Aberystwyth 5 pts. Tenby United 38 If you didn't know that Aberystwyth were a division higher than Tenby United, you would have been forgiven for thinking that it was the other way round after watching the Division Three West Seasiders completely dominate their opponents who play their rugby in Division Two in a thrilling, but one-sided Cup Final at Fishguard RFC last Friday evening. The Andrew Price, FBM Holidays, GD Harries and Molson Coors Tenby United outfit had defied the odds on their journey to the final, however. In the first round, the United travelled to Whitland and ran out winners in a thrilling encounter against the Division One side and the mountain seemed to get even higher when the draw for the next round pitted them against yet another Division One side in Crymych. Again, away from home, the Seasiders managed to dig deep and win the game, before having a kinder hand dealt to them in the semi-final with a home draw against Milford Haven, which the Mariners decided to concede to concentrate on their league campaign, giving the Seasiders a bye to the final. Arriving in Fishguard, with weather conditions perfect and the pitch in superb condition, the Tenby men were quietly confident, but also held a healthy respect for Aberystwyth after just beating them in last year's narrow and hard fought semi-final victory at Heywood Lane. In the first five minutes or so it looked as though Aberystwyth were going to cause real problems as they looked to move the ball wide with pace and determination and launched assault after assault on the Seasiders, but the United, led by Chris James, did not panic and soon knocked the wind out of their sails through superb defensive work, knocking Aber back in every tackle, preventing them making much headway and allowing the superb back row of Roberts, Hansford and Osborn to turn the ball over and allow scrum-half Will Crockford to get the ball away to number 10 Jonathan Rogers to launch their counter-attacks. It was in fact Rogers who would control the entire game and the young fly-half put in a shift he could be proud of in his first senior final and on his birthday, too, by knowing exactly when to kick for territory with pin-point accuracy or to set the dangerous Seasiders' back line in motion. When the threequarters went on the run they made inroads into Aber territory and were a real threat, and with the United pack always on hand to secure the ball at the breakdown, they were guaranteed the quick ball they needed, and it didn't take long to break their opponents down and earn some points for their efforts. The first points of the 2014 final came from Toby Smith after Crockford got the ball away from the solid Tenby scrum and quick ball from the following ruck meant that the powerful centre was able to smash his way over the line for the try which went unconverted after 10 minutes of play. With the Seasiders' confidence growing after making huge territorial gains every time they had possession and their strong and often relentless defence halting any attacks that Aber tried to mount, it was the United who began to control the game and they played with clinical precision and 110 per cent effort from one to 22. It was important to turn pressure into points and Rogers did so on 16 minutes when he slotted a long and difficult penalty kick, which was followed five minutes later by a superb try from number eight Roy Osborn. After some silky handling from the forwards had pushed the Seasiders deep into Aber's 22, Rogers held the defence up with a brilliant piece of skill long enough to open the gap for Osborn who hit the pass from Rogers like a steam train and galloped in for his first of two tries. Rogers converted the effort, giving Tenby a lead of 15 points to nil. Osborn put his name on the score sheet two minutes later, after the ball went through all hands one way, dragging Aberystwyth's defence to the left of the pitch, allowing the quickly recycled ball to be sent by Crockford and Rogers like a bullet out to the right, where the athletic Osborn was waiting to receive the pass, beating two defenders on his way to the line. Despite the conversion attempt shaving the wrong side of the upright, Tenby were more than happy with their lead of 20 points to nil on the half-hour mark. The United were looking dangerous every time they had possession, and with the pack in fine form, they had plenty of it and the centre pairing of Smith and Jack Price, along with wingers Meyrick and Guerreiro and fullback Miller, made life extremely hard for their adversaries, with powerful and direct running lines from the centres creating the space for the back three speedsters to make the yards. Despite the constant Tenby attacks, Aber managed to hold off anymore first half United tries thanks to their gritty defence, meaning the only other first half score came from a Rogers penalty which saw the Seasiders hold a well-deserved half-time lead of 23points to Aberystwyth's nil. After the half-time oranges (gratefully received and kindly prepared as always by Mo Crockford), the United started the second half as they had ended the first, by way of a well-struck Rogers penalty, which extended their lead to 26 points without reply and they looked like they were really enjoying the occasion. Aberystwyth also seemed to have come out of the blocks with a new plan in the second half as they tried to move any possession they earned and spread it along the backs in an attempt to stretch the Seasiders' defence, but they only made ground sideways rather than forward, being met head on and driven back by the United, with some especially big hits coming from skipper James, Osborn and Pat Roberts, and it was one such defensive exploit that put Osborn temporarily out of the game with a blood injury, which was testament to his and his team-mates' commitment to the jersey. The in-form number eight was replaced by Stephen Dyde whilst he sought treatment on the touchline. The merry band of Tenby supporters who outcheered their own rivals all evening, too, didn't have to wait long to celebrate another score as the United pack drove Aber back off their own put-in at a scrum and shunted their way over the line for Patrick Roberts to ground the ball for a try, adding to a fine all-round and man-of-the-match-earning performance from the blind-side flanker. Rogers slotted the conversion. The next applause went to Aberystwyth who eventually managed to break the Seasiders down and breach their defences and despite leaving it until the 54th minute to do so , scored a well-worked try in the corner when a move straight off the training paddock was touched down by hooker Steff Bonsall, but was a little too far wide for any successful conversion attempt. This, however, turned out to be something of a consolation try for Aber as they failed to get anywhere near the Tenby line in the final 20 minutes of play and, with the Seasiders ringing the changes and bringing on all seven replacements in a bid to close the game out, they put the final nail in Aber's cup final coffin when a move that saw the ball touched by every pair of Tenby hands was rounded off in the corner by winger Damo Miller, who was one of many Seasiders who could have rightfully been awarded the man-of-the-match award. The fact that the conversion attempt went wide mattered little and the Tenby side went on to win the match by 38 points to five and were extremely happy and proud when club captain Chris James lifted the silverware aloft to the roar of the hundreds of loyal supporters who have followed Tenby United all season. The season and journey isn't quite over yet, though, and the United will need you all to turn out in your droves next Thursday, May 15, when they travel to Dunvant RFC to take on Wattstown in the league play-off, kick-off 7.30 pm. If Tenby are successful in this final game of the season, they will be rewarded with promotion to Division One West, which is massive for the boys, the club and the area, so please make the effort and come and support the boys who need as many of you to make the journey to Dunvant as possible. Inside information tells us that Wattstown have already filled two buses, so we call on the people of the area to match and even beat this by turning out to travel up to cheer the boys on in this huge game for local rugby and we'll put on as many buses as we can fill. Anyone interested in a seat on the supporters buses for this important game is asked to call into or ring the club on 843501 as soon as possible as we will need to book the required number of coaches by Monday, May 13, and latecomers may be disappointed, so book your seat and give the boys the support they deserve. Tenby United fielded: Damien Miller, Dai Meyrick (Mark Heywood), Toby Smith, Jack Price, Jack Guerreiro (Jimmy Davies), Jonathan Rogers, Will Crockford, Roy Osborn, Luke Hansford, Patrick Roberts (Stephen Dyde), Ashley Murdoch (Wyndham Williams), Chris James (capt), Rob Clark (Rob Fairlie), Gareth Jones (Nicky Guymer), Johnny Palmer (Scott Payne).