Tata Steel 10 pts. Narberth 12

After working hard to get the lead with an excellent all fighting performance, particularly by the pack, Narberth survived three late penalty opportunities to grind out a rare away win against Tata Steel.

On an afternoon made for rugby, at least before the sun clouded over, with a firm pitch to play on, supporters of both teams would have anticipated a high scoring game.

Memories of the corresponding fixture last season were still fresh, where in a rearranged game under floodlights, 70 points were scored, mostly by Tata Steel in a massive 61-9 win.

On Saturday, the Otters made all of the running in the first 20 minutes, but failed to take four clear-cut try-scoring opportunities.

Points were salvaged by the reliable left foot of fly-half Ianto Griffiths, who put the visitors ahead with three well-taken penalty kicks.

Steel came back in the last 10 minutes of the first half with an opportunist 60 yards try scored by wing Tom Armstrong, which was converted by fly-half Simon Evans, who had earlier kicked a penalty.

The conversion kick gave Steel a narrow 10-9 point lead at the interval.

In the second half, Steel raised their game, but the Otters defended very well, with the centres Richard Davies, Morgan Griffiths and Jason Howells, when he moved into the centre, all tacking strongly.

Fly-half Ianto Griffiths also tackled well and the back row of Dylan Richards, Stuart Worrall, Lewis Wood and replacement Steffan Phillips all played superbly in defence and attack.

Gradually Narberth worked their way back into the game, but again failed to take a try-scoring opportunity when, as so often in this game, the final pass was squandered by going astray.

A penalty kick by Ianto Griffiths regained the lead for the visitors and the Otters continued to put Steel under pressure.

The continuous pressure appeared to pay dividends as the Otters went over the line twice, but the referee was unsighted so unable to award a try on either occasion.

The last 10 minutes were a taught, nail-biting affair. Steel fly-half Simon Evans had three late penalty kicks within his normal range which were opportunities to snatch a late victory for Tata Steel.

Each kick looked to be on target, but fortunately for the Narberth team and crowd of passionate supporters, the ball drifted harmlessly past the uprights to give the Otters a slender two points win.

Over the years, in this competitive fixture, the home team has usually got the upper hand and Narberth team manager Robert Lewis praised the players for the way in which they stuck to their task.

Commenting after the match, he said: "It is always a tough game here at Margam and Tata Steel had some old heads in the pack.

"It was our first win away to Tata for sometime and was the result of a very good team performance.

"The fact that our players stood toe to toe with the Tata forwards made a huge difference and the all-round team effort has kept Narberth in second place in the Championship table."

Narberth fielded: Jonathan Morgan, Tomi Jones, Richard Davies, Morgan Griffiths (Nick Gale), Jason Howells, Ianto Griffiths, Rhys Lane (Adrian Killa), Sean Lloyd (Simon Gardiner), Dan Smith, Tom Slater (Owen Jordan), Adam Clarke, Alex Jenkins (C), Dylan Richards, Stuart Worrall and Lewis Wood (Steffan Phillips).