Whitland 12 pts. Tenby United 19

It was the old derby type game that the rugby followers of Pembrokeshire had waited a long time to see again when Whitland RFC welcomed Tenby United in this season's Pembrokeshire Knock Out Cup last Saturday.

And what's more, both sides didn't disappoint the large crowd of supporters that had gathered to watch the two clubs clash on the pitch for the first time in years.

The game began with the Andrew Price, GD Harries, Molson Coors and FBM Holidays sponsored Seasiders looking to get back on track after their recent upset at Penclawdd, while the Borderers were looking for a win in order to boost confidence and to make their mark in the competition which they haven't played in for years.

With both packs showing commitment to the cause and working hard in all areas to gain possession, both sets of backs also looked to move the ball wide early on to make their mark on the game and the scoreboard.

After the two outfits went toe-to-toe for the first quarter-of-an-hour, it was Whitland who were starting to look the more dangerous, with their experience starting to show as they encroached on the visitors line.

The United hadn't turned up to just make up the numbers, however, and were keen to show that they weren't phased by the two-division gap between themselves and Whitland, and they defended with aggression, keeping the Borderers out.

The first points of the afternoon came when a Tenby offence at the scrum meant Whitland outside-half Nico Setaro could slot the penalty and put his side three-nil up, as he did on 17 minutes following another Seasiders infringement, giving the home side a lead of six points to the visitors' nil.

Rather than roll over, though, Tenby rallied together and began to dominate up front, edging it in the scrimmage battles, with captain Chris James, Luke Dedman and Roy Osborn also dominating the lineouts.

This Tenby pressure soon turned into points when another excellent spell of pressure from the forwards saw the ball pop into Dedman's hands near the halfway line and the strong running lock forward was able to make it all the way in for the try, despite the efforts of three Whitland defenders. Outside-half Jonathan Rogers added the extras, putting the United 7-6 in front on half-an-hour.

With a few regulars out due to injury, the Seasiders' backs weren't quite at their usual best, but they too didn't look out of place against their more experienced hosts, although Setaro was looking to move the ball at every opportunity and the slick hands of former Seasider Mike Georgiou sent the nippy Borderers wingers, Harries and Watson, on many a dangerous run.

The Tenby backs defended well, with fullback Aled Bowen, centres Meyrick and Guerreiro along with Rogers and wing Simon Stanford all putting in some big and very important tackles.

Setaro slotted one more penalty before the interval, giving the Whitland outfit a slight lead going into the oranges with the half-time score of 9-7.

As the second half commenced, the Borderers went all out to get the upper hand early on, with their pack working hard to recycle the ball and the backs running everything.

One such attack saw Tenby defending as though their lives depended on it, with both Stanford and Rogers putting in fine try-saving tackles to prevent the two much bigger Whitland props crashing over for the scores.

For the first 20 minutes of the second half, the Seasiders were forced to defend as Whitland threw everything at them and this was to be the turning point of the game as the entire United side not only stopped the attacks, but were beginning to send their hosts backwards in the collisions and turning the ball over to launch the counter-assault.

With 20 minutes remaining, Whitland increased their lead to 12-7 when Setaro kicked another fine penalty. It would be the final visit to the scoreboard that the home team would make, though, as the United's growing belief and confidence that they could not only match the division one side, but perhaps even beat their hosts, gave them the drive to defend their line as one and to work just as hard in the set-pieces.

The hard work and never-give-up attitude from Tenby was to pay off in a big way with two further tries, both scored by outstanding number eight Patrick Roberts, but earned by all 15 players.

The first of his brace came after hooker Gareth Jones, Chris James and flankers Roy Osborn and Luke Hansford, along with centres Guerreiro and Meyrick, chased down a Greg Lees Griffiths's kick ahead, as they had all day, forcing a handling error and pushing the Borderers back at a rate of knots in the ensuing scrum for Roberts to dive over from number eight to score.

Rogers added the conversion to make it 14-12 to Tenby with just seven minutes remaining.

The second Roberts try came after another massive assault on the United's line from the Borderers was turned into attack when a huge tackle from prop Geoff Martin dislodged the ball allowing Rogers to punt it up field, finding touch on the hallway line and relieving the pressure.

A fine leap from Osborn disrupted the Whitland lineout and hooker Jones managed to get a boot to the ball as it fell, sending the home side into defensive mode and the visitors into attack. Roberts chased the kick and gathered it in time to cross the line for the score which went unconverted right on the 80-minute mark.

This ended an entertaining game, with the Seasiders feeling jubilant after throwing away the script and showing how strong, aggressive defence from all 15 players wins games in beating a solid and very well drilled Whitland side.

Tenby will travel to Crymych in the next round of the cup on a date yet to be confirmed.

Tenby fielded: Aled Bowen, Simon Stanford (Damo Miller), Jack Guerreiro, Dai Meyrick, Greg Lees Griffiths, Jonathan Rogers, Dan Thomas (Sam Davies), Pat Roberts, Luke Hansford, Roy Osborn, Luke Dedman, Chris James capt., Geoff Martin, Gareth Jones, Johnny Palmer (Rob Clark.