FIRST XV

Unfortunately, there was no cup action in the Division Three West(A) Invitational Cup competition last Saturday, as Milford were unable to field a side.

However, due to other teams not fulfilling fixtures, the organising committee has now cancelled this cup competition altogether. Consequently, the club’s senior side has now completed its season, finishing in a creditable fourth place in the league.

The Second XV still have one fixture to play before they, too, complete their season; this will most probably be played over the next few weeks (please call the club steward for details, or look at the website).

The club committee would like to sincerely thank ESS Safeforce for their generous sponsorship of the rugby at the club during the past season, all of the kit, match, and match mall sponsors, importantly the fixture secretaries, all of the coaches, team managers, first aiders and other volunteers, who have organised, run and supported all of the teams across all age groups, the groundsman for his hard work in presenting excellent pitches throughout a difficult year of weather, all club officers for their unstinting work behind the scenes, and especially all of the club’s faithful supporters, who have regularly attended and added their vocal support, which has been much appreciated by all of the teams.

The senior players are taking a well-earned break after a hard season, with a trip to Cork in May.

Meanwhile, Boots of Lydstep will be coming in to work on pitch renovations, which will render the club’s pitches unusable until early July.

YOUTH SECTION Season round-up

The 2016/2017 season started slowly for the Pembroke Youth team and due to lack of availability the first match did not get played until September 24, with a 10-13 loss to a very strong Neyland XV.

After this very good performance, the season continued with a win against Cardigan and defeats against Fishguard, Crymych and Pembroke Dock Quins, the latter being a very close match, with the Quins kicking a penalty in the last action of the game to win 21-19.

The month of November proved to be the most successful of the season, with a tremendous win over a good Narberth team and further wins over St. Davids, Whitland and Haverfordwest.

In December, the weather conditions caused chaos with fixtures and only one match was played, a defeat away to Haverfordwest played in very heavy conditions.

The New Year brought a very difficult fixture list and defeats to the top two teams in the league, Crymych and Neyland, and a draw against Whitland.

February and March matches were arranged around the Six Nations Championship, playing Narberth on a Friday night, losing by just a point in a well-contested match, with both teams scoring a number of tries; final score 27 – 26 to Narberth. A win against Aberystwyth came next, before playing Neyland in the Pembs Youth Cup, where Pembroke battled hard before being well beaten. A further fixture at home to Fishguard resulted in a highly entertaining game, losing 22-46.

Overall the youth season could be described as ‘hot and cold’, some very good performances mixed with some not so good. Attendance to training has been excellent.

Youth debutants Tommy John, Morgan Thomas, Billy Kinnear, Tom Harding-Jones, Tom O’Neill, Will Lewis and Harvey Johns had excellent first seasons and hopefully this will continue into the 2017 / 2018 season.

Stalwarts Jack Oliver, Kynan Jones, Andrew Evans, Rhys Mainwaring, Gwyn Taylor, Jordan Evans, Hal Gaskell, Harry Dawe with new recruits Aran Williams and Matthew Washbourne worked hard all season to form a strong forward platform. In the backs, Tom Lewis, the ubiquitous Yori Roberts, Tom Harding-Jones, Tom Kinnear, Fraser James, Elliott Evans, Dan Evans, Harvey Johns and Iwan Cole, proved to be a potent attacking force.

A number of lads move to seniors next year and all of the coaching staff wish them all the best in their future rugby careers.

Congratulations to Tom Lewis, Tom Kinnear, Jordan Evans, Elliott Evans and Andrew Evans, who have all been involved with the 1st team this season and performed very creditably.

Also further congratulations to Tom Lewis, Tom Kinnear, Fraser James and Elliott Evans, who were selected for U19s county squad.

Special thanks to Nigel Cole, Richard Jones, Chris Thomas and Ross Taylor for all their support, advice and commitment in keeping the team focused throughout the season.

CLUB ANNUAL THANK YOU BBQ

On Friday, June 9, the club will be holding its annual Thank You BBQ, for all coaches, team managers, first aiders, other assistants and volunteers, all club, match, kit and ball sponsors and regular supporters.

This night is traditionally the time when the committee and players engage with and say a sincere thank you to everyone who has supported them throughout the past season.

The management committee would like to say a very sincere thank you to all personnel who have ensured the smooth running of all of the club’s teams, the growing number of sponsors, who give so generously to support the teams and ongoing developments at the club and the supporters, who turn up throughout the season to cheer on the players at all age levels; we sincerely hope to have your continued support next season and beyond.

On the night, the new coaching teams for the two senior teams and Youth team will be announced and soon after a calendar of events outlining the pre-season plans for all teams will be posted for the players.

JUNIOR FINALS DAY

Pembd County Juniors Age Groups Finals Day will take place at Crymych this Sunday, April 30, starting at 11 am, when Pembroke’s U13 and U16 age groups will be performing, in the second and last matches.

Each match takes approximately one hour to complete as a rough guide.

Over the next months all of the Junior age groups will be holding their ‘Presentations’, which traditionally complete the season with awards for players.

MONKTON OLD BOYS FLOODLIT YOUTH SEVENS TOURNAMENT

This (Friday) evening, the annual Youth sevens tournament will be held at the club. The action starts at approximately 5.30 pm.

ANNUAL CLUB DINNER

To be held at Beggars Reach on May 5. The club opens at 6 pm and buses leave at 6.30 pm. The club will remain closed for the evening once the buses have left.

BRITISH & IRISH LIONS BREAKFASTS

The club will be opening for all enthusiasts to watch the test matches, and all other pre-test matches on this tour. Please call the steward for further details

LADIES COMMITTEE

The ladies are looking for new recruits, so if anyone would like to join them, please contact Margaret Powell.

150-plus CLUB MONTHLY DRAW WINNERS

The people listed below have won this month’s prizes. Next month’s prize is £500 (this amount is paid out every other month throughout the year). Thanks to Mary James and Ian Martin for their continued hard work on this part of the club’s fundraising efforts.

£80 - Mr. David Williams; £50 - Mrs. M. David; £25 - J. Davies and L.Panton.

Thank you also to all of the draw members for their continued support.

There is room for more people to join; if interested, contact Mary James for mandate forms.