Narberth travelled to Ystrad Rhondda with once again selection difficulties due to the unavailability of captain Alex Jenkins and flanker Andrew Cooke, both of whom had been playing exceptionally well in recent matches. There were also injuries to Sean Jenkins, Nick Gale, Jonathan Morgan and Lewys Gibby.

Despite heavy rain prior to kick-off, the pitch was in reasonably good condition. For the first 10 minutes both teams tried to gain territorial advantage by kicking downfield, but both fullbacks dealt with the threat and much of the game was played between the two 10-metre lines.

Then from loose play around the halfway line, the Ystrad fly-half, Corey Sheppard, went on a jinking run side-stepping some weak tackling from the Narberth backs and scored a try near the posts. He also kicked the conversion (7-0).

Narberth, however, began to up their game and the forwards started putting the home team under pressure in the set-pieces. There were some driving runs from prop Bradley Davies and the entire back row of Richard Rees, Tom Powell and Steff Phillips, which put Ystrad under a lot of pressure close to their line.

From a lineout five metres out, second row Jake Simm caught the ball and Narberth drove towards the line. A try looked certain, but the home team collapsed the maul and the referee had no hesitation in awarding a penalty try (7-7).

Five minutes later, after Ystrad had been attacking in the visitors’ 22, Narberth conceded a penalty which was kicked by Sheppard (10-7). There were no further scores before half-time.

In the second half, both teams tried to gain the upper hand, but defences held firm.

After a series of attacks, Narberth were awarded a penalty for offside at the ruck and Ianto Griffiths kicked the goal to make the score 10-10.

Both teams were proving hard to break down, but eventually Ystrad managed to move the ball wide and right winger Curtis Williams managed to squeeze over in the corner for a try which Sheppard converted (17-10).

A further penalty by Sheppard five minutes later extended the score to 20-10 and it looked as though the game was as good as over. However, Narberth refused to give up and after gaining a penalty about 30 metres out they opted to kick to the corner and go for a try.

Unfortunately, the ball was not gathered cleanly at the lineout and the opportunity of another catch and drive to the Ystrad line was lost.

Shortly afterwards, Narberth were awarded another penalty and with time running out they opted to kick for goal to ensure a losing bonus point. Ianto Griffiths was successful with the kick to leave the final score 20-13.

After the match, Sean Gale, head coach, said that whilst he was naturally disappointed at losing the match, he was very pleased with the commitment shown by the whole squad of players. All the subs had been used and they added enthusiasm and energy to the overall team performance.

Apart from losing to Pontypool, Ystrad Rhondda had been undefeated at home for the past three years, so it was no surprise that it was going to be such a tough match.

Narberth team: Bradley Davies, Dan Smith, Tom Slater, Tom Kaijaks, Jake Simm, Richard Rees, Steff Phillips, Rhys Lane, Jonathan Rogers, Moritz Neumann, Jack Price, Keiron Jones, Yannick Parker, Ianto Griffiths, Dan Jacobs, Rhodri Owens, Kyle Hamer, Gethin Gibby and Jake Jenkins.