Tenby Swifts Under 9s travelled to the north of Pembrokeshire to face Fishguard RFC. Tenby trained hard in the week to shake off the Christmas blues and were ready for the new year.

Captain for the day was Evan Christen and he made sure his team was ready.

The game started off slow with some errors from both teams - perhaps the cold and too many Christmas treats could be blamed; however, it didn’t take Tenby long to shift gear and start scoring.

Meghan Crawley showed true grit in defence and led by example by not letting the Fishguard attack through.

In the second half, Tenby piled on the pressure and took the game away from Fishguard and on the final whistle were deserved winners by seven tries to nil.

Try scorers were Evan C (2), Ethan Wright (2), Iori Hart (2) and Ethan Lewis (1).

Man-of-the-match or should we say girl-of-the-match went to Meghan Crawley, who despite the cold weather, played with true heart and spirit and never gave up.

Also special mention to Rhys Barnes, Madoc Evans, Ethan Lewis and George McDonald, who all played up a year to help the Under 10s straight after their game, Rhys B also bagging a try.

UNDER 7s

Tenby Under 7s had a cold first game back after Christmas, away to Fishguard.

A very competitive game with both sides up for the win. But Tenby prevailed after some great attacking teamwork.

Tenby 10 Fishguard 8.

Tries from Max (5), Dexter (3), Blake and Ollie.

Team: Ollie Toy, Blake Ryder, Archie Noyce, Dexter Cromwell, Max Howells, Kyan Smith and Noah Crawley. Man-of-the-match went to Blake Ryder.

UNDER 10s

Last Sunday, after a long period of not being able to play due to the weather, Tenby Under 10s were ready and up for a challenge in a away fixture to Fishguard.

Tenby came out eager to play the running rugby they enjoy but a big Fishguard opposition would see the forwards having to play a vital role in securing the ball to allow the backs to create their chances. It wouldn’t be long before Tenby were to be presented with their first opportunity of the day when loose ball was won on the floor by the Seasiders, Louie was provided the opportunity to go on a lovely run which would see him eventually set up Connor for the first try of the game.

A second try was to follow quickly. Some lovely passing by Tenby saw Rhys draw in the defence and allow Alfie to run out wide to score. Fishguard were showing strength up front, but Tenby’s forwards were impressive. This was to result in Rocco winning the ball on the ground and set up the backs to move the ball quickly along the line and out wide. A perfectly timed pass from Rowan would then see Alfie cross for his second. The Seasiders were trying to run the ball at every opportunity, but cold hands led to a knock-on and Fishguard regained control. Fishguard pushed hard, but Tenby’s defence stood strong.

Another steal from Rocco would provide Jayden with a chance to score and after the restart he was quick to follow this up with a second try. The ball continued to move at a fast pace and the tackles were going in hard by both teams. The seasiders kept the pressure on and a strong run by Louie and last minute pass to Rhys Barnes would see another score for Tenby.

From the restart, Fishguard pushed it up a gear and a determined run would see the away team rewarded with their first try. Tenby hit back straight away with Connor creating a gap with some fast footwork and taking the chance to score his second of the morning.

Fishguard were ending the second half with a bit of momentum, but some big tackles by the seasiders saw possession regained and provided Alfie with the chance to score in the last few seconds of the half. Half-time score 40-5 to Tenby.

The second half started with a fantastic run by Lewis who side-stepped his way through the Fishguard defence to score. Some persistently strong work by the forwards was soon to be rewarded when Rocco crossed for a well-deserved try. The next opportunity was to come quickly for the seasiders when with ball in hand a side step by Rhys helped create space for Alfie and have him score once again. A try by Rowan was to follow quickly from the restart and the momentum was fully back with the Seasiders. Alfie was to continue adding to his try count with number five for him coming after ball was won back on the floor by Owen and quick hands from the Tenby backs put Alfie over in the corner.

After this period of point scoring from Tenby, Fishguard were to take the opportunity once they had ball in hand to push forward and eventually showed good strength to score their second of the game.

The next try in reply to Fishguard would come when Connor saw some space and sliced his way through the away teams defence to score. Following this, Lewis would be the next Seasider to take his opportunity for a determined individual run and showed good strength to power over the try line.

In the final minutes of the game, it was to be Rowan who would find the space in a very tired Fishguard defence and have a run from the half-way line to score the final try of the game.

Final score was 80-10 win for the Seasiders.

Special mention has to go to Rhys Barnes, Maddoc Evans and Ethan Lewis who all stepped in to help the Under 10s with numbers and allow the game to still be played. Thank you from all the Under 10s.

UNDER 11s

A sunny, but freezing Sunday morning saw the Under 11s at Fishguard for the first match of 2018. With a 13 strong squad, there was plenty of action on the field. Tenby made a strong start and dominated the play in the opening few minutes, with an early try from Rhys S after a great run through the Fishguard defence. Despite the home side’s best efforts, Tenby continued to keep the majority of the possession and moved the ball well, but the extreme cold wind make for very frosty fingers and there were some unfortunate knock-ons and fumbles at crucial times. Fishguard also defended their try line well and some great defensive tackles enabled them to snatch the ball at the rucks and deny Tenby a number of tries.

Nevertheless, with the red and blacks continued pressure on Fishguard, it was only a matter of time before more tries were forthcoming, Cody bagging himself two Eddie, Immi and Rhys E one each, bringing the half-time score to 6-0.

Eddie was unable to play the second half, so the team were reduced to 12 players, but continued to play really well, all the players tackling well and running strongly with ball in hand. Some great phases of multiple passes and spatial awareness saw the ball move swiftly across the park from side line to side line. With another seven tries in this half (Cody three, Rhydian, Rhys S, Iwan and Tom Y one apiece) the final score stood at 11-0 to Tenby.

Well played team - a great start to the 2018 match tally!

Team: Cody, Rhys S, Rhys E, Rhydian, Immi, Tom Y, Fin, Derri, Dan, Iwan, Ieuan and Eddie.

UNDER 12s

Last weekend saw Tenby Swifts U12s play their first game of 2018 with a trip east into Carmarthenshire to play against Bynea.

A sunny but bitterly cold morning greeted them and, after a few weeks without a game due to the wet weather and Christmas break, it took a while for the boys to find their stride.

Playing up the slope, however, they did manage to edge the first half with a gritty performance to lead by 19 points to seven.

The second half started with much better continuity between forwards and backs, leading to further tries for the young Seasiders, who also managed to keep the home side scoreless with a determined defensive display.

The referee brought an end to the game with Tenby Swifts winning by a margin of 40-7.

An encouraging start to the new year.

Team and try scorers were Kyle (1), Jake, Josh, Alex, Dylan (1), Archie, Iori (2), Max (1), Fletcher, Duane-Lee, Cameron, Miller and Cairan (1).

Also pleasing to see Miller back on the pitch in the red and black colours after a number of weeks out with injury.