved at speed through the threequarters to Johnny Morgan, who was on the outside, and he sprinted clear of the Pooler defence to touch down midway between the posts and the corner flag.

Rogers’s conversion gave the Otters a 15-5 lead.

At this point, the home supporters were envisaging a comprehensive win, with the seven-man pack holding their own in the fierce exchanges and the backs looking classy with their slick distribution to the new speedy wings.

Pooler then made a change, bringing on replacement fly-half Tom Hancock, who was to play an important part for them. He was soon in action, kicking for touch and forcing the Otters back to five metres from their line. A fierce forward effort by both teams followed, but the stout defence held out and eventually the ball reached fullback Johnny Morgan, who cleared the dangerfor the Otters.

However, on 51 minutes, Pooler were awarded a penalty 30 metres out on the clubhouse side, which replacement number 10 Hancock kicked to bring them three points closer and another cut the deficit to 15-11.

Narberth then replaced loose-head prop Dan Jacobs with Ollie Evans and Lyndon Batemen returned from the sin bin. The Otters pack had done extremely well to hold Pooler back during the period of the sin-binning.

On 59 minutes, Narberth attacked strongly, but a kick forward was collected by Pooler, who came back at the Otters strongly, with their pack successfully moving forward to the Otters’ line for their scrum-half Aaron Quick to touch down under the posts, giving Tom Hancock an easy conversion, which gave Pooler the lead at 18-15.

Narberth made a further replacement, with Nick Gale coming on wing Liam Hutchins.

The Otters attempted to mount several attacks, but unfortunately, they kept breaking down in midfield.

On 63 minutes, Narberth’s tight-head prop Steffan Jones received an injury which brought Dan Jacobs back as a replacement.

Four minutes later, the Otters were awarded a penalty near the touchline just inside the Pooler half and Nick Gale banged over a fine long range effort to bring the scores level at 18-18.

Pooler failed with a penalty themselves two mintes later, but on 72 minutes scored a vital try. Attacking on the far side, a kick ahead placed the ball beyond the Otters’ defence in the bottom corner for Tom Hancock to win the race for the touichdown. He failed to convert his try.

The Narberth coaches made further changes caused by scrum-half Rhys Lane suffering persistent cramp. Jonathon Rogers moved to his position, with the experienced Ianto Griffiths coming on to take the number 10 berth.

Being five points behind with time running out, Narberth tried to move forward, but kept making mistakes with their passing. Pooler set up a series of drives, getting close to the Narberth line, but were eventually penalised.

Recognising that they had to score a minimum of five points, Narberth decided to run the ball out, even though they were only five metres from their line. Unfortunately, another desperate long pass was not held and Pooler pounced on the unfortunate recipient, causing Narberth to infringe, with Tom Hancock making no mistake with the penalty to take the score to 26-18, after which the referee immediately blew the whistle for full-time.

Whilst the Narberth supporters were disappointed to lose this first game, they had witnessed an excellent match, fiercely contested and full of incident and good play. They also recognised the positives, with the team demonstrating promise with their strong-running threequarters and showing a good spirit throughout the whole squad.

Later the coaches commented on the promise shown.

Senior coach Sean Gale said that in the first 15 minutes the team had produced a very good performance and coped well with the yellow card situation. There was some poor play in the second half, but also some positives. Newcomers Lyndon Bateman and Dan Jacobs played well, while flanker Lewis Wood was superb. The result was disappointing, but there were lots of positives and plenty to work on during training.

Narberth fielded: Johnny Morgan, Liam Hutchins, Steve Martin, Ollie Reyland, Adam Davies, Jonathon Rogers, Rhys Lane, Dan Jacobs, Dan Smith, Steffan Jones, Adam Clarke, Lyndon Bateman, Lewis Wood, Gareth Bateman (capt), Llyr Morris. Subs (all used) - Nick Gale, Ianto Griffiths, Dewi Williams, Callum Tree, Ollie Evans.

Man-of-the-match - Lewis Wood.

Match sponsors were friends of Paul Brenchley in the Ken Morgan Architects Balcony Suite and also in the Otters Holt, with the profits from both being in aid of CRY (Cardiac Risk in the Young).

Ball sponsors were John Mathias and friends and John Morris and friends.