RGC 1404 28 pts. Narberth 6

Narberth's unbeaten sequence ended with a 28-6 defeat away to the North Wales regional team, RGC 1404, at Colwyn Bay. In winning the match, RGC became the first team to register the double against Narberth this season.

Despite the defeat, the Otters have held on to second place in the Championship table with 46 points, a long way behind the champions in wait Ebbw Vale, but the chasing pack are closing in, with third place Pontypool one point behind Narberth and there are three other teams in the top six with 41 points or more.

With a home fixture against runway leaders Ebbw Vale followed by a tough away fixture at Bargoed, January could be a bleak month for the Otters.

The RGC performance was described by spokesman Scott Lawson as being the strongest performance that he has seen all season.

He added: "The RGC pack were strong from the start, the backs played the ball well and took their chances."

The North Wales team were also very disciplined in defence and the Otters found it difficult to find a way through.

Narberth team management spokesman Robert Lewis said: "The RGC backs were stronger than ours on the day, with the two half-backs being quality players and the fullback a Welsh Sevens international.

"Once we settled down, we gave as good as we got up front and, although RGC might have had a slight edge in the scrums, we won our fair share of lineout ball, with scoring chances being provided, but not taken.

"At the breakdown, we retained the ball well going forward, scoring opportunities were missed, heads went down a little and cracks appeared in the defence.

"Nevertheless, the players stuck at it, but with the place kickers having an off day, it became difficult to stay in the game."

RGC number eight Oli Cractell gave his team the lead with a try from a good move by the pack and fly-half Lewis Barker added the points for the conversion.

Narberth outside-half Ianto Griffiths clawed six points back with two successive penalty kicks, but the talking point of the afternoon was that the visitors missed seven penalty kicks altogether.

In fairness to the kickers, Ianto Griffiths was unlucky enough to hit the upright twice and long distance specialist Nick Gale, the Narberth fullback, hit an upright once.

A penalty by Lewis Barker increased the lead for the hosts and just before half-time RGC wing Tom Blackwell scored an unconverted try to give the hosts a 15-6 lead at the interval.

In the second half, Lewis Barker was on target again with a penalty kick and late in the game, wing Carwyn ap Myrddin scored a brace of unconverted tries to inflate the margin of the RGC victory.

The Narberth players were very disappointed after the game and have been working hard all week to put in a much stronger performance at home to Ebbw Vale tomorrow (Saturday).

Narberth flankers Dylan Richards and Stuart Worrall both had excellent games and lock Adam Clark also had another good all-round display.

Narberth fielded: Nick Gale (James Russell), Jonathan Morgan, Richard Davies, Morgan Griffiths, Steve Martin (capt), Ianto Griffiths, Rhys Lane (Adrian Killa), Sean Lloyd (Owen Jordan), Dan Smith, Tom Slater Simon Gardiner), Adam Clark, Alex Jenkins, Dylan Richards, Stuart Worrall and Steffan Phillips (Lewis Wood).