Narberth 17 pts. Bargoed 4

An earlier kick-off to accommodate the Wales v Australia game at Twickenham resulted in a smaller attendance than normal at the Lewis Lloyd Ground for such a significant game.

Club member and supporter Mike Richards, himself a former Bargoed coach, was main match sponsor for the day and enjoying his generous hospitality were many friends, including a number of Narberth committee and supporters. As a result, the main bar pre-match was unusually quiet.

Since Bargoed entered the Championship, the Otters have failed to beat them, but have come close a few times. Last Saturday saw the selected Otters squad unable to cope with the pace and skills of the visiting team.

The Otters were forced into a change in their selected threequarter line when Jordan Roberts withdrew and brought Jonathon Rogers in at fly-half, with Ianto Griffiths moving into the centre. Hindsight being a wonderful thing, it may have been better to have retained him at fly-half where his experience may have helped tie down the Bargoed game plan.

Those present, and especially those who played in the 1960 and 70s, took a moment down memory lane when the Otters ran onto the pitch as, due to a colour clash, they were in spanking new green and white jerseys.

Bargoed kicked off and when the ball was gathered by Jonathon Rogers, the fast advancing visiting players charged down his intended relieving kick and the ball landed in the hands of scrum-half James Pizey, who in no time sprinted forward with a clear run to the line to touch down for an unconverted try.

Four minutes later, disaster struck for the Otters when fullback Johnny Morgan was yello- carded for an adjudged deliberate knock-on when he treied to intercept a Bargoed threequarter move. This proved to be a most unfortunate situation, with Bargoed scoring two tries during his time in the sin-bin.

It took just one minute of that time for James Pizey to score his second unconverted try. Winning a penalty, the visitors’ fly-half kicked to touch, where Bargoed gained possession at the lineout and formed a maul. When Narberth infringed, the referee blew for a scrum, from which the pack heeled the ball, enabling Pizey to make his move on the open side.

The Narberth supporters could not believe how easy and quickly Bargoed were forging ahead, really due to defensive errors.

Then a few minutes later they went further ahead when their number six Andrew Coupe went over for another unconverted try. This time centre Lewis Protheroe made a break before being brought down, but he was able to pass the ball on and when the Bargoed team outnumbered the Otters’ defence, the flanker was able to score.

Johnny Morgan returned and the Otters were able to regroup, but on 23 minutes, centre Lewis Protheroe intercepted a Narberth threequarter movement and sped forward before passing on to winger Wayne Dyer, who raced over for fly-half Mathew Hutchins to convert, putting Bargoed 22-0 ahead and gaining them their bonus point.

The Otters responded, but lady luck deserted them when they did cross the try-line. Having gained ground on the far side, Dan Smith appeared to touchdown after a series of phases, but the referee was unable to see a grounded ball and awarded a scrum-five.

From the scrum, Narberth moved left and number eight Lewis Wood took the ball forward, but Bargoed were lucky to get a scrum from the breakdown and, heeling the ball, were able to use a relieving kick into touch.

Then, just before half-time, Narberth tight-head prop Jamie Kraijaks had to be replaced by Ollie Evans.

Narberth continued to challenge Bargoed and eventually bagged a try when winger Liam Hutchins collected the ball inside his own half and sprinted forward. When challenged, he passed inside to Ianto Griffiths, who was able to feed the ball on for Johnny Morgan to touch down, with Griffiths converting.

Unfortunately, just on half-time, Adam Clarke was brought down, with Bargoed stealing the ruck and quickly moving the ball across the field for fullback Jordan Purcell to break clear and touch down close to the posts. Mathew Hutchins converted, bringing the score to 29-7 at the break.

A feature of the Bargoed first half performance was their speed both in attack and defence when the Otters moved forward. They gavetNarberth little or no time on the ball, ripping it clear in the forward exchanges.

The Otters ran out for the start of the second half with second row Alex Jenkins having replaced Adam Clarke and Scott James replacing Ianto Griffiths at centre.

After five minutes, Bargoed scored via centre Lewis Protheroe. Narberth were attacking, but Bargoed again ripped the ball clear in a tackle, feeding centre Protheroe, who was able to run clear of the Otters who were all lined up for an attack.

On 53 minutes, centre Darren Humphries was yellow-carded for use of the elbow. Immediately the Otters surged forward through Ollie Evans, only for the ball to be knocked out of his hands, enabling Bargoed to clear the danger.

Dewi Williams replaced Lewis Wood and two minutes later, newcomer Scott James scored an unconverted try on the far side of the ground. Unfortunately, he injured his wrist in the process and had to be replaced by Moritz Neuman.

At this stage, with Bargoed in control, the Otters were attempting to make the most of the little possession they obtained. It seemed that desperation was creeping into their game, with some unnecessary indiscriminate passing.

On 75 minutes, Liam Hutchins once again managed to find a gap in the visitors’ defence, but ran out of support.

On 78 minutes, Bargoed managed to score an excellent try when they had several players prepared to support the man with the ball, with winger Ashley Norton finishing off the movement and replacement fly-half Phillip Price converting.

Then on 79 minutes, Narberth managed an unconverted try via Johnny Morgan. The movement started with a heel from a Narberth scrum, Rhys Lane feeding the ball out for Nick Gale, who made ground before passing on to Liam Hutchins. When challenged, he fed the ball out to Johnny Morgan, who expertly made the touchdown.

A minute later, the referee blew for full-time, with the final score being 41-17.

Commenting after the game, Narberth head coach Sean Gale said: “We had a very bad start.A kick was charged down and they scored. We made a mistake at the back of the scrum and they scored again and our heads seemed to drop. It was a very disappointing display. We were very poor defensively and they were scoring tries at will.

“In the second half we played some nice rugby. We had good ball off the top of the lineout and we looked quite dangerous at times. Our defensive lapses are slightly embarrassing and the boys must take a good look at themselves, and defensively we must improve considerably.

“The Championship has become a lot stronger. We have got a good new squad here, but we must be more intense in the way we defend and the way we attack. We had seven chances of scoring tries out there and we took three of them.Against the top sides you have got to take every chance.

“The problem we have in our game at the moment is that defensively we are not strong enough. However, Liam Hutching attacked quite well, Nick Gale was a danger at times and made some nice breaks, and Alex Jenkins made a difference in the second row and provided some quality possession.”

Narberth fielded: Johnny Morgan, Liam Hutchins, Nick Gale, Ianto Griffiths (Scott James/Moritz Neuman), Ollie Reyland, Jonathon Rogers, Rhys Lane, Dan Jacobs, Dan Smith, Jamie Kraijaks (Ollie Evans), Adam Clarke (Alex Jenkins), Lyndon Bateman, Gareth Batemen (capt), Lewis Wood (Dewi Williams), Llyr Morris.