Narberth 54 pts. Beddau 15

This was another game in the Championship league where the Otters’ second half performance was far too strong for the opposition.

The Lewis Lloyd Ground can become heavy underfoot during continuous wet weather. This was the case last Saturday, but the Otters made light of the situation, while supporters were still remembering the thrilling game of the previous Saturday.

Beddau have always proved difficult opponents, and at the away fixture earlier in the season, the Otters just managed to win 16-13.

Two changes were made from the previous week’s tremendous game. Prop Bradley Davies was replaced by 18-year-old Rhys Davies and flanker Sean Jenkins also stood down, enabling Dewi Williams to start, while captain Alex Jenkins returned from injury. In the threequarters, Nick Gale started at fullback.

Beddau playing downfield kicked off. The Otters collected the ball and immediately opened up to attack from their try line and at the first breakdown, rucked and progressed upfield, leaving number eight Richard Rees prostrate on the ground needing physio attention.

It was clear Beddau were going to be aggressive in the close quarters. However, on eight minutes, the Otters, progressing upfield through a number of phases, scored their first try. The play had veered both sides of the pitch and from the final ruck, scrum-half Rhys Lane broke away and, on being tackled, was able to slip the ball to Nick Gale, who sped forward before passing out to Keiron Jones, who raced up the far touchline to touch down in the far corner. Ianto Griffiths made a difficult kick look easy with his conversion.

Richard Rees seemed to have made a good recovery from his injury, being prominent in further Otters’ efforts.

Against the run of play, Beddau drew level with a converted try. Typical of the changed ruck rules, when Beddau gained possession, they succeeded with several phases upfield, before fly-half Hywel Chatham kicked them into the Otters’ half. At the subsequent ruck, the ball slipped loose, allowing James Cashin to pick up and race to the try line for a try converted by Hywel Chatham.

The Otters responded with in form Liam Hutchings breaking forward with a kick and chase, but the ball unfortunately spun into touch.

A further attack followed, only for the ball to be knocked forward on the defending five-metre line. Then on 25 minutes, following three scrums on the five-metre line, the Otters pack forced Beddau back over their line for second row Jake Simm to drop on the ball. Again Ianto Griffiths added further points with his conversion.

Beddau withdrew their number eight, bringing Alex Leatham on as a replacement.

The Otters continued to apply pressure, Liam Hutchings being prominent, but this attack failed when the final pass went amiss.

This pressure led to the Otters setting up a maul which was advancing from the five-metre line before collapsing, with the referee awarding them a penalty try. This put the Otters 21-7 in the lead.

The next score came from Beddau when the Otters were penalised and Hywel Chatham made no mistake with the resultant kick.

Then, just before half-time, their replacement number eight, Alex Leatham, scored an unconverted try in the bottom corner on the stand side. They were attacking the far corner, but moved right for Hywel Chatham to place a well-judged kick for Leatham to collect and cross in the corner.

A minute later, the referee blew for half-time with the score at 21-15. The half had seen the Otters’ lead reduced, with Beddau challenging with their fierce tackling and rucks. The Otters needed to up their game second half, but supporters were not aware a try-spree was about to happen.

Nick Gale kicked-off, long to the Beddau five-metre line. The ball was fumbled forward, enabling the Otters to use their scrummaging power. Sure enough, Beddau were pushed back over the try line for Richard Rees to touch down for an unconverted bonus point try. On this occasion, though, Ianto Griffiths’s conversion kick hit the far post and bounced back into play.

Four minutes later, flanker Tom Powell crossed the line for another try. In an attacking position, the ball was spread wide from a ruck and, on reaching Nick Gale, he sprinted forward, evading the despairing Beddau players, to slip the ball inside to the supporting Powell. Ianto Griffiths made sure of the seven points with his conversion.

A few minutes later, the coaches sent on fresh legs, Ollie Evans replacing Rhys Davies, who had scrummaged really well, and flanker Dewi Williams was replaced by Steffan Phillips.

Two minutes later, the Otters scored their sixth try. This time, the ever-alert Liam Hutchings went over after the ball was moved out from the scrum away from the standside, until Liam gained possession and, with a rare turn of speed, outflanked the Beddau defence for Ianto Griffiths to convert.

The Otters were now in a commanding situation with the score 40-15.

Further changes were made, with Ianto Griffiths being withdrawn and replaced by Jonathan Rogers, also Dan Smith came off to be replaced by young Rhodri Owen.

Within minutes the Otters increased their lead when, from a lineout, Rhys Lane fed the ball out, again reaching Liam Hutchings, who, with his forceful running, made ground into the Beddau 22 and, as he was brought down, slipped the ball to the supporting Rhys Lane for him to race forward to score and this time Jonathan Rogers converted.

Shortly after, young Lewys Gibby was brought on at scrum-half, replacing Rhys Lane.

Then, on 69 minutes, the referee produced a yellow card, sending Jack Price to the sin bin. Beddau kicked the subsequent penalty into touch. At the lineout, captain Alex Jenkins gained possession and, as another movement was being set up, hooker Rhodri Owen burst forward racing to near the posts. Unfortunately, a try was lost when his pass went forward.

At the scrum, the referee penalised the Otters’ pack as they began to push Beddau backwards, much to the frustration of the crowd.

Four minutes later, the final try came. Beddau had kicked high into the Otters half, Jonathan Rogers collected the catch safely and kicked into the Beddau 22. The Otters gained possession and moved away from the stand side and when the ball reached Nick Gale, he sped forward, veering cleverly to outwit the defence and run clear before touching down for a fine try converted by Jonathan Rogers.

This was the end for Beddau with the score at 54 -15 for the Otters.

Play remained in the Beddau 22, with the referee blowing time on 80 minutes.

There were some fine performances by the Otters, with several players standing out and with the pack grafting in the mud all afternoon. Beddau proved in the first half to be dangerous opponents, but were outdone by a strong performance from the Otters.

Afterwards, head coach Sean Gale commented: “It was a good team effort, it took time to wear Beddau down. We had a very good bench, Ollie Evans was very good despite having a few penalties against him. Surprisingly we did not miss Bradley Davies or Sean Jenkins. We are in a very good place at the moment, losing some players and still managing to put good scores on the opposition.

“The back three were very dangerous second half and when we got the line moving, we looked extremely dangerous. Overall it was a very good team performance, the set-piece was very good, especially the scrum. The boys worked very hard, Richard Rees played well, Rhys Davies shows great promise as an 18-year-old, also Rhodri Owen needs a mention, while Keiron Jones had his best game for the club.”

The sponsors’ man-of-the match was Tom Powell.

The match sponsors were, in the Balcony Suite - Hywel Griffiths and Son Plant Hire, in the Folly Farm Otters Holt - The Fat Dads’ Football. Ball sponsor was Ken Morgan and Friends.

Separately there was a Former Players Reunion where Walter Dash and Bill Carne were the guests.

Narberth fielded: Nick Gale, Liam Hutchings, Keiron Jones, Jack Price, Jack Parkinson, Ianto Griffiths (Jonathan Rogers), Rhys Lane (Lewys Gibby), Rhys Davies (Ollie Evans), Dan Smith (Rhodri Owens), Jake Simm, Alex Jenkins (capt), Dewi Williams (Steffan Phillips), Tom Powell Richard Rees.