Tenby UNITED 19 pts.

Pontarddulais 13

Andrew Price, Molson Coors and FBM Holidays sponsored Tenby United got off to a winning start in the new season with a hard fought, but well deserved victory over Pontarddulais in Division Three West of the national league.

The Tenby players have been working very hard over the summer under new coaches Gareth Thomas, Sion James and Mark Heywood, and after two good pre-season wins against Division One Waunarlywdd and Division Five East's Nantyglo, they were keen to get the new season underway.

Pontarddulais kicked off, with Tenby number eight Sam Smith claiming the ball and immediately making 15 metres on a trademark bullocking run up field.

Eventually brought down near the halfway line, Smith recycled the ball with the help of his energetic back row partners, Roy Osborn and Pat Roberts, but the move was thwarted through the indiscipline of a Pontarddulais forward.

Toby Smith put the penalty safely into touch and from the lineout Luke Dedman secured quick ball and scrum-half Will Crockford set the backs running deep in 'Bont' territory, but some stern defence from the visitors and a quick turnover saw them on the counter-attack.

It was a pretty even encounter for much of the first half, with both teams shaking off any early rust and looking to play an open game, with the ball going wide on many occasion.

The Seasiders' defence held strong, with Dan Colley, Jack Gurreiro, Nicky Guymer and Lloyd Thomas all putting in some big hits.

It was the home pack who were winning the battle in the scrummage, too, as all eight forwards worked well together and Rob Clarke gave his opposite number a torrid time all afternoon.

The first half remained scoreless up until the 24th minute when a well-worked move from Tenby saw Sam Smith offload to acting captain Gareth Edwards, who smashed over, only to be denied the try through some more Pontarddulais skulduggery.

Tenby opted for the scrum when the resulting penalty was awarded and the solid United scrum held strong for Smith to pick up from the back and barge his way over for a well-deserved try, which Thomas converted.

The first half continued as an evenly fought affair, but, with the Seasiders looking the fitter of the two sides, the cracks started to show in the visitors' armour and Tenby almost scored again through Greg Lees Griffiths, who was bundled out of play just short of the line.

It was the visitors, however, who had the last say of the half when their scrum-half, Ceri Richards, managed to evade the home defence and touched down for an unconverted try in the corner, with the first half closing with Tenby 7-5 in the lead.

The large crowd of spectators that had turned out to watch the season's opener at the sunny Heywood Lane ground didn't have to wait as long for the first action of the second half to come, because with a penalty awarded to the Seasiders on halfway, Crockford saw an opportunity and took a quick tap and made 30 yards into visitors' territory before being brought down just on the 22.

Another illegal manoeuvre from Pontarddulais meant that Tenby were awarded another penalty, which Smith took quickly, catching the visitors napping as he ran in unopposed from 20 yards. Again Thomas slotted the conversion through the uprights.

Pontarddulais re-started and Sam Smith caught the ball and went well into the visitors' half before offloading to Dedman; he threw a miss one pass to Guerreiro, who almost made it across the whitewash, but was tackled just short and the ball went forward.

Tenby one again dominated the resulting scrummage, putting pressure on the visitors, and Crockford made it even more difficult for the Bont scrum-half to gather the ball by not giving him an inch and climbing all over him like a spider monkey. This prevented the visitors getting much of a clearance kick in and they found it hard to get away from their line.

Pontarddulais eventually got out of their half and came away with three points on 51 minutes after being awarded a penalty, making it 14 points to eight and closing the gap on the home side.

Tenby made two substitutions at the 52-minute mark, bringing Jason Ronowitz on into the back row for the well-played Osborn, while Simon Stanford came on for winger Heesom, who had also had a solid game in attack and defence.

As the clock ticked down, all the hard work that the Seasiders have been putting in on the training field began to show as they looked the more dangerous side and even began to dominate their opponents' lineout, with Edwards and Dedman both stealing Bont throw-ins.

The fresh legs of Ronowitz also made it hard for the visitors at the breakdown as he turned them over, supplying good ball for Guymer and Johnny Palmer to run with.

Colley and Guerreiro also made good ground into the Pontarddulais half, with Lees Griffiths running well in support.

Pressure was turned into points on 63 minutes when flanker Pat Roberts broke free and smashed deep into the Bont midfield, gaining a lot of ground, before linking with Dedman, who sent Guerreiro on his way to the try line for a thoroughly deserved try, which went unconverted, making it 19 points to eight in Tenby's favour.

Pontarddulais prop Aled Thomas managed to reduce the deficit with the final try of the game on 71 minutes, but the conversion went wide.

As the game closed out, it was the Seasiders who remained the more dominant and they eventually ran out winners by 19 points to 13 and, even though there's still plenty to work on, they were more than happy to take the victory and get the season off to winning ways.

The Seasiders 1st, 2nd and Youth XVs train every Tuesday and Thursday evening at Heywood Lane, starting at 7 pm prompt. New players are always welcome.

Tenby United 1st XV travel to Llanelli Wanderers tomorrow (Saturday), so please go along and support the boys.

Tenby fielded: Dan Colley, Chris Heesom (Simon Stanford), Jack Guerreiro, Toby Smith, Greg Lees Griffiths, Lloyd Thomas, Will Crockford, Sam Smith, Roy Osborn (Jason Ronowitz), Pat Roberts, Luke Dedman, Gareth Edwards (capt.), Johnny Palmer, Nicky Guymer, Rob Clarke.