PHOTOS:
Jonathan Rogers spreads the ball wide for Narberth
Aerial ballet by Jenkins
Bargoed No8 Ross Coombs faces Nio Aioni
Championship:
Otters’ pride restored
Narberth 17 - Bargoed 22
Bargoed’s relentless march to the championship continued at the Lewis Lloyd Ground as they gained their 17th win in as many matches but Narberth certainly restored their pride in performance as they pushed the visitors all the way in the second half after trailing 22-3 at the interval.
The Otters had lost 23-16 in Bargoed but a much larger defeat seemed likely as the table-toppers opened with a bang when full back Jordan Purcell sped through a transfixed Narberth defence to score a try to which outside half Josh Prosser added the simple conversion.
Narberth had the chance of a score after referee Jon hardy had twice marched Bargoed back ten metres but Ianto Griffiths was unable to punish this double discretion as he was off-target with the resulting penalty.
Bargoed doubled their lead after a strong period of pressure saw powerful winger Lewis Protheroe shrug off two tackles and again Prosser added the extra points.
Prosser was off target when prop Kieran Brown rounded off a well-controlled lineout drive but made amends with a penalty from the last kick of the half, three minutes after Ianto Griffiths had claimed three points from a Narberth penalty.
Otters on top in second half
The second period saw the Otters gain a marked territorial advantage as Adam Clark, Alex Jenkins, Lewis Wood and Dan Smith led their forward charges but although new recruit Jonathan Rogers tried to call his backs into action there was nothing to show for their efforts until Alex Jenkins smuggled lineout ball to set up a concerted drive from which flanker Stuart Worrall made a blindside gallop of 30 metres to the corner – and Griffiths converted superbly.
The Otters had a couple of kickable penalty chances but opted for corner line outs which were blunted by the well-drilled Bargoed cover defence until replacement winger Nick Gale spotted a gap to score a converted try.
Now just five points adrift the Narberth faithful scented a shock success but Bargoed showed their experience in slowing play down and when the final whistle came they were able to celebrate success and leave the battling Otters to reflect on a good performance which earned them just a losing bonus point after so much effort.
Narberth: Johnny Morgan: Rhys Lewis; Morgan Griffiths; Steve Martin (Capt); Lawrence Headlam: Ianto Griffiths; Jonathan Rogers: Sean Lloyd; Dan Smith; Steffan Jones: Adam Clark; Alex Jenkins: Nio Aioni; Stewart Worrall; Lewis Wood. Replacements: Ollie Evans; Gareth Bateman; Ashley Sutton; Timoci Kaumaitotoya; Nick Gale.
Bargoed: Jordan Purcell: Lewis Protheroe; Phil Price; Darren Humphries; Luke Smalley: Josh Prosser; James Pizey: Rhys Morgan; Leigh Meades; Kieran Brown: Geraint Edmunds; Darren Lynch: Adam Coupe; Grant Rogers; Ross Coombs. Replacements: Jack Williams; Lewis Lippiatt; Neil Burnett; Huw Rees; Marc Gwilt.
Division Three (West):
Mariners maintain winning streak
Llangwm 17 - Milford Haven 71
Milford Haven gained their 11th league win from 13 outings as they journeyed to Llangwm for this rearranged league encounter and ran in no fewer than 11 tries to complete a high-scoring double over their old opponents, since they had already won 52-17 at home.
The match was due to be played this Saturday but team managers Richard Scriven (Llangwm) and James Hall (Milford Haven) sensibly agreed to bring it forward since Wales weren’t playing and a good crowd enjoyed an entertaining match in which Llangwm also played their part by scoring three tries.
Another feature beside the high number of tries was the fact that Llangwm, who had several young players making late withdrawals because it was Valentine’s Day, included veterans Hamish Nicholls, Nick Phillips, Johnny James, Tim Pounder and Richard Scriven, whose combined age came to 210 years at an average of 42!
Andrew Brock claimed a try and conversion for Llangwm in the first half but the Wasps were already 43-7 adrift as the Mariners had tries by the outstanding James Passmore, flanker Dom Todaro, No 8 Mark Wonnacott, winger Sam Stalbow, second row David Sweeney, full back Rhys Baker and No 10 Leigh Broome, who also notched four conversions but missed others well within his scope.
The Wasps added further tries by winger Ben Charles and Josh Davies but there was no stopping the Mariners as Passmore, Lee Riley, Dean Aldred (after 20 seconds on the pitch) and Broome completed the try count, all four scores converted by Broome to give him a personal tally of 26 points.
KO Cup (Semi Final):
Blues beat Blacks to reach KO Cup Final
Haverfordwest 40 - Neyland 5
Haverfordwest marched into the final of this year’s Knock Out Cup as they fended off an initially strong challenge by Neyland and now must wait to see whether they take on Narberth or Whitland in this season’s big day.
Neyland certainly showed they were not respecters of the fact that the Blues are in a higher section as they started really well and deservedly took the lead when talented young full back Aaron James sliced through for a try which went unconverted.
It stung the Blues into an awareness that they needed to raise the tempo and they did just that when outstanding forward Liam Brown powered over in the corner and outside half Steve Williams did well to convert.
It was just the confidence boost that Haverfordwest needed and good handling by Danny Morgan, Scott James, Dave O’Leary and Dan Birch put Scott Candler in at the corner, where Steve Williams kicked his second wide-angled conversion.
Williams also converted other tries by No 8 Dewi Williams and skipper Darren Salmon (at the posts) so that the Blues were in a comfortable position at the break of 28-5.
Neyland continued to battle away in the second half but the experience up front of Gareth and Neil Phillips, Gareth Green and Brett Davies, was a great help for the Blues as Dewi Williams added his second score and another talented youngster in Moritz Neumann, playing well again at flanker after switching from the centre, rounded off the try count for Steve Williams to slot his fifth conversion.
Outside half Steve Williams chips ahead for Haverfordwest against Neyland
Junior Union Cup Semi-Final:
Seagulls storm into Junior Union final
Fishguard & Goodwick 65 - Cardigan 12
Fishguard and Goodwick Seahawks played really well against their second-team counterparts from Cardigan to run in no fewer than 11 tries and earn a Junior Union Cup Final place against the winners of the Haverfordwest 2nds v Newport clash which will be played this coming Saturday.
Veteran forward Kieran Hurley scored a try in each half for the Teifisiders, the second converted by Jonathan Evans, but Fishguard were already 19-7 in front at the interval thanks to tries by flanker Mark James, centre Sam Kurtz and full back Rhodri Thomas, two of them converted by Kurtz.
The Seahawks really took the game by the scruff of the neck in the second half and further tries flowed from Ricky Goodrich, Kurtz again, Jason Davies, Rhys Lewis (2), another from Rhodri Thomas, Jack Williamson and Jone Vatu.
Kurtz kicked three more conversions and with the wealth of experience available from the likes of Romeo Colella, Rhys and Randall Williams Fishguard and Goodwick look in good fettle for the final.
PHOTOS:
Fishguard shade this lineout. Sam Kurtz scores a try for the Seahawks
Pictures by Keith Bryant
