Tenby United 17 - Llanelli Wanderers 21: On a brisk January afternoon in front of a sparse crowd, Tenby United took to the field against a Llanelli Wanderers side who were obviously looking for league points to bolster their lowly position as well as attempting to address their run of six defeats, having gained only one league victory since they defeated Tenby back in mid-October.

With veteran scrum-half Will Crockford again in the line-up, having taken until about Wednesday to recover from his outing at Gowerton last week (!), the side also welcomed back skipper Luke Dedman and showed eight changes from the previous week, with the coaches hoping that a good week in the gym and on the training paddock would be reflected in the performance as the young team got to grips with division one league rugby.

Kicking off, FBM sponsored Tenby United went straight on the attack, forcing the visitors to forfeit the ball, with skipper Luke Dedman, Rob Luly, Ash Murdoch and Jack Tucker all prominent in an early attack, forcing a penalty which Lloyd Thomas stroked into touch just short of the visitors 22. The catch and drive also involved support from some of the Tenby backs, with Yannic Parker, Tom Barrass, Roy Osborn, Dan Allen and Will Crockford joining forces as they drove close to the visitors’ line, but the Wanderers defence held and the attack was halted.

The early pressure was maintained, however, as the visitors simply could not get control of the ball as Tenby created a number of scoring chances, but unfortunately the final pass would go to ground or a last-ditch tackle was put in by a Wanderers defender and for all their efforts in the first 15 or so minutes, the United came away with nothing, while the visitors, on a rare escape into the home 22, managed a penalty by Rhydian Morgan and a 3-0 lead.

This score should have been matched by Lloyd Thomas with a penalty award by referee Burford, but the outside-half pulled his attempt wide of the sticks.

Undeterred by these two setbacks, Tenby maintained their attacking threat and a scoring chance, involving the backs, was nullified by a deliberate knock down of what potentially was a scoring pass, and referee Burford surprisingly only dished out a yellow card to the offender, who left the field to sit on the naughty step for 10 minutes.

Against 14 men, Tenby stepped up the pressure and several attacking moves involving Will Crockford, Moritz Neumann, Tom Barrass, Roy Osborn, Lloyd Thomas, Yannic Parker, Jack Tucker, Jack Broadhurst and Harry Phillips stretched the visitors’ brave defence to the limit, but the much-needed score just failed to materialise and, ironically, in another isolated breakaway, a Wanderers attack, while being held by a scrambling home defence from having their line crossed, ended with Rhydian Morgan dropping a neat goal and taking the scores out to 6-0.

Tenby must have been frustrated by the score as the visitors showed them what was needed when attacking and despite the odd attack involving Jack Broadhurst, Yannic Parker, props Ethan Morgan and Rob Luly, along with Roy Osborn and Jack Tucker ,the Tenby frustration grew as the only thing they came away with was the loss of hooker Dan Allen, who was replaced by Dom Booth.

The penalty count against Tenby was on the increase, particularly at scrum time, and from one such award, Rhydian Morgan completed the visitors scoring for the first half by slotting the ball between the sticks for a 9-0 lead.

However, Tenby were not finished yet and, with only minutes left to the break, they again went on the attack, with Harry Phillips, Luke Dedman, Will Crockford, Dom Booth, Ethan Morgan, Roy Osborn, Tom Barrass, and Lloyd Thomas all involved, ending with centre Moritz Neumann crossing the line for a great team try, giving the United some reward for their all their first half efforts, and with Thomas converting, the half ended with a 9-7 scoreline..

The half-time team talk for Tenby must have been along the lines of keep the pressure up and the scores will come, but with Llanelli Wanderers extending their lead virtually from the restart, it was not the start the home side needed. A weak exit from the kick-off ended with the visitors gaining a lineout close to the Tenby line and from the resulting catch and drive, a 13-man drive for the line ended with flanker Elgan Morgan crossing the whitewash for an unconverted try and a 14-7 lead.

A penalty by Lloyd Thomas for an infringement right from the restart closed the gap to 14-10.

The coaching staff obviously thought it was time for some fresh legs and Ethan Morgan, Tom Barrass and Connor Innes were replaced by Huw Evans, Rob Tuttle and young Joe Owen as Tenby stepped up the pace and a sweeping move, resulting from a solid scrum, ended with Yannic Parker crashing over for a converted try, putting Tenby in the lead for the first time in the match at 17-14.

For one of the few times this season, Tenby were in front in a match where they had maintained a high rate of possession and territory and they were now facing a torrid final quarter as the visitors increased their work rate in an attempt to regain the lead.

The Tenby efforts were countered as referee Burford continued to award penalties at scrum time and this trend was not helped by the Seasiders losing several lineout throws in dangerous and threatening areas of the pitch.

As the game progressed, there was a strange series of kicks by both sides which ended with fullback Jack Tucker miraculously taking a chip through deep in the Tenby 22, and very close to the turf, thus preventing a move/score from developing.

The visitors’ pressure, however, eventually yielded benefit, despite the valiant defensive efforts of Joe Owen, Moritz Neumann, Jack Broadhurst, Roy Osborn, Rob Luly and Harry Phillips.

Ignoring several kickable penalty opportunities, by going for the corner and lineout, another well-executed catch and drive involving nearly all the visiting team was rewarded as prop Dyffan Watkins emerged with the ball, having been driven over the line. With Rhydian Morgan kicking the conversion, the visitors sneaked back into the lead at 21-17 and time was running out for any additional scoring chances to be crafted.

Despite finishing the game on the attack, a determined young Tenby outfit lost out in the end as the Wanderers’ defence dug deep and held out as, with the encouraging shouts from home supporters ringing around Heywood Lane, the Tenby side were denied what would have been a deserved victory, in what had been the most encouraging performance for some time.

Thinking through the match, it was probably not lost in the final minutes when, try as they might, the home side could just not penetrate the visitors’ defence, it was more at the start of the game when, despite large periods of possession and being camped deep in the visitors’ 22 for the majority of the first 15 minutes, they failed to convert any of the scoring chances they created into points. This resulted in Llanelli Wanderers taking the half when some early scores by Tenby would have pressurised them into playing catch-up rugby, which usually gives rise to chances being missed, wrong options being taken and ball handling skills failing. That was not to be, but the whole team can be proud of their gutsy performance and hope that the new-found momentum can be carried on as they visit Llangennech tomorrow (Saturday).

Tenby: Jack Tucker, Connor Ennis (Joe Owen), Moritz Neumann, Yannic Parker, Ash Murdoch, Lloyd Thomas, Will Crockford, Ethan Morgan (Huw Evans), Dan Allen, (Dom Booth), Rob Luly, Luke Dedman, Tom Barrass (Robbie Tuttle), Jack Broadhurst, Roy Osborn, Harry Phillips . Rep. not used - Will Swales,