Tenby United 33 pts.

Coastal Cottages sponsored Tenby United 1st XV welcomed Newcastle Emlyn to Heywood Lane on Saturday for a game the confident Seasiders had been waiting for, following defeat in the away fixture earlier in the season.

With growing confidence, it was straight to work for the Seasiders, with the large crowd not having long to wait for the first score of the game, when Simon 'Speedy Gonzales' Stanford scored a well-worked try after the Tenby pack, led by Nicky Guymer, completely destroyed Emlyn at the scrummage, allowing scrum-half Jason Scarfe to move the ball wide.

As Tom Lewis was brought down short, the ball was popped to Chris 'Cone' James, who was back in the Red 'n' Black on loan from Narbeth for the first time in eight years, just a day after his 29th birthday.

'Cone' smashed through two defenders and linked with Geoffrey Martin, who with hands like Ben Childs, launched the ball to Scarfe, who sent the backs on their way. Turbo got it wide through every pair of hands and Dai Meyrick sent Stanford off down the touchline to outpace his opposite number and the fullback to crash over in the corner, ending an impressive play for Tenby.

With the strong wind, the conversion was a little out of even Turbo's range.

Tenby took full control of the game and this is how it stayed for the first half, with props Clarke and Martin, second rows 'Cone' and Lourens Britts punching holes in the Emlyn defence, and the hard working back row of Luke Dedman, Richard Rossiter and Sam Smith making sure the ball was secured quickly and cleanly in the loose.

This enabled the backs to do their business and do it well through half-backs Scarfe and Lewis running the show, allowing Toby Smith to run creative angles and Meyrick adding the pace out wide, with Stanford, Jack Gurreiro and Dan Colley all coming into the line, making it difficult for the visitors to defend and causing the majority of the half to be played within the Emlyn 10-metre line.

It was also hard work in defence that gave Tenby the upper hand, with hard Meyrick and Rossiter tackles along with Gurreiro cutting the Emlyn runners off at the pockets and stopping any attack on the Seasiders' line.

It was Guerreiro, in fact, who claimed the Seasiders' second try following top quality lineout ball courtesy of high-flying Dedman and his hard-working lifters Martin and Robert Clarke. Gaining possession on the Tenby 22 metre line, they shunted up the pitch, with the full Seasiders eight driving Emlyn up the park as far as their own 22 with little resistance.

Scarfe got the ball out to 'Turbo' who threw a miss two pass to Guerreiro who, with confidence in his own pace, went past three defenders to run in from 20 metres out. 'Turbo' added the extras, making it 12-nil in Tenby's favour five minutes in.

Meyrick crossed on 26 minutes for the third Seasiders try after Sam Smith took the ball forward and linked with his brother Toby, who made 15 yards before being caught.

Scarfe cleared the quick ball out to Meyrick, who showed he's still got it at 30, running the try in from the halfway line just as his idol Jonah Lomu would have done, claiming an impressive score which, with the added extras from 'Turbo', made it 19 points to Tenby with no response from their guests.

Things went pretty much the same way for the remaining 15 minutes of the first half, with Tenby dominating every area of the game, out-running, out-tackling out-scrummaging and stealing the odd Emlyn lineout ball through Dedman and Britts, which had seriously shocked the visitors who expected to at least dominate up front.

One more score came before Mo's half-time oranges and it was Seasiders number eight Smith who put his name on the score sheet following two huge scrummages on the Emlyn five-metre line, being brought down under the immense Tenby pressure and Guymer cleverly opting for another scrum at the penalty just meant that the visitors would buckle once more and as they did, Smith touched down at the same time the referee blew his whistle to award a penalty try.

So with the benefit of doubt, Smith could claim the bonus point score, and 'Turbo' had little trouble adding the extras, with the hosts going in at half-time 26-nil up.

The only change at the break was a well played Rossiter making way for talented flanker Roy Osborn after giving 110 per cent as usual and doing the coaches and his team-mates proud.

The Seasiders, however, let their guard down early in the second half, allowing the visitors to score a converted try on 54 minutes.

Guymer soon got the boys together again and they settled back into their stride, almost crossing the Emlyn line a few times through the expansive 15-man style of rugby that is helping them make a name for themselves in the league as one of the teams to beat.

Emlyn suffered a few second half casualties through the hard and almost ruthless tackling of Osborne, 'Cone', Guerreiro, the Smiths and Colley.

On 60 minutes, Tenby made some tactical changes, utilising their very high quality bench, with Rob Fairlie coming on for a very well played Rod Clarke, Ashley Bonser replacing the warhorse Martin and talented young lock Pat Elliot on for the always outstanding Chris 'Cone' James, who had a tear in his eye after wearing the United's colours on Heywood Lane after such a long abscence, although he did make out that he had mud in his eye!

The final home score of the game came after 10 minutes of solid pressure, five metres from the visitors line.

With Emlyn killing the ball and slowing it down illegally many times, Tenby's pack held their nerve and were patient, showing how much they've matured of late, and waiting for the right moment. Scarfe set Dedman free for a well-deserved crash ball try, which Lewis stepped up to convert, making it 33-7 in the Seasiders favour.

It was Emlyn who had the last score when a rare tackle was missed in midfield, allowing their winger a visit into the Tenby in-goal area. The conversion went astray, closing the game and another very impressive all-round Seasiders performance.

Tenby continue to grow and improve and the crowds are starting to grow as the word of the huge commitment and work that the boys are putting in along with coaches and staff is spreading.

With no game tomorrow (Saturday) due to the Six Nations, Tenby will travel to Narberth on Wednesday evening in the return fixture of the brace of development games between the two clubs during the international period.

If the Heywood Lane leg was anything to go by, then it promises to be another cracker.

Tenby United squad: Dan Colley, Simon Stanford, Dave Meyrick, Toby Smith, Jack Guerreiro, Tom Lewis, Jason Scarfe, Sam Smith, Richard Rossiter (Roy Osborn), Luke Dedman, Lourens Britts, Chris James (Pat Elliot), Rob Clarke (Rob Fairlie), Nicky Guymer (capt.), Geoff Martin (Ashley Bonser).

The Seasiders entertained old rivals Pembroke Dock Harlequins on Wednesday evening in the semi-final of the Pembrokeshire Knockout Cup, running out winners by 25 points to 17. The full match report will appear in next week's Observer.