Narberth 31 pts. Haverfordwest nil

Last Friday evening, the final of the Pembrokeshire Knock Out Cup was played at Bierspool, Pembroke Dock, in front of a good crowd of 1,800, who unfortunately had a fair dampening from a penetrating drizzle.

The arrangements and condition of the ground were excellent and a credit to the committee and members of Pembroke Dock RFC.

Narberth kicked off and quickly foraged into the Blues half to set up a series of attacks, with wing Nick Gale stretching his legs, but finding less space to make ground as the narrower pitch enabled Havefordwest to defend with some solid tackling.

It was after such an attack, however, that Haverfordwest were penalised at the ruck and fly-half Ianto Griffiths for the Otters easily placed his kick between the posts for a three-nil lead.

There followed further attacks, but fierce tackling held back the Otters.

Scrum-half Rhys Lane showed a fair turn of spee , stepping neatly through the defence and passing out to centre Morgan Griffiths, who ran strongly before feeding wing Nick Gale, who once again was brought to ground.

The Otters set up a series of rucks but eventually their onslaught came to nothing when they infringed offside and the Blues were able to clear the danger.

Several further attacks ended through infringements.

Left wing Lawrence Headlam featured in one of these attacks, showing that he was prepared to search for a gap in the Blues defence whilst maintaining a rare turn of pace.

On 20 minutes, the drizzle really set in, creating a slippery, greasy ball for handling.

Minutes later, the Blues were penalised for high tackles and again Ianto Griffiths had no difficulty with the penalty kick.

Play was mainly in midfield and on the half-hour, Haverfordwest were penalised on the halfway line for a trip on a Narberth player. Nick Gale, with his cannonball of a kick, had no difficulty with the long range penalty to give the Otters a nine points to nil lead.

The latter stages of the half saw Havefordwest beginning to gain some possession and momentum, but this time it was the Otters' defence that was resolute.

Just before half-time, Steve Lewis had the chance to score with a penalty for Haverfordwest, but his kick was off target.

Prominent in the first half for Haverfordwest was winger Darren Salmon, with fullback Scott Johnson showing he was not afraid to attack from deep inside his half and varied his game with some neat touch-finding kicks.

The score at half-time was nine points to nil, the Blues defence having continuously frustrated the Otters' attempts to cross the try line.

Havefordwest kicked off the second half, with the Otters playing down the slight slope. Again with tackling by both sides being strong, it was almost 20 minutes into the half before a further score was achieved.

Then the Otters pressed forward into the opposition 22, and a series of scrums put pressure on the Blues pack. From a scrum five metres out, the Otters heeled and lock Alex Jenkins broke from the scrum, moving right and forcing his way over for an unconverted try.

It was not long before Haverfordwest gained a penalty and fly-half Steve Williams kicked to touch to gain a lineout on the Otters' five-metre line.

The Blues won the lineout, but in their eagerness to score, they were called back for a forward pass. and so Narberth were able to clear their lines, with scrum-half Rhys Lane finding touch.

The Otters then took the initiative and attacked strongly through centre Morgan Griffiths and flanker Lewis Wood, with both making many metres before being pulled down.

After this, the Narberth coaches made several changes, with Nio Aini on in place of Calum Tree and fullback Ashley Sutton being replaced by Jason Howells.

A few minutes later, a clever move by another replacement at fullback, Rhys Davies, enabled him to break clear and, when challenged, he passed to replacement centre Jason Howells, who fed flanker Nio Aini who forced his way over for the try, which Nick Gale converted.

The Blues made several changes from the bench to replace the commendable hard-working players.

The Otters brought on Zac France Miller in place of hooker Dan Smith and at tight-head Gareth Jones replaced Sean Lloyd, with Luke Rogers replacing Rhys Lane at scrum-half and Niki Setaro replacing Ianto Griffiths at fly-half.

The third Narberth try was well-worked by their threequarters, with a free-flowing move across the Blues' half, with strong running for Jason Howells to feed Nick Gale, who, when challenged, passed out to Rhys Davies to score an excellent try, with Nick Gale again converting.

The fourth and final Otters try came after flanker Nio Aioni forced the ball clear when challenged and passed to lock Alex Jenkins, who fed captain Steve Martin He sped through a gap in the defensive wall to then feed replacement scrum-half Luke Rogers, who raced clear of the defence to touch down, with another Nick Gale conversion giving a final score of Narberth 31 points Haverfordwest nil.

Whilst the Blues faced a huge challenge, they played with determination and spirit throughout and stifled the Otters' attacks in the first half

In the second half, the effort of continuous tackling took its toll and Narberth had a strong bench of replacements to maintain the pressure.

For Haverfordwest, fullback Scott Jacobs played most effectively and when opportunities occurred winger and captain Darren Salmon attempted several breaks. Their pack stuck to its task manfully.

Narberth solved the challenge of the resolute Blues defence and in the pack Alex Jenkins was always in control at the lineout. They had a most effective back row in Lewis Wood, Calum Tree, replacement Nio Aioni and the sponsors' man-of-the-match Stuart Worrell, who was playing his final game for Narberth.

The squad were delighted to gain their winners' trophies in a season of mixed fortunes in the Championship league and appreciated the support and sponsorship of G.D. Harries and Sons Ltd.

The Pembrokeshire Knockout Cup was presented to elated captain Steve Martin and the trophies were presented to the players by ball sponsor H. (Huw)N.O. Hughes, who originally hails from Narberth.

Later, director of rugby, Jon Dodd, commented that Narberth were pleased to win the cup final. Personally, he had mixed feelings regarding involvement in the competition.

"However, being in the competition we had to win it and we are very pleased to have won," he said. "In particular, Haverfordwest made a game of it, they tackled very well, we dominated the territory, but they tackled very hard and that made for a very good final."

It was particularly pleasing for him, for he had taught a lot of the Havefordwest boys and to see them continue to play senior rugby was brilliant..

"Perhaps, having won the cup, Narberth can move on, since we have such a tough league programme with 26 games, we need to concentrate on that with four clubs being relegated next year," he continued. "Relating to the season just closed, we finished sixth, which was our target. I'm pleased with that, but results did tail off towards the end of the season because of the long list of injuries, so we did not have the run in we would have wanted to enable us to climb into the top four.

"However, if you look at the season as a whole, we have beaten everyone in the top four, except Bargoed, who were worthy winners. Hopefully, we can strengthen the squad for better things next season."

Narberth fielded: Ashley Sutton (Rhys Davies), Lawrence Headlam, Steve Martin (capt.), Morgan Griffiths (Jason Howells), Nick Gale, Ianto Griffiths (Niki Setaro), Rhys Lane (Luke Rogers), Sean Lloyd (Roger Jones), Dan Smith (Zac Franc Miller), Ollie Evans, Adam Clarke, Alex Jenkins, Lewis Wood, Stuart Worrall, Callum Tree (Nio Aioni).