With Tenby Tourers sponsored Tenby United being unhappy about the previous week’s Pembrokeshire and District County Cup tie away to Milford Haven being called off very late on Friday, they were all fired up to take on fellow Division Two promotion team Tycroes at Cae’r Gelli on Saturday.

Before the match, Tycroes were six points worse off than Tenby in the division and standing two positions lower than them, and with only two other games being played in the section, due to WRU Plate commitments, a win, with five of the bottom six cubs playing, was crucial.

And a win it was, sort of one L of a win really (or to be more precise three L’s of a win), with the critical score coming in the Last minute of the game, with 10 pairs of hands involved in what was the Last move of the game with a Length of the field try in what up to that point had been a lacklustre performance by Tenby.

But as referee Thomas blew for time after the conversion sailed high over the sticks, the relief and jubilation amongst the United players, coaching staff, support team and hardy supporters was clear to see.

A win is a win, however it is achieved, and what was even more remarkable about this one was the fact that the score came following a prolonged assault on the Tenby line, with only a crunching tackle stopping the home side from scoring, with the ball being knocked-on. From the resulting uncontested five-metre scrum, Tenby decided to throw caution to the wind and set off for what will undoubtedly be ranked as the try of the season.

With snow on the surrounding hills, but fortunately no wind to cause the freezing temperature to drop even further, Tenby kicked off against opponents who over the years they have found difficult to beat, and this encounter proved that again in spades.

The opening 20 minutes or so were dominated by both sides adopting a kick and chase approach, with the high kicks being eagerly chased by the fast men, attempting to cause a mistake by the opposition with an attacking opportunity coming from the resulting scrum.

Moritz Neumann, Jordan Asparassa and man-of-the-match Jack Guerreiro were prominent, along with the efficient back row of Barry Parsons, Andrew Cooke and Roy Osborn during this phase of the game as both sides strove to gain the upper hand.

Any attempt by Tycroes to use their threequarters was stopped as the Tenby defensive line speed frustratingly kept them in check, but as the game wore on, it was worrying to see the bulky home eight slowly gaining the upper hand in the set-piece, with scrum-half Aled James a real threat.

It was very much a stop-start game, with both sides spoiling any good work that had been done to set up an attacking platform, with dropped or misplaced passes being the order of the day, and this, along with the endless kicks being put in, made for a very scrappy affair, which for some unknown reason seemed to be consistently played in the Tycroes 22, even though neither side could be described as dominating play.

The vocal home supporters were obviously unhappy with some of the calls made by the referee and in no uncertain terms loudly and continually let Mr .Thomas, from nearby Carmarthen, be very much aware of their dissatisfaction.

Half-backs Matthew and Jonny Morgan kept the home defence on their toes as they attempted to break through their well-organised defence, with Jack Clancy and Roy Osborne prominent amongst the forwards.

With the half drifting to a close, spice was added to the mix with two late tries, both very similar in terms of how they were achieved.

Tenby were camped on the Tycroes line and, despite managing to prevent any score, a penalty awarded against the home side allowed Jonny Morgan to stroke the ball into the corner, where, following several drives from the resulting lineout, they eventually crossed the whitewash as a low driving attempt by flanker Andrew Cooke proved successful.

This allowed Tenby to gain a rather fortunate lead, but it was a shortlived one.

From the restart, Jack Clancy uncharacteristically spilled possession while attempting to take the ball and from the scrum that resulted, Tycroes were presented with an attacking base to lay siege to the Tenby line, forcing them to give away a couple of penalties as they infringed in an attempt to stop the home side from scoring.

With the danger not cleared, Tycroes cleverly wheeled the resulting scrum and impressive number eight Daryl John went over for the equalising try, which surprisingly was not converted by fullback Lee Evans, and the half closed with the score at 5-5.

As with the first half, the opening period of the second half was dominated by kicks, with both coaching teams thinking this was the way to crack two determined and well-organised defences.

Forcing Tenby onto the back foot with some aggressive forward dominated moves, Tycroes were the first team to have an opportunity to take the lead, but the penalty attempt by Evans dropped well short of the target and was cleared by Tenby.

The home side had upped the pace of the game and it took two excellent tackles by flanker Andrew Cooke to stop them adding to their score.

Despite being under pressure at scrum time, the hardworking Tenby eight secured one Tycroes put-in with a combination of an excellent second shove prior to the ball coming out of the scrum on the home side. As their number eight Daryl John tried to rescue the situation, he was smothered by a combination of scrum-half Matthew Morgan and the Tenby back row.

United’s strike runner Moritz Neumann, the only ever-present player this season, picked up a knock at this stage and his position on the wing was taken by Matthew Morgan, with on permit Lewis Gibby coming off the bench to slot into the vacated scrum-half position.

Despite this one excellent scrum, the Tenby eight were coming under increasing pressure at scrum time and, with loosehead prop Rob Luly having to leave the field, uncontested scrums became the order of the day, which at least removed one concern in terms of how the United coaching staff would plan the remaining last quarter.

Their plans were immediately interrupted as Tenby were penalised and, despite having an off day with the boot so far, Evans calmly stroked the ball between the sticks to give his side a deserved 8-5 lead and Tenby were now up against it if they were to achieve their desired four league points win.

Encouraged by their score, the Tycroes backs started to threaten and one sweeping move was stopped with an excellent try-saving tackle by replacement Wyndham Williams (on for Luly), playing his 188th game in the red and black and rolling back the years.

In an attempt to keep the pace of the game at its new high level, Jonny Morgan tried to get a ball that had gone into touch to take a quick throw-in, but was impeded by a Tycroes spectator, who knocked the ball out of his hand and received a push for his stupidity from Morgan. This off-the-field action sparked a free-for-all, with players running in from all angles and distances, which was eventually brought to a halt by referee Thomas, who, after a long lecture to the two captains, red-carded scrum-half Aled James for his part in the melee.

Apparently Aled’s father was the spectator involved in the incident.

With Tycroes again camped on the Tenby line, the United dug in and their defence, which had been well organised and difficult to break throughout the match, amazingly stepped up a gear to keep the home side out.

A fierce defensive tackle then managed to dislodge the ball as it seemed a try was inevitable, which resulted in a Tenby scrum in the far right-hand corner of the pitch, from where they adventurously set off for what was to become the winning score.

The move swept across to the left-hand touchline, to around the halfway line, and, although the ball went to ground, there was no infringement and the move kicked back into life. With the ball skilfully fed to the supporting players sweeping to the near right-hand corner, with an overlap of two players on his outside, hooker Kyle Hamer threw an outrageous dummy to fool fullback Evans and canter over unopposed under the sticks to be mobbed by his joyful team-ates.

With Jonny Morgan slotting the conversion and referee Thomas blowing for time, the on field celebrations kicked-off for Tenby, while the home side’s players and supporters just stood and looked vacantly into the cold afternoon air, trying to grasp what had materialised, with victory snatched away from them.

A win is a win in this tough league and an away win is a huge win and bolstered Tenby up to sixth place in the division with an impressive 20 points. With half of their league games completed, this situation could change, with the teams surrounding them having games in hand - but these games have to be played - and won - and puts their next match against Llanelli Wanderers, who Tenby thrashed 41-22 in their opening encounter of the season, high on the list of must-win games (more so, as they also managed a 24-14 win against fellow strugglers Gowerton in the cold December air).

With the autumn internationals now out of the way and the County Cup put to bed until 2018, the coaching group and players can focus 100 per cent on the two league games left in 2017 - away to Llanelli Wanderers tomorrow (Saturday) and home on the last Saturday in December to ninth placed Kidwelly, who beat them 28-14 when they met earlier in the season. Two victories will remove any relegation worries that might still exist, allowing the team and loyal supporters the opportunity to enjoy the games as they roll up in 2018.

Tenby fielded: Craig Barnett, Moritz Neumann (Lewis Gibby), Jack Guerreiro, Yanik Parker, Jordan Asparassa, Jonny Morgan, Matthew Morgan, Rob Luly (Wyndham Williams), Kyle Hamer, Lewis Davies, Jack Clancy, Mike Davis, Barry Parsons, Andrew Cooke (Luke Dedman), Roy Osborn. Replacement - Gethin Thomas.