A WARM, sunny afternoon and a large crowd was once again in attendance at the Lewis Lloyd Ground to see Narberth take on Ystalyfera who had beaten the Otters by one point earlier in the season.
Narberth started well by retaining possession and with their forwards driving on to eventually allow scrum half Lewys Gibby to run in under the posts for an early try converted by full back Nick Gale (7-0).
Ystalyfera were also putting together some good phases of play and, after having kicked a penalty for a Narberth offside at the breakdown, they got on the score sheet when their right winger chased a speculative kick behind the Otters’ defence and scored an unconverted try in the corner to put the visitors in front by 7 points to 8.
Narberth fought back and after a series of penalties and scrums on the Ystalyfera 5 metre line, the Otters eventually gained a push over try scored by No.8 Roy Osborn which Gale failed to convert (12-8). There was no further score before half time.
Narberth started the second half increasing the tempo of the game and spent a considerable amount of time close to the visitors try line but were unable to penetrate Ystalyfera’s dogged defence. There had been problems at the scrum all afternoon and eventually the referee lost his patience and gave yellow cards to George Rossiter and the visitors tight head prop. Lewis Davies who has unfortunately been injured for most of the season replaced Rossiter for the Otters.
Eventually Narberth’s constant pressure told and left wing Ashley Sutton strolled over in the corner for a try which was converted by Gale to extend the lead to 19-8.
Narberth nearly scored another try when Gibby, now playing on the wing, scorched down the touchline but his inside pass to supporting centre Ilan Phillips was intercepted by the visitors flanker who took the ball into touch close to the ‘Fera line. From the ensuing lineout Narberth constructed a rolling maul and No.8 Osborn dived over the line for his second try increasing the score to 24-8.
Narberth made several changes at this point bringing on Kyle Hamer, Josh Hamer and Harvey Jones. With his first touch of the ball Jones was on hand to take an inside pass from Gibby and cross over the line for another try converted by Gale (31-8).
The visitors were now struggling to keep up with the pace of the game and more Narberth pressure resulted in Ilan Phillips taking a finely timed inside pass from flanker Richie Rees. He side-stepped the full back and went in under the posts for Narberth’s sixth try again converted by Gale (38-8).
A penalty on the half way line was quickly taken by scrum half Ben Thomas, he passed to Gale and then on to Gibby who raced down the wing, stepped inside the covering defence and scored the final try to bring the score to 43-8 in favour of the Otters.
