Tata Steel 29 pts. Narberth 28

The Tata Sports Ground was in excellent condition and, with bright sunshine and a strong breeze, the scene was set from kick-off for both teams to play a game of open rugby in this Championship clash on Saturday.

Narberth had the wind advantage first half and attempted to make use of the conditions with some long kicks, but Tata kicked more accurately.

After five minutes, though, fullback Johnny Morgan collected a Tata kick forward and, outwitting the defence, he spotted a gap and burst through with a rare turn of speed, before flicking the ball out to wing Liam Hutchins, who was able to cross and touch down wide out. Jonathon Rogers failed to convert, with the strong breeze causing difficulty.

Unfortunately for the Otters, Tata took the lead soon after. Collecting the ball when they kicked out, they were fortunate that a forward pass went unnoticed and, when they were tackled, managed to regain possession at the breakdown. The retrieved ball was fed out to their experienced fly-half, Steve Lewis, who scuttled over to touch down for a try, converted by scrum-half Ross Pritchard.

The Otters continued to move through the phases, but mistakes caused play to remain in midfield.

Then, on 14 minutes, second row Lyndon Bateman was yellow-carded for not releasing the ball when tackled. A minute later, a lengthy kick forward by fly-half Jonathon Rogers was collected on the Tata five-metre line and run back at the Otters. What seemed another forward pass again went unnoticed, thoough, and when the ball reached fly-half Lewis, he dummied a pass and opened a gap in the Narberth defence, enabling him to burst through and touch down under the posts for the try, which he easily converted, giving Tata a 14-5 lead.

On 20 minutes, Narberth were awarded a penalty when Tata attempted to wheel the scrum and Nick Gale landed a huge 60-metre kick to add three points.

It wasn’t long though before Tata grabbed another try through that man Lewis. Initially a long kick out of defence by Narberth overran the Tata deadball line, resulting in a scrumdown back in the Otters’ 22. Gaining possession, the ball reached Lewis, who again sold the defender a dummy, enabling him to dash through the gap and score an unconverted try.

The Otters again moved back into the Tata half and, seeing the opportunity, Rhys Lane kicked a neat drop goal, bringing the score to 19-11.

A minute later, following a high tackle, Jonathon Rogers kicked a penalty.

Narberth then managed to take the lead. Following a period when both teams competed with fierce intent, the Otters intercepted a pass and Steve Martin quick-wittedly sped forward, linking with wing Liam Hutchins, who kicked forward. The pack followed and forced Tata to ground the ball over the line. Winning the five-metre scrum, the ball was moved through a number of phases, before the pack drove over for prop Ollie Evans to touch down and with Jonathon Rogers converting it brought the score to 21-19.

The lead was shortlived, though, as just on half-time Tata regained the initiative. Again Steve Lewis was successful with his dummied passes, while Tata also seemed to be getting the better of the 50-50 situations. As a result, they were able to bring their fullback John Phillips into the movement and he broke clear to touch down under the posts for Lewis to convert.

With so many tries on a sunny afternoon, the game was certainly one for the non-partisan supporter, being full of incident and fast action.

Narberth started the second half with Ianto Griffiths replacing Steve Martin, who suffered a shoulder injury on half-time. And having received strong words in the dressing room, they were quickly into attack and mounted many phases, advancing forward for Tata to eventually force the ball into touch. Competing strongly, the Otters regained possession on the far left of the Tata 22 and, on receiving the ball, Ianto Griffiths sold a neat dummy to cross under the posts. Jonathon Rogers converted and once again the Narberth had regained the lead at 28-26.

Then, on 60 minutes, disaster struck when, during an attack in the Tata half and a ruck forming, Rhys Lane was judged to have offended and was yellow-carded.

Further problems occurred when again the referee saw fit to penalise the Otters’ scrum for twisting and Tata were able to claim their final score with a penalty kicked by Steve Lewis.

The Otters had a frenetic period attempting to regain the lead, but made a number of handling errors, with dropped passes and knock-ons, which stifled their efforts

Nick Gale also attempted to land a long distance penalty goal, but the breeze affected the accuracy of the kick.

The game ended 29-28, with only a single league point gained by the Otters to show for their efforts.

Later, Narberth’s director of rugby did not mince his words in his succinct comments after the match when he said: “Our defence was poor and we did not deserve to be in the game as we were way off the pace. Then we could have won it.”

Lock Alex Jenkins was the team management’s choice as man-of-match.

Jonathon Dodd also praised the performance of Callum Tree (replacement number eight). Supporters present at the game thought that hooker Dan Smith was his usual self and had an excellent all round game, especially in the loose.

Narberth fielded: Jonathan Morgan, Liam Hutchings, Steve Martin (Ianto Griffiths), Nick Gale, Adam Davies, Jonathan Rogers, Rhys Lane, Ollie Evans, Dan Smith, Steffan Jones (Dan Jacobs), Lyndon Bateman, Alex Jenkins, Lewis Wood (Callum Tree), Dewi Williams (Dan Griffiths) and Gareth Bateman (capt).

Pics. Elwyn Davies