Newbridge 23pts Narberth 23

In a match which got better as the game progressed, a below par Narberth team were relieved in the end to come away from the Welfare Ground at Newbridge with a 23-all draw, after a tense last 10 minutes. Still smarting after their 62-nil defeat away to Tondu the previous week, the new-look Newbridge side came out and meant business from the start. Bridge created more scoring opportunities and looked the more dangerous team in the first half. Aided by some indifferent tackling, Bridge broke through the Narberth defence a number of times, but were prevented from scoring. At the other end, all of the Narberth attacking moves failed to breach the line as well. Fullback Spencer Cawley kicked a short range penalty after 10 minutes, but Otters fly-half Ianto Griffiths missed out on a penalty opportunity 12 minutes later. Bridge deserved to extend their lead when Cawley kicked a penalty from 38 metres. Although the Narberth kicking out of hand had been inconsistent, Ianto Griffiths did kick a penalty in injury time from 40 metres to reduce the deficit to three points at the interval. As in the first game the previous week, the Otters started on a brighter note in the second half, with more commitment, and appeared to be better organised. After six minutes, the Otters broke through when prop Ollie Evans touched down in the right corner for a try after some a weaving run by alert hooker Dan Smith. The testing touchline conversion by Ianto Griffiths was on target to put the visitors in front for the first time. Spencer Cawley kicked another penalty, as did Ianto Griffiths, before Bridge scored their first try when wing Tom Driver touched down in the left corner after a fortuitous bounce. Wing Nick Gale had turned to get to a Bridge clever cross-kick, but the ball bounced over his head, straight into the arms of a gleeful Driver who raced over the line. Cawley converted, but a long distance penalty by Ianto Griffiths from 40 metres levelled the scores. An excellent try by wing Nick Gale in the right corner, converted by Griffiths, gave the visitors a seven points lead, but Bridge centre and skipper Duane Dyer picked up a good cross-kick cleanly to score a try, converted by Spence Cawley from the touchline, to level the scores. The Otters did have a last ditch injury time penalty attempt when Nick Gale attempted an ambitious kick from inside the Narberth half. It had the legs, but not the accuracy, as the ball drifted harmlessly past the posts. Commenting after the match, Narberth director of rugby, Jonathan Dodd, did not mince his words when he said: "As coaches we are very disappointed with the result and more particularly the way we played. "There is no problem in the match ending in a draw, but it feels like a bit of a loss after such a lacklustre performance. "For much of the match, we just went through the motions and a lot of the boys played off plan. We were lazy in defence and looked a very poor side, especially in attack. "To be fair, Newbridge had to play well after their result last week. They got stuck into us and rattled us a bit. We were lucky to get a draw in the end as Newbridge were worth a win. "After the way in which both teams played, it was a fair result and, although our class shone through at times, these glimpses were rather rare." Lock Adam Clark stood out and deserved to be chosen as man-of-the-match by the Narberth team management. Narberth fielded: Ashley Sutton (Jonathan Morgan), Nick Gale, Steve Martin (capt.) (Zac Miller), Morgan Griffiths, Nico Setaro (Carwyn Thomas), Ianto Griffiths, Rhys Lane, Ollie Evans (Sean Lloyd), Dan Smith, Owen Jordan, Adam Clark, Alex Jenkins, Steffan Phillips, Stuart Worrall and Lewis Wood (Timoci Kaumaitotoya).