In the last home game of this campaign for the first team sponsored by the Cresselly Arms and Kevin Watts, fifth placed, Swansea based side Loughor were the visitors to Crickmarren last weekend.

The weather was set fair, with only a slight breeze on a beautiful sunny spring day, with the pitch in magnificent condition under foot: according to Head Coach Geriant Lewis, “conditions were perfect for the home side, because they employ a more expansive game”.

The match back in December had been a very close affair with the Scarlets coming up late winners by a very slender two point margin. So the scene was set for a battle for much needed League points.

Pembroke although missing skipper Powell due to injury were at full strength, whilst Loughor were missing a few key personnel.

Pembroke started very strongly, forcing themselves through some clever tactical kicking from No 10 Toby Smith, into the visitor’s last quarter straight from the kick off.

Two minutes in, a poor clearance kick by the Loughor fifteen was snapped up and passed along the backs to put winger Simon Stanford in space and he ran twenty five metres to score and unconverted try, unopposed, wide right at the Lamphey end. Four minutes later, after a period of constant pressure, the home side’s forwards produced more quick ball from phase play, which was quickly moved wide to young full back Tom Harding Jones to sprint twenty metres unopposed, against a disorganised defence, to score a try, converted by Toby Smith, to give Pembroke a dream start.

The home side continued to apply pressure, with forwards and backs combining well, then four minutes later the home pack put in a great shove to take one against the head at the scrum on Loughor’s twenty two, No 8 Sam Smith picked up, made ground and fed brother Toby, who broke tackles to burst through to score under the posts; he converted his own try.

Pembroke continued to maintain territorial advantage for another period, making the visitors tackle relentlessly.

Eventually, the pressure told and after more good work by the forwards, going through the phases from forty metres out, possession was released and centre Dan Colley was fed on a cutback run and he pierced the defensive line to score under the posts; Toby Smith converted, to make the score 24-0 to a rampant home side at the end of the first quarter.

Loughor then seemed to rally and for the next fifteen minutes they produced some very good combined play of their own, with their forwards and backs making ground and putting pressure on the home try line.

Pembroke’s defensive work was solid and they were forced to defend resolutely to keep the eager visitors from scoring. Pembroke retaliated with five minutes of the half remaining; Loughor were pushed off their own put in, the ball was moved wide very quickly, Tom Harding Jones made a lovely break and fed Toby Smith running at an acute angle, which allowed him to punch through some despairing tacklers to go over near the posts to finish off another team try; he converted his own try.

Soon after, just before the break, Loughor’s forwards again built a good attacking position, though repeated phase play, which allowed No 8 Jonathan Bowen to crash through and score from close in for a well deserved try; this was converted by No 9 Liam Hedges, to leave the half time score most deservedly at 31-7 to Pembroke, despite Loughor’s resurgence in the second quarter.

The second half mirrored the first, with Pembroke dominating almost throughout and Loughor having good spells.

Pembroke however, totally dominated regarding scoring, putting a further thirty six, unanswered points on their opponents, playing with great confidence and in a wonderfully exciting style.

Pembroke’s forwards were on the offensive from the kick off, forging great territory and providing a constant flow of possession for their talented, speedy and skilful backs, who were going through their full repertoire.

The first came after five minutes, from loose play, when centre Fraser James (who had a marvellous all round game) as he picked up loose ball twenty five metres our from the visitor’s line, to expertly wend his way past five, flat footed defenders to score a marvellous individual effort, wide right; this went unconverted.

Four minutes later, Pembroke broke out of their own twenty two, the forwards and backs combined well, releasing clean ball on the halfway, Toby Smith put in a pin point chip kick for winger Stanford, who gleefully collected and sprinted twenty five metres to crown a great team effort; converted by Smith.

The home side then made a raft of changes, bringing off forwards Jordan Gwilliam, Jack Smyth, Lloyd Davies, Seamus Wiseman and centre Dan Colley, putting on fresh legs with Dom Coleman, Cyle Weatherall, Alex Thomas, Rhys Mainwaring and James Davies to keep a high tempo in the team’s play.

Minutes later, from a lineout close to the visitor’s line, Coleman had the opportunity to crash through defenders to score, to the delight of his team mates; this went unconverted.

The home side continued to play a very high tempo, which took its toll on the tiring Loughor side, but they proved very resilient and did produce short phases of combined play of their own, but to no avail against a very determined home defence.

At the start of the last quarter, Loughor tried to mount an attack, but ever alert scrum half Tom Lewis intercepted a pass and raced fifty metres unopposed to score an unconverted try, against the run of play.

Loughor to their credit then built field position through their forwards, but lost possession on the home twenty two, which allowed the home forwards an opportunity to forge territory through phases, Toby Smith broke through in midfield and ball was moved wide to right wing Stanford, who used the quick ball to expertly round a despairing defence to run fifty metres to finish yet another excellent team effort; this was converted by Smith.

The despondent Loughor team totally ran out of energy and in the dying minutes the home side’s forwards and backs combined well again in midfield, fed Sam Smith, who broke their defensive line to feed his brother to sprint the final thirty metres to score and convert the final try of the match; leaving the final score at 67-7 to a totally exhausted Loughor team, who very magnanimously, congratulated their opponents on a thoroughly deserved victory as they left the field.

Pembroke’s coaches were highly delighted with their squad’s magnificent performance and another high scoring, bonus point win, whilst commiserating with Loughor’s coaching group, who in turn paid tribute to Pembroke for their exciting performance.

The large crowd too, showed their appreciation for both sides as they left the field. Meanwhile, Fishguard had been playing Pontyberem away and to everyone’s surprise pulled off a magnificent victory; this result means that Pembroke are now seven points clear of Pontyberem in third place and only two points behind League leaders Penclawdd.

Consequently, with only two games to go, the hunt for a possible second consecutive League title is in the hands of the Pembroke squad, presupposing that other results go their way, in what has been another enthralling and entertaining season. Pembroke’s coaches nominated Simon Stanford as their Man of the Match, they also announced Tom Lewis as February Player of the Month and Sam Smith as Player of the Month for March, whilst Dom Coleman was given an award for the Most Improved player in March.

Pembroke: Tom Harding Jones, Simon Stanford, Fraser James, Dan Colley, Shaun Dalling, Toby Smith, Tom Lewis, Jonny Palmer, Seamus Wiseman, Lloyd Davies, Will Edwards, Jordan Gwilliam, Sam Smith, Jack Smyth, Rhodri Walters. Subs: Alex Thomas, Dom Coleman, Cyle Weatherall, James Davies, Rhys Mainwaring.

Pembroke now have two League matches to play, Pontyberem away on April 13 and St Clears away on April 27, both KO at 2.30 pm. Any supporters wanting to travel on the team bus should contact the club the day before to confirm departure times.

WOMEN’S SECTION

The women had a weekend off after two very deserved and memorable wins in recent weeks. The squad will be having a few more fixtures before the end of the season, so watch out for adverts. Any women wanting to join the section to play, can pick up contact details in the clubhouse. The women train on Mondays and Wednesdays at the club, sessions start at 7pm.

SECOND XV

The “Tigers” played Crymych away last weekend, in their fourth encounter of this season’s campaign. The weather was dry, very breezy and the pitch was in excellent condition. Pembroke travelled with a squad of sixteen players, as the result of work commitments and injuries had impacted during the week.

Pembroke played into the stiff breeze in the first half and produced some very well constructed phases of play to put the home side under early pressure.

The home team also produced some determined early attacks and both teams were forced to defend resolutely to keep their opponents at bay.

Pembroke took an early lead, when their No 10 Lewis Davies slotted a penalty. However, the home side began to take a hold on proceedings at the end of the first quarter, scoring their first, converted try after some very good combined play.

Pembroke’s flanker Tommy John produced a number of turn overs, which helped his side reduce the increasing impact of the older, more experienced Crymych eight.

However, the home forwards maintained their upper hand and after thirty minutes they scored another converted try, after sustained pressure. Pembroke’s back row of Nathan Rowlands, Tommy John and Jack Oliver worked hard to deny the stronger home forwards in the loose and their half backs Rhys Cadogan and Lewis Davies helped to control matters for their team when under pressure.

Inevitably however, the constant pressure told and the hard working Crymych forwards forged another opportunity, which was taken seconds before the half time whistle to give them a clear lead of 21-3 at the break.

Now with the wind at their backs, the Pembroke side urged on by their coaches Tosh Rowlands and Simon Edwards, began to show better form and confidence, which resulted in some excellent combined play and handling, which eventually released young flanker Tommy John to crash through a crowded defence to score a well deserved try, that was converted by Davies.

The score galvanised the Pembroke side and with ten minutes remaining, the coaches moved Aaron Williams into No 8 from the centre and Nathan Rowlands swopped with him; this brought immediate dividends, when after good work by the forwards, scrum half Cadogan fed Rowlands quick ball on a narrow angled run and he crashed over; Lewis added the conversion to the obvious delight of his team mates. Game on!

The visitors continued to pressure the home side, who were forced to defend for long periods to maintain their slim advantage.

Crymych then claimed a very crooked lineout on their own ten metre line, the referee allowed play to continue much to the consternation of the whole Pembroke outfit, who had momentarily stopped thinking he would whistle for the infringement, but that delay allowed the home side to score a converted try to strengthen their hold on the scoreline.

Then minutes later to add salt to that wound, whilst building another attack by running out of defence, Pembroke’s move was intercepted and Crymych scored another converted try to take them well clear at 35-17.

Not to be outdone, the Pembroke team mounted a final assault, which culminated in No 10 Lewis Davies scoring a consolation, unconverted try, leaving the final score at 35-22 in what had been a truly enthralling and exciting second half.

Pembroke’s coaches were delighted with the effort, spirit and determination of their depleted squad, against a far more experienced and mature outfit. Tosh Rowlands remarked after the match, that “to push Crymych all the way speaks volumes for those players who turned out”; he also said that “commitment and positive attitude cannot be coached, a will to want to play in this manner for the team and the club should be a given, and he and Simon were very proud of today’s players, who demonstrated a never say die attitude”. After four matches between the sides this season, Crymych won the series by 2-1, with one match drawn.

Pembroke: Barry Alderman John, Neil Morris, Aaron Williams, Yori Roberts, Darcy Langston, Lewis Davies, Rhys Cadogan, Nathan Rowlands, Tommy John, Jack Oliver, Matthew Washbourne, Liam Brunton, Sean Beynon ©, Timmy Sharpe. Sub: Galdo.

The Tigers might have a game tomorrow, supporters should check with the clubhouse, but they are due to play St Davids away on April 20, KO 2.30pm, for the first ever playing of the ‘Willington Slate Trophy’ which is to be played for annually between the clubs, in memory of Pembroke ex-player Gareth ‘Spike’ Willington and his son Daniel, who tragically died whilst fishing professionally in their vessel ‘The Harvester’in April 2016.

A supporters bus may be put on if there is enough interest, so people can sign up in the clubhouse; a decision on the viability of this extra coach will be made on the Monday before, so people should check with the club on the Tuesday evening.

YOUTH

The Youth were not in action last weekend, but they will be playing Tenby away Saturday April 6th, KO 2.30pm. They are due to play Narberth at home on April 13 in the Pembrokeshire Youth Cup, KO 2.30 pm.

JUNIOR SECTION

Many of the age groups were in action over the weekend. The U9s had a marvellously exciting match in glorious spring sunshine, but cold breeze, against H’West at home, losing 7-12, with Elliott Midgley being awarded Man of the Match for the home side.

The U11s played at home against a touring side from Beddau (near Pontypridd), losing narrowly by one try in what both sets of coaches described as a very exciting match played in great spirit.

UNDER 13s

Coaches Phil Greenwood, Hannah Eynon. Mark Boswell and Nigel Cole took their squad to Cardiff last weekend for an experience of a life time.

The Cardiff Arms Park pitch had been booked for a match against a local Rhiwbina squad (Phil’s old club) on the famous, artificially surfaced ground.

The match was played in great weather and both teams produced some exhillerating rugby. Overall a brilliant all round performance by the Pembroke squad, against a very strong Rhiwbina side, who had a very quick and dangerous back line.

Pembroke’s attack and defence in the second half was outstanding, with some good rucking and ball handling skills demonstrated by all the players.

Pembroke were points down at half time but fought their way back into the game in the second half and were delighted to eventually run out winners by 22-24, after what their coaches described as a truly wonderful advert for rugby at this age group.

Before leaving for the return journey, the Pembroke coaches, players, parents and supporters gave their sincere thanks to Rhiwbina and the Cardiff Blues for hosting a marvellous and wholly memorable day.