Later, after the game, Pontypool were to be presented with the SWALEC Championship Trophy. They arrived with several coaches of supporters, who raised the roof of the packed stand with their Pooler Pooler battle cry.
The bright sunny day was perfect for an afternoon of rugby. They took the field with a very strong team, with the Narberth announcer, Freeman Brawn, indicating a much-changed team from that advertised in the match programme.
The Otters demonstrated immediately that they were not going to lie down and so we witnessed an exciting game; indeed, it was not until the 75th minute that Pontypool were able to score the final and decisive points.
It became evident early on that their forwards were hitting the rucks fiercely and on occasions overturning possession, but they were also being penalised for their rucking.
Immediately at the first scrum, Pontypool, expecting to gain control, struggled against the Otters’ pack, who stood firm and held the powerful eight, with the referee frequently having to reset the scrum.
The Otters’ tactic early on was to kick over the heads of the marauding Pontypool pack. At the lineout, Alex Jenkins was superb and he put in a real workhorse of a game all afternoon, leading his men by example. Early on, flanker Tom Powell also made several effective thrusts into the Pontypool half.
On 12 minutes, the Otters set up a promising attack, having overturned the ruck, but Pontypool quickly regained the ball, but were forced into touch. From the lineout, Steffan Phillips set up a charge, before handing on to Bradley Davies, who was alongside and fed fly-half Jonathan Rogers. He kicked forward towards the clubhouse corner for Jonny Morgan, on permit from Tenby, to dash onto. Pooler regained the ball for their fullback to clear.
On 16 minutes, the Otters had a chance to take the lead. At a scrum midway in the Pontypool half, the visitors offended at a scrum, pushing too early. Nick Gale came forward, but surprisingly, and to the Pooler supporters’ relie,f failed to gain the three points on offer from the penalty.
This fright seemed to raise the Pontypool impetus and soon after they scored their first try. The moment came when initially they gained the ball at the breakdown and, using their speedy backs, raced forward on the far side, beating the Otters’ defence, before kicking to the stand side for flanker Brendon Lampitt to pick up the rolling ball and cross near the corner. The experienced fly-half Steffan Jones made no mistake with the conversion, giving them a seven-point lead.
This raised the Pontypool spirits both on and off the field and the Otters were put under intense pressure, which was relieved when speedy winger Jonny Morgan broke out and was held up close to the Pontypool line.
The Otters again gained possession and advanced up field, with Dan Smith, Jake Simm and Richard Rees between them making good ground before releasing Jonny Morgan for another assault on the Pontypool line. This time he raised home supporters hopes when he nearly broke the cover defence.
Pontypool, however, offended at the breakdown and Ianto Griffiths, taking over the kicking duties, was successful with his penalty kick, giving the Otters their first points.
The Pontypool forwards stepped up their attacks on the rucks, forcing the Otters backwards. Then, just on half-time, when they attempted to force their way over the line, the Otters were penalised at the breakdown and Mathew Jones had no trouble adding three points from in front of the posts to make it 10-3.
When the game restarted in the second half, the Narberth supporters were looking for a response from their team.
Unfortunately, within two minutes, they were again penalised at the breakdown when attacking in the Pontypool half. Mathew Jones kicked long into touch. From the lineout, their forwards attacked in force to cross the gain line, forcing the Otters to defend, and when they moved the ball quickly left, winger Rhodri Usher was on hand to score in the corner. Again Mathew Jones converted, giving the visitors a 17-3 lead.
Five minutes later, on 47 minutes, the Otters were rewarded with a fine converted try by centre Keiron Jones. Pontypool, under pressure, made a poor clearance into touch on the stand side. Alex Jenkins gained good ball at the lineout and fed Lewys Gibby, who threw out a strong pass to the threes, where Keiron Jones received the ball and quickly broke clear with a jinking burst to cross for the touchdown. Ianto Griffiths duly added the extras.
The next Otters try was a really superb one. The forwards had moved the ball from midfield through several phases and when Lewys Gibby fed Paul Davies, he produced an excellent break, weaving his way through the desperate Pontypool defence, before setting Nick Gale free for him to accelerate forward and score a try that had home supporters raising the stand roof. Ianto Griffiths again added the extra points to bring the Otters level with the score now at 17-17.
At this point, Tom Kajaks at loose head replaced the hard-working Bradley Davies.
The Otters kept up their pressure and saw Mathew Jones misjudge a clearance kick, with the ball going straight into touch and creating a scrum situation back in the Pontypool half.
From the scrum, Jonathan Rogers placed a clever kick to the Pontypool five-metre line, where the ball was forced into touch. At the lineout, Alex Jenkins challenged cleanly, with the Pontypool jumper falling awkwardly. As a result, the referee awarded a penalty to Narberth, which Ianto Griffiths successfully converted to score a further three points, putting the Otters into a 20-17 lead.
This raised the spirits of Otters supporters, while once again the battle cry Pooler Pooler was heard, urging their team to respond.
In place of Nick Gale, the Otters brought on Keiran Griffiths.
Five minutes later, the Pontypool supporters again shouted their battle cry as their team approached the Otters line, where, after three separate determined charges, they eventually moved the ball in field for Rhodri Jones to dive over for a try. Mathew Jones again converted, giving the visitors a 24-20 lead.
The Otters replaced the hard-working Jake Simm with Dewi Wiliams.
As Pontypool again drove for the line, the Otters defended vigorously, but on 75 minutes were penalised at the breakdown for Mathew Jones to add a further three points.
A minute later, Dan Smith was withdrawn and young Rhodri Owens took over as hooker.
The Otters were held in midfield and when a scrum was set by the referee, the Pontypool scrum-half, aware that full-time had arrived, made sure the match ended by kicking into touch.
It was a cracking game of rugby and had the Otters had more luck, they would have taken the Pontypool scalp.
Immediately the final whistle was blown, Pontypool supporters invaded the pitch from all parts of the ground to enjoy a noisy celebration with their players. The champagne was also brought out to add to the occasion in warm sunshine.
Had the Otters played with the same focused determination throughout the season, they would have won more games. Results elsewhere on the day means that they are now in third place and this weekend can expect another tough challenge when Tata Steel are the visitors. Supporters please note the earlier kick-off time of 2 pm.
In the clubhouse afterwards, the Pontypool supporters indicated that they had witnessed the hardest game of the season and clearly suffered a fright when the Otters overtook them.
The sponsors’ man-of-thematch was Jake Simm.
Narberth’s director of rugby, Sean Gale, summed up: “It was quite a game, I am very pleased with the today’s performance, it was the best game of the season The boys stood up superbly to a very strong Pontypool side, with several semi-professional players,and we were unlucky not to win the game. A few referee decisions did not go our way and had we had a little bit of luck, we would have won it. A draw would have been a fair result.
“Overall, our boys stood up to a very strong side and that was a credit to Pembrokeshire rugby. The back row were fantastic, with some strong tackles, and we were dangerous behind; it was good to see Jonny Morgan get a game. Our set-piece was excellent, we did not lose a lineout and we scrummaged very well. Jonathan Rogers had a good game, kicking well. We need to put in a similar performance next week.”
Narberth fielded: Ianto Griffiths, Nick Gale (Keiran Griffiths), Keiran Jones, Paul Davies, Jonny Morgan, Jonathan Rogers, Lewys Gibby, Tom Slater (Ryan Rees), Dan Smith (Rhodri Owen), Bradley Davies (Tom Kajaks), Jake Simm (Dewi Williams), Alex Jenkins (Capt.), Richard Rees, Tom Powell, Steffan Phillips.
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