tenby uNITED 18 pts.

cardigan 13

Coastal Cottages sponsored Tenby United entertained Cardigan on Saturday in a must-win derby clash.

Beaten 51-9 earlier in the season in the away fixture, the ever-improving and hard-working Seasiders were determined to stop the confident Cardigan side getting the double, but within 12 minutes it seemed as though they had a mountain to climb, as a quick lineout in the United 22 saw the visiting backs spread the ball and send their winger in for an early score in the corner, which was ambitiously converted despite the swirling winds at Heywood Lane.

With alarm bells ringing, the young United players settled down and began to play the rugby that has impressed onlookers over the past few weeks. With superb play as always at the lineout from lock Luke Dedman, aided by skipper Nicky Guymer's pin-point accuracy, the talented and now settling backline could make their presence felt, through strong running from centre partners Toby Smith and Dai Meyrick, along with speedy wingers Simon Stanford and James Criddle.

After Aled Bowen hit the line from fullback and went to ground, an over-eager Cardi tackler played the ball on the ground and gifted Turbo the chance to narrow the gap from 40 metres out.

He struck the ball and thumped it into the strong gale and it sailed through the sticks with plenty to spare, almost knocking the 'Last of the Summer Wine' boys out of their impressive new pop-up stand.

From the restart, Cardigan found themselves in Tenby territory, and after a scrum on the 22 collapsed, the referee awarded the free-kick to the visitors, who found themselves being gifted an extra 10 yards when Geoffrey Martin was pulled up for back chatting.

This worked in Tenby's favour, though, because after Cardigan opted for the scrum, Geoff and his front row colleagues, Guymer and Palmer, along with the second and back rows working well, destroyed the visiting scrum, forcing the turnover and allowing Yogi Scarfe to go on a sniping run before getting the ball wide to Turbo, who again brought hard-running Bowen into the line via Toby Smith's slick hands.

Bowen was just edged into touch, but Gareth Nock managed to steal the lineout and again the ball went to Smith, who spotted his brother inside him and sent him in from the 22 for the try on his season's debut for the Seasiders after coming back home three weeks ago. The three defenders weren't able to stop him and the unconverted try put Tenby 10-7 up on 22 minutes.

As Tenby's confidence grew, they looked more and more comfortable against a strong Cardigan side with possibly the strongest pack in the division, until the mighty Seasiders' pack started to dominate them in every area, especially the scrummage where they were now certainly in charge.

The Cardigan pack began to get frustrated and it was only a matter of time before Turbo kicked the next three-pointer right on half-an-hour, after a Cardi flanker found himself offside deep in his own half.

More crash running from Wyndham Williams, Richard Rossiter and Sam Smith gave the Seasiders' backline the solid platform and quality ball that they needed to run deep into the heart of the visitors' half and, if it hadn't been for some very gritty and determined Cardigan tackling, the scoreboard would have been a lot busier.

It wasn't all Tenby, though, and Cardigan did gain some possession and always looked dangerous, but the Tenby defence was watertight thanks to Guymer, Scarfe and Rossiter, along with Stanford and Criddle, not thinking twice about chopping down much bigger opponents from the visitors' pack.

A stern tackle from Dave Meyrick on the home 10-yard line meant that flanker Gareth Nock was able to hit the ruck and turn the ball over quickly, turning defence into attack as he got the ball to Martin, who ran well all day. The ball was moved through hands until Wyndham Williams set Criddle free and he was like a whippet out of the traps as he went round his opposite number on the halfway line and cantered in, leaving the Cardigan backline in his wake.

The try went unconverted, but it brought the score to 18-7 with five minutes left to play in the first half.

Just after the restart, fullback Aled Bowen, who had caught the eye with his hard tackling and superb angles of running, was shot down by the Heywood Lane sniper as his hamstring went and he was forced to leave the field , being replaced by the ever-reliable Sion Brace.

Cardigan rode out the storm and there was no further scoring before the interval.

Skipper Guymer and the coaches decided over the half-time oranges, courtesy of Mo Crockford, to start the second half with the same 15 that ended the first and they went back out to again face the breeze as it had swung around completely.

Cardigan had more fight in the second half and looked dangerous on many occasions, but were only able to grab two penalties on 48 and 61 minutes as the strong Tenby defence kept them out.

The Seasiders also launched many a second half assault of their own through Sam Smith, captain Guymer, Toby Smith, Jack Guerreiro and Pat Roberts, on for the well played Wyndham Williams.

As neither side managed to fully breach each other's tight defences, the penalties began to creep in and even resulted in a yellow card apiece.

However, the confident and strong Seasiders held on despite Cardigan's best efforts and ran out deserved winners by 18 points to 13.

With the squad growing more and more each week, Tenby United are starting to look strong and confident and this promises to give the supporters some very entertaining games to watch as the season starts to reach a climax, so you are all urged to head to Heywood Lane and give your support. Crowds are growing every time the Seasiders play at home and last week's reached 300-plus.

Tenby fielded: Aled Bowen (Sion Brace), Simon Stanford, Dai Meyrick, Toby Smith, James Criddle (Jack Gurreiro), Tom Lewis, Jason Scarfe, Sam Smith, Richard Rossiter, Gareth Nock, Luke Dedman, Wyndham Williams (Pat Roberts), Geoff Martin, Nicky Guymer (capt), Jon Palmer and Joe Lewis.

The Seasiders travel to Penclawdd tomorrow (Saturday) for the re-arranged December 17 league game and will look to take their new-found form into this match and come home with another W!

Footnote: The newly reformed TURFC Supporters Club offer refreshments at Heywood Lane and are also taking orders for replica Seasiders jerseys. They are working very hard with fundraising and are organising regular events, with a Valentine's Buffet and Dance going ahead at the clubhouse on Saturday, February 11, with a famous couples fancy dress theme and prizes for the best dressed couple. Tickets are selling fast, so to avoid disappointment, see Dom in the club or Jan and Lorraine at home games if you would like to be a part of the 'hottest ticket in town'.