Tenby United 11 pts Fishguard and Goodwick 15

In a game littered with penalties and stoppages for injuries, and dominated by the windy, wet conditions, Tenby United struggled to overcome a buoyant Fishguard side in this opening league game of the season at Heywood Lane and slumped to a very disappointing 15-11 defeat and now know what to expect as they tackle the rest of the teams making up Division Two West.

Kicking off into the wind blowing from the west, in front of a sparse crowd, Tenby could and should have scored very early on when they squandered a three-to-one scoring opportunity by going for a miss-pass that failed to find the wide player.

They were then put under pressure by the visitors as Luke Freebury combined with Simon James and stretched the Tenby defence, who eventually stopped the promising move from developing.

Continuing to press, Fishguard were rewarded with a penalty, but Kial Keane’s first effort sailed wide of the upright. However, not to be denied a reward for their enterprising play, Keane was successful with his second penalty attempt and Fishguard took a 3-0 lead.

Stung by the early reverse, the home side went straight on the attack from the restart and from a penalty awarded at the breakdown, recently returned Toby Smith levelled the scores at 3-3.

Fishguard responded with a superb kick by the impressive Kial Keane that took play deep into the Tenby 22 where the home defence was again tested as the visitors tried to cross the line with a series of pick and go’s, but they held firm and eventually pressurised their opponents into a knock-on and from the resulting scrum, the United cleared their lines.

Using the wind, Fishguard gained valuable yards and wing Dan Colley fielded one of the towering clearances, but the chasing players stopped anything from developing. The game was struggling to get going as both sides found the wet and windy conditions difficult to master and this was not helped by a spate of needless penalties which referee Randell dished out at regular intervals.

Matthew Morgan took full advantage from one as his quick tap and go caught the visitors’ defence off guard and forced a penalty at the breakdown, from which Tenby took the lead as Toby Smith fired over his second penalty.

Fishguard went straight onto the attack from the restart with time running out to take advantage of the wind at their backs and only a superb covering tackle by Barry Parsons prevented a score. From the resulting scrum, however, outstanding number eight Simon James (F&G’s man of match) powered his way over the line and with Keane adding the extras, Fishguard finished the half 10-6 up.

The first 15 minutes or so of the second half was all ‘stop-start’ rugby, with neither side dominating nor creating chances and the two opportunities that were created were snuffed out. First Keane was caught in two minds on whether to kick or run and had the ball stolen from his grasp and some crisp handling by the Tenby backs put centre Jack Guerreiro clear, but he unfortunately knocked on with the line at his mercy.

The second enterprising passage of play was initiated by Fishguard. When fielding a speculative attacking kick deep in his 22, fullback Ed Bednall linked with Keane, who released wing Stephen Lewis on a surging touchline run, which was only halted by some valiant covering defence by Tenby. Lewis was injured in the tackle and was replaced by James Reynolds.

Tenby rung the changes, with Will Crockford coming on at scrum-half and Matthew Morgan switching to wing in place of Jordan Asparassa.

Crockford was straight into the action and a neat flip inside pass to Toby Smith nearly brought a score, but Smith, despite crossing the line, was deemed by referee Randell to have been held up in the tackle.

The scrum that followed sparked off a series of pick and go’s by Tenby as they valiantly tried to cross the whitewash when, if the ball had been passed away from the breakdown, there were unmarked players out wide in far better positions to get over the try line.

With Luke Freebury being yellow-carded and Fishguard down to 14 men, Tenby still failed to capitalise on their numerical advantage and several scoring opportunities went abegging, and to add to their woes, Dan Colley followed Freebury to the naughty step.

As the game dragged on, this series of missed opportunities reached a climax when centre Scott James, not for the first time, ran into a wall of defenders and his attempt to hurriedly release the ball was intercepted by fullback Ed Bednall, who scampered down the touchline to score what became the decisive try and a 15-6 lead, with time running out for Tenby to respond.

Despite a late flurry of activity, durting which captain Luke Hansford went over for an unconverted try to close the score to 15-11, Fishguard were handed another yellow card and Toby Smith was yet again deemed by referee Randell to be held up over the line - the Fishguard defence held firm and with 51 minutes lapsed in the second half, the game was brought to a close by referee Randell with Tenby only getting a losing bonus point for their efforts.

Ex Tenby United coach Gareth Thomas, who is now involved with coaching at Fishguard, was delighted with his side’s performance. He thought they managed the windy conditions better than Tenby and praised his team for their excellent defensive performance. They came into the game knowing it would be a tough encounter and he added that at the end of the day it could have gone either way.

Chris Cone James, forwards coach at Tenby, was obviously disappointed with the result and like Thomas was of the opinion that the match could have gone either way, but added, that his team were a bit naïve in squandering the numerous chances they created and praised Fishguard for the way they capitalised on the scoring opportunities that they created.

Tenby would like to thank Manorbier Mowers and Alun and Sue Jones for their match sponsorship and MJM and Heywood’s Butchers of Saundersfoot for their ball and man-of-the-match sponsorship.

With the next league game scheduled tomorrow (Saturday) away to Mumbles, who pulled off an away 11-7 victory at Haverfordwest in their first game, Tenby will have a tough encounter on their hands as they seek that elusive league victory.

Tenby: Johnny Morgan, Dan Colley, Jack Guerreiro, Scott James, Jordan Asparassa, Toby Smith, Matthew Morgan, Rob Clark, Joe Poole, Ethan Morgan, Luke Dedman, Mike Davis, Andrew Cooke, Luke Hansford (capt), Barry Parsons. Reps - Nicky Guymer, Will Crockford, Rob Luly, Alex Thomas, Conner Ennis

F & G: Ed Bednall, David Evans, Michael Jenkins, Ben John, Stephen Lewis, Kial Keane, Andrew Williams, Andrew Morrillo, Gavin Walsh (capt), Jason Davies, Luke Freebury, Richie Hunter, Mark George, Chris Shousha, Simon James. Reps - Mark Buttler, Mark James, Michael Ryan, Sam Kurtz, James Reynolds.

A victory that has been

a long time coming

From the records held by Tenby United, it would appear that the Fishguard victory up at Heywood Lane on Saturday was the first since the two sides started playing each other way back in the ’60s. Fixtures started with the odd friendly, got extended to encounters in the county cup competition and then continued on through the Pembrokeshire League etc.

A 4-4 away draw in the 1977/78 season and a 3-3 home draw in 1982/83 are the nearest Fishguard have come to gaining that elusive victory and the win recorded on Saturday breaks what must be one of the oldest records in Pembrokeshire rugby - well done Fishguard and Goodwick RFC.