Cardigan 9 pts.

Tenby United 10

Andrew Price, FBM Holidays and Molson Coors sponsored Tenby United travelled to Cardigan on Saturday for this Division Three West derby clash.

With terrible conditions and the King George V Playing Fields surface only just playable after the torrential rain, the Seasiders were under no illusions that it wasn't going to be an easy afternoon, and knew that they were going to have to work exceptionally hard to earn the win.

Straight from the kick-off it was clear that Cardigan were out to win and they put tremendous pressure on the United catcher and managed to turn the ball over to their advantage, forcing the Seasiders into defending just 10 metres from their line.

Despite relentless pressure from the home side, Tenby defended well, soaking up everything that was thrown at them through a hard and well-organised defence, led from the front by skipper Richard Rossiter.

The desperate early pressure did turn into points for Cardigan, though, as outside-half Michael Diggle kicked a penalty goal following an offside by a Tenby forward, giving them an early lead of three points after just two minutes.

With the lead and growing confidence, the home side tried everything to break down the Tenby defence, but no matter what they threw at them, the Seasiders stopped them through solid tackling from Rossiter, Sam Smith, Dan Colley and Jack Guerreiro.

It was the United who were dominant in the scrummage area as well, giving half-backs Will Crockford and Lloyd Thomas a good platform from which they were able to pin the Cardigan team back in their own half with some clever kicking play.

With frustration now setting into the Cardigan camp after trying everything they had to break the Tenby defence and coming up fruitless, the mistakes came and with them came more and more Seasiders possession, which they used well to make inroads into Cardigan territory.

Strong direct running came from props Lee Tucker and Rob Clarke, hooker Nicky Guymer and number eight Sam Smith, who all broke the gain line, with second rowers Gareth Edwards and Luke Dedman, along with flankers Rossiter and new signing Luke Hansford, ensuring that there was secure ruck ball on a plate for Crockford and Thomas to get the backline running.

And this they did as, even with the ankle deep mud slowing things down, the United looked dangerous, with centres Toby Smith and Jack Guerreiro taking the direct 'up the middle' approach, allowing the talented back three of Colley, Simon Stanford and Aled Bowen to run the angles.

Cardigan managed to keep their line intact, however, through some desperate defence of their own, but an over-eager tackler who failed to roll away from the contact area forced the referee to award the Seasiders a penalty on the hosts' five-metre line.

Quick-thinking skipper Rossiter opted for the scrummage and, sniffing out the try line, the whole Tenby eight put the shove on and subjected the home pack to all sorts of pressure before they cracked and collapsed the scrum.

On resetting, the Seasiders again went for the drive and again it was too much for the Cardigan pack to hold and it went crashing down again.

On the third scrummage, the Seasiders walked the scrum towards the Cardigan try line and, just as Sam Smith was about to ground the ball, the legs went from under the Cardigan prop forward again and the referee awarded the Seasiders the penalty try, which was well deserved after the work they had put in to demolish the hosts scrummage. Thomas slotted the conversion, giving Tenby a lead of seven points to three on the 35-minute mark.

With the first half coming to an end, a Tenby offence allowed Cardigan's Diggle the opportunity to close the gap. He kicked the penalty, putting his side back in the game and trailing at half-time by a single point.

The second half went just as the first had, with Cardigan's Diggle claiming the first points through the boot with a well-struck penalty which gave his side the lead.

The Seasiders battled on, however, and despite Cardigan bringing on fresh legs, they managed to soak up everything that was thrown at them, being spurred on by the large amount of support that had travelled up from Tenby despite the miserable weather conditions.

On 55 minutes, Tenby made their first replacement, bringing on Wyndham Williams for the well played skipper Rossiter, who departed due to a hand injury.

The Seasiders' superior fitness was starting to show by now in the heavy conditions and they continued to wear down the home defence, with strong running and good support play from Edwards, Dedman, Sam Smith and Hansford ensuring that the backline had a strong platform to play off and, even in the worsening conditions, they continued to run the ball through Bowen and Stanford behind, and Guymer, Clarke and Tucker up front.

Frustration was setting in for the home side and an offence from one of their forwards meant that Toby Smith could step up to have a crack at the long range penalty.

This he did and the ball sailed through the uprights giving the lead to Tenby again by 10 points to nine with the clock ticking down.

With 10 minutes to go, the Seasiders brought on replacement prop Johnny Palmer for Tucker, who had had an outstanding game in attack and defence and had scrummaged well throughout.

The Tenby side were determined to hold onto the lead and did so by taking control of the game and slowing things down.

The pack picked and drove their way up the field until the time was right for Thomas to punt the ball downfield ,forcing the Cardigan players to turn and chase and allowing the Tenby backs to chase the kick and keep the home side pinned in their own half.

Forwards Guymer, Hansford and Smith forced the turnover and Thomas was able to put the ball into the stand, bringing the game to an end with Tenby United running out deserved winners by 10 points to nine after digging deep and working hard as a team to earn the vital league points.

The players, coaches and management would like to thank all those that travelled up to Cardigan in the terrible conditions to support the boys, as the support definitely played a part in the win. Thank you all.

Best wishes also go to Seasiders number eight Sam Smith who underwent back surgery this week, with a speedy recovery wished for and hopefully a return to Heywood Lane in a few weeks time.

Tenby United 1st XV entertain Pembroke Dock Halerquins tomorrow (Saturday) in the Pembrokeshire Knock Out Cup, with an early kick-off at 11 am.

Please come to support the boys at Heywood Lane and why not return to the clubhouse after the match to watch Wales take on Argentina at Cardiff.

Tenby fielded: Aled Bowen, Dan Colley, Jack Guerreiro, Toby Smith, Simon Stanford, Lloyd Thomas, Will Crockford, Sam Smith, Luke Hansford, Richard Rossiter, capt (Wyndham Williams), Luke Dedman, Gareth Edwards, Lee Tucker (John Palmer), Nicky Guymer, Rob Clarke.