With Narberth RFC 1st XV having a bye in first round of the SWALEC Cup and Narberth Athletic's West Wales Premier League Cup game at Carmarthen Athletic postponed due to the ground being unplayable, the youth clash against old rivals Tenby was the only Narberth game played on Saturday.

The game took place on the middle pitch at the Lewis Lloyd ground, which in past years, with the horrendous weather we have been experiencing, would have been unplayable. On Saturday, however, the ground was firm, proving that the pre-season efforts of the club officials and committee, to improve the drainage, has resulted in the pitch being in significantly better condition than the main pitch, despite all the rain.

The excellent condition of the playing surface contributed to a really entertaining game, with both young teams giving their all to the cause.

Tenby Youth started in great style with their bigger pack taking control and the young Otters were subjected to almost continuous pressure for the first 15 minutes.

On 13 minutes, Tenby scored a try, with Luke Hartland touching down after the visiting pack forced Narberth to back pedal and put their defence to the test until it opened up for Luke, son of Steve Hartland, to score in the far corner. Steve Hartland was a Tenby and Narberth favourite, who scored many tries for the both clubs. The difficult conversion, kicked successfuly by by Ollie Parsons, enabled Tenby to take a seven-nil lead.

Narberth came back strongly and, after a good clean catch at the lineout, the pack mauled forward into the Tenby 22, releasing the ball for their number nine to feed his threes and for inside centre Will Davies to sprint clear of the defence to score an unconverted try.

This clearly heartened the young Otters and they began to obtain a fair share of the ball. On 21 minutes, Will Davies failed to take Narberth ahead with a penalty. Then right on half-time Tenby Youth broke clear by spreading the ball wide and Jordan Asparassa scored an unconverted try in the bottom corner. This gave Tenby a 121-5 half-time lead.

The Narberth coaches made several substitutions at half-time and, as time progressed, the home side put Tenby under almost constant pressure.

On 55 minutes, following a good lineout, Keiron Thomas was fed the ball and sprinted clear to cross the line to score another unconverted try.

One of the substitutes, Euan Bowen Rees, home from university, playing at outside centre, began to jink his way through the Tenby defence with some excellent sleight of hand and foot. He made several breaks, passing on, only for the moves either to break down or be stopped by the defenders. However, he was proving a thorn in the Tenby defence.

On 65 minutes, Will Davies succeeded in converting a penalty to give the Otters a one-point lead. This was followed by the same player scoring and converting his own try on 75 minutes.

Finally, on 79 minutes, Ben John finished the scoring with an unconverted try to give Narberth Youth a 25-12 win.

Both teams are to be congratulated for the quality of the rugby. Tenby never gave up and managed to steal several rucks at the breakdown, but strong, fierce tackling by Narberth gave them little ground for their valiant efforts.

The Narberth youngsters acquitted themselves really well to produce a convincing win. The centre partnership of Will Davies and Euan Bowen Rees proved most effective and they look good prospects for the future.

Both clubs are to be congratulated for the good work being done by the coaches at the various junior levels to produce players who, providing they continue to play for their clubs, will develop further.