Dunvant 20 pts. Narberth 50

Heavy overnight rain did not affect the Broadacre ground, other than to produce a wet ball, which initially caused a few handling difficulties for both sides in this Championship clash at Dunvant on Saturday.

Before the game commenced, a minute’s silence was held in respect of Remembrance Day for the fallen in battle and in respect of a former Dunvant player who had passed away.

Narberth kicked off and for several minutes both teams had use of the ball, but with minimal effect.

The first scrum saw both packs hold firm. At the lineout, Dunvant were challenging the Otters.

The first score came from the home team when their number seven, Charlie Samways, scored a try, which fly-half Richard Lewis converted from an awkward angle. The try came when Dunvant kicked to near the five-metre line, an infringement occurred at the subsequent lineout and a scrum was awarded and from the heel, flanker Samways picked up and forced his way over, with two Otters clinging to him.

From the restart, the Otters forced their way forward and on 14 minutes, Nick Gale scored a fine try. Good work by the pack provided clean ball from a ruck. Young scrum-half Lewys Gibby threw a long pass out to centre Ollie Reyland, who found Liam Hutchings close to him. Both strong runners, they were able to advance quickly and released Nick Gale, who was able to use his speed and strength to cross the line, despite the attention of the home defence.

Nick converted his try to bring the scores level at seven points each.

On 20 minutes, the Otters infringed at a ruck and Richard Lewis kicked the resultant penalty to put Dunvant ahead.

Encouraged by their lead, they began to use their threequarters to good effect, but strong tackling kept them at bay.

On 25 minutes, the Otters regained the lead. A few phases saw them reach the opposition line, with second row Jake Simm forcing his way over, but unable to touch down. Dunvant kicked out, Lewys Gibby collected the ball and made a decisive break, flanker Pat Roberts took it forward for Steffan Phillips to crash over for a clean grounding of the try, which Nick Gale converted.

A further score came from Dunvant on 30 minutes. When a scrum was awarded, lively scrum-half Gareth Davies fed his backs and with good support from hooker Ceri Davies alongside was able to score a try, being on the shoulder of his centre to take the final pass.

Dunvant continued to press again, with terrier scrum-half Davies kicking to the Narberth five-metre line. Taking good ball at the lineout, the Otters cleared the danger and moved forward, only to knock-on on their 45-metre line.

On 37 minutes, Narberth infringed and Richard Lewis again added three points from the penalty, taking the score to 20-14.

Then three minutes later, Dunvant infringed at the ruck, but this time Nick Gale was unable to find the posts.

In injury time, Narberth attacked, getting to within five metres of the try-line, from the ruck they quickly formed a maul and pushed their way over the line for Justin Hughes to score a rare try, which again Gale was unable to convert.

This brought the half-time score to 20-19.

At times during the first half, the Otters looked dangerous, but too much kicking kept giving the ball to Dunvant, who made good use of the opportunity.

When the Otters returned to the field, Jack Parkinson was brought on for James Stephenson, the replacement taking a wing position, with Nick Gale moving to fullback.

Literally from kick-off, Parkinson collected the ball, cut in field, passed outside and was in place to receive the ball back and speed to the line for a fine try, which Nick Gale converted to give the Otters a bonus point.

On 45 minutes, Narberth made a further change, bringing on Rhys Lane, recovered from a head injury, in place of Lewys Gibbon.

In no time at all, the Otters increased their lead when wing Liam Hutchings crossed for an unconverted try.

The Otters were now clearly in the ascendancy with a 31-20 lead.

On 60 minutes, a further Narberth try saw Nick Gale sprinting over to score and convert. The move started with captain Alex Jenkins taking the ball at a Dunvant throw, giving Rhys Lane clean ball and passing to Jack Parkinson, who evaded the Dunvant tacklers, before passing on to Liam Hutchings, who was able to set Nick Gale clear.

This gave the Otters a commanding 38-20 lead.

Dunvant kicked out and for the next 15 minutes kept the Otters pinned near the line with phase after phase, but the Otters’ defence was impenetrable, with everyone putting in a great effort to keep Dunvant at bay, with their centre Sam Crowley attempting to force his way to the line on several occasions and hooker Ceri Davies attempting to provoke misdemeanours.

The Otters remained disciplined and stuck to their task and eventually were able to clear their lines and in the breakout Liam Hutchings was able to score his second try, with Nick Gale converting.

The final score came on 80 minutes when a Narberth lineout occurred on the Dunvant five-metre line. The ball was taken by Sean Jenkins and, with the pack binding into a maul, they walked over the line for him to score his first try for Narberth and their final try of the game.

The try was not converted and with the score at 50-20, the referee blew for full-time.

The Otters always looked capable and in the second half were far more disciplined, with the substitutions proving to be astute. The bonus point keeps them in joint second place with Tata Steel.

Later, head coach Sean Gale commented: “A very good win away from home, after a poor first half. We expected them to come at us full tilt, there was a strong wind which made kicking difficult. We were able to have a couple of runaway tries, first half. Our set-piece was the basis of the tries, we knew that was our strength. Second half the team were under instructions to get the ball down field, and using our close defence, we scored three tries from turnover ball, which was a really good skill when we needed to. We left a few loose tackles out there, but when we defended very tightly we put them backwards. To gain a bonus point win at Dunvant has put us on the right track.

“On performances, Sean Jenkins tackled very well and carried well. Steffan Phillips dominated the game, while Rhys Lane made a big difference when he came on. Jack Parkinson also played well when he came on, scoring one try and making a second, which is excellent. This is good, we need strength from the bench and that showed, increasing the pressure with increased energy.

“All in all, it was a very good result. A happy place to come to and score 50 points.”

The next game will be home on Saturday, November 26, when Narberth entertain fellow second place team Tata Steel. Kick-off will be at 1.30 pm due to the Wales v South Africa game later that day.

Narberth fielded: James Stephenson (Jack Parkinson), Nick Gale, Joe Hutchings, Ollie Reyland, Liam Hutchings, Ianto Griffiths, Lewys Gibby (Rhys Lane), Bradley Davies, Dan Smith, Justin Hughes, Jake Simm, Alex Jenkins (capt.), Pat Roberts, Sean Jenkins, Steffan Phillips. Subs not used - Ryan Rees, Dewi Williams, Callumn Tree.