PHOTOS:
Scrum half Dan Thomas gets Tenby's backs in motion
Will Davies on a break for the Borderers
Tenby skipper Chris James puts pressure on the Whitland defence
Pembrokeshire Knock Out Cup:
Whitland 12 Tenby United 19
Tenby United sprung something of a surprise in the Pembrokeshire KO Cup as they made the journey to Parc Llwyn Ty Gwyn and came away with a deserved win over a Whitland s
ide which plays two divisions higher but gave away points at key times.That the game took place owed much to the work of groundsmen Tony Bowen, who had spent all morning forking off the surplus water, with Gary Richards re-marking the pitch, and a decent crowd turned out to watch the match before retiring to the clubhouse to cheer Wales on.
Williams unluckily departs for Whitland and Roberts punishes a 13-man Borderers’ defence
The Borderers had led 9-7 in a very staccato first period and were 12-7 in front when they committed errors that were to cost them dear – none more so than in the second half when second row Raff Williams was red-carded, although Williams might justifiably point out that it was a case of mistaken identity because it was generally agreed in the stand that he was not the culprit!
It caused the Borderers inevitable problems in the scrums and things went from bad to worse as skipper Marc Jones was yellow carded with ten minutes remaining and from the resulting scrum five the Tenby eight had little difficulty in jerking a six-man Whitland pack over the line for a corner try by No
8 Pat Roberts which young outside half Jonathan Rogers did well to convert.Superb Seasiders’ defence
This seven-pointer left the Seasiders two points ahead and Whitland tried manfully to snatch the game out of the fire but Nico Setaro’s long-rage penalty hit the cross bar and was scrambled clear. The Borderers also put in a concerted effort where they recycled the ball 22 times in an attempt at being awarded another penalty chance but Tenby kept a superb discipline before eventually breaking out for Roberts to grab his second score right on time so that Rogers’ missed conversion from wide out mattered little.
Whitland just edge tight first half
It was Rogers who had the first chance of points in the first half but he pushed a fairly simple penalty wide of the far post before Setaro opened the Borderers’ account from a similar distance. Setaro added another three points from a penalty after Tenby skipper Chris James had been yellow-carded but the Seasiders fought back as second row Luke Dedman broke clear on the blindside and powered fully 45 metres to the posts for Rogers to add the extra points.
There was still time for Rogers to fall well short with a penalty and Setaro to add his third penalty after Tenby flanker Luke Hansford had been shown the yellow card for dissent, with little sense of the drama to unfold after the oranges.
Mason unable to lead Whitland to victory
The loss of Williams was a body blow for Whitland and No 8 Jack Mason caught the eye for the way he secured possession from a hastily retreating home scrum in a third quarter where the Borderers still managed to secure a territorial advantage and Setaro slotted penalty No 4.
But then the added loss of skipper Jones was too much in the final analysis and Roberts’ double try-scoring effort secured the spoils for the delighted Seasiders, who now face an equally tough tussle in the next round as they take on Crymych.
Whitland: Scott Newton: Fraser Watson; Mike Georgiou; Lee Glanville; Will Davies: Nico Setaro: Andrew Jenkins: Andrew Howells; Marc Jones (Capt); Gethin Jones: Kieran White; Raff Williams: Zac France-Miller; Dan Evans; Jack Mason. Replacements: Martin Nicholas; Nathan Price; Dai Ebsworth; Duncan Evans; Dafydd Walters; Jonathan Thomas; Adam Davies.
Tenby United: Aled Bowen: Greg Lees-Griffiths; Jack Guerreiro; Dai Merrick; Simon Stanford: Jonathan Rogers; Dan Thomas: Johnny Palmer; Gareth Jones; Jeff Martin: Chris James (Capt); Luke Dedman: Roy Osborne; Luke Hansford; Pat Roberts. Replacements: Rob Clarke; Wes Bonser; Huw Evans; Damian Miller; Sam Davies.
Referee: Neil Jones (Carmarthen)