Narberth 15 pts. Llanharan14

Narberth's winning habit in the Championship proved to be the key ingredient in managing to win a match in which the visitors from Llanharan held the upper hand throughout.

Prior to the start of the match, the players, officials and spectators stood as a mark of respect in memory of the late Mr. Alex Davies, of Clunderwen, a former Narberth player.

Winger James Russell opened the scoring for the Otters with a penalty after seven minutes and four minutes later the lead was increased by centre Rhys Roberts with a try in the right corner.

It was created by Adrian Killa with a piece of quick thinking, who decided to 'tap and go' when a penalty was awarded inside the Llanharan 22, before slipping the ball out to Roberts, who was running in support.

The Otters looked certain to score four minutes later following an inspirational break by fly-half Stuart Morris, but centre Steve Martin was unable to take the scoring pass cleanly.

An injury to Adrian Killa forced the Otters' scrum-half to leave the field for the remainder of the match.

His departure disrupted the Narberth patterns of play, despite the sterling efforts of centre Rys Roberts and full-back Jonathan Morgan who shared the number nine jersey, depending on the state of play.

The Narberth play-making was impeded further when Rhys Roberts pulled a muscle in his back, which hampered his movement in passing the ball freely.

After 30 minutes, the Dairymen narrowed the lead with a try by local Bill Carey near the right corner following a move by the pack and fly-half Lewis Williams did well to convert.

Llanharan took the lead for the first time, 15 minutes into the second half, with a try after a good handling movement which culminated in replacement winger Morgan Williams touching down in the corner. The try was converted from the touchline by Lewis Williams.

Somehow the Otters managed to stay in the game by preventing any further tries and aided by the fact that Lewis Williams missed four penalties after the interval, all of which were kickable by his standards.

With three minutes of normal time remaining, Narberth prop Sean Lloyd powered over the line in the left corner for a try following a combined move and, amidst mounting tension, fly-half Stuart Morris held his nerve to convert.

Relieved director of rugby Jonathan Dodd, commenting after the match, said: "We were very pleased to get a win, although we did not deserve it from the way we played as we were outplayed in all facets of the game.

"We were impeded by an injury to scrum-half Adrian Killa in the first half and there were also a couple of walking wounded players who had to continue playing until the final whistle.

"The boys showed a lot of spirit, particularly in the last 10 minutes, during which we scored the match-winning try."

The Health Centre Balcony Suite match sponsors, Hains and Lewis Solicitors, and the County Financial Otters Holt match sponsors, the Narberth RFC First Team Family and Friends, selected Narberth flanker Lawrence Reynolds as man-of-the-match, and there were also good performances by blind-side flanker Gareth Bateman, together with Wayne Williams, who came on as a replacement for Reynolds.

It was also good to see lock Chris James back in action and he gave his usual 100 per cent performance.

The match ball sponsors were the Happy Hour Gang, John Rice, Narberth RFC Former Players Association and St. Clears Trots.

Narberth fielded: Jonathan Morgan, Will Lewis, Steve Martin (capt.), Rhys Roberts, James Russell (Tom Bonnell), Stuart Morris, Adrian Killa (Richard Davies), Sean Lloyd, Dan Smith, Tom Slater (Steffan Jones), Chris James, Alex Jenkins, Lawrence Reynolds (Wayne Williams), Gareth Bateman and Steffan Phillips (Timoci Kaumaitotoya).