PEMBROKE were given a torrid time by Laugharne in the Admiral National League 3 West A on Friday, the visitors running in nine tries under the floodlights at Crickmarren to win 66-12.
Played in dry, mild windless conditions on a heavy pitch, the visitors were two places above Pembroke at the start of the match, with a greater win ratio.
Laugharne played at a high tempo throughout, scoring four tries to one in the first half and five more tries to one in the second.
Pacey centre Liam Price raced through for six of them.
Defying the heavy pitch, the visitors led 26-7 at the break after a powerhouse performance which saw Price crash through for two early tries, both converted by full back Lennon Reynolds.
His brother Tyler the crossed the whitewash on the wing, Lennon again adding the extra points with his trusted boot.
Credit to the Scarlets, they showed great resilience with youth player Ethan Brown bringing his potential to the fore and Johnny Palmer, Jamie Brayford, Dai Beynon and Scott Powell influential, and scored a close-range try by scrum half Rhys McNally, which was converted by Luke Rutherford.
But there was still time for Laugharne to hit back and show their dominance again when Price claimed his hat-trick try on the stroke of half time, converted by Reynolds’ trusted boot.
After making a slow start to the first half, Pembroke were quicker out of the blocks after the turnaround but unforced errors led to missed opportunities to add to their tally until acting skipper Powell went over after good work by Barry Alderman-John and Rhys Johns.
They had a spring in their step but ran out of steam in the final 30 minutes and the visitors went for the jugular.
The outstanding Price claimed a second half hat-trick with Mikey Williams, Lennox Reynolds and Tyler Rowlands also crossing the line.
The teams meet again on Saturday, this time in Laugharne, who stay in the hunt for the top spot with four games in hand on leaders Haverfordwest.
Pembroke Youths travelled to Aberystwyth last Saturday, looking for a win to secure the local Youth League Trophy.
After a long journey the lads settled to their work quickly, but the home side took an early lead.
However, having got the travel out of their legs, the visitors began to exert greater authority in the match scoring a few tries and building a narrow lead.
The second half saw them continue to build pressure and score more points, through some really superb combined plays.
Eventually they held out as the home side mounted attacks to claim a famous victory to win the league title, amid ecstatic scenes.
Next weekend they take on Fishguard at home, KO 2pm, when they will be awarded with the league trophy by local and WRU officials.
The Panthers were not in action again last weekend, but are hoping to return to action away in Tumble on Sunday afternoon.
They now await their fate as the draw for the WRU National Bowl semi-finals will be made in the coming days; the match is due to be played on April 7th.
The U13s lost a tremendously exciting cup semi-final at home to a very mature Aberystwyth outfit last weekend in front of a very large crowd at the school fields.
The U15s lost to local rivals Neyland in a very well contested match.
Upcoming fixture this week is a rearranged fixture with the First XV taking on Aberaeron at home tonight Wednesday, KO 7pm, in the Pembs KO Cup semi-final.