Otters head into break with bonus-point win
SATURDAY saw Narberth entertain Maesteg Harlequins in the Admiral National Championship in the last match before a well-deserved break.
The Otters were targeting another win to go with five wins and two losses from the first seven games of a particularly difficult opening period of the season.
The Otters have had some terrible injury problems over the last few weeks which resulted in head coach Sean Gale having to name four hookers in the matchday squad.
Indeed, it was a scrappy affair for the first 20 minutes as Narberth made several errors playing against a strong wind and driving rain, and dogged defence by Quins kept it scoreless.
Quins took the lead before Narberth started to pick their game up, and quick blindside bursts by Josh Davies and Lewis Gibby eventually paved the way for a clean break by Davies, who had Ilan Phillips on his inside to canter over for the first try. Fly-half Jonathan Rogers converted.
Some good interplay down the blind led to Gibby racing clear to stretch Narberth’s lead to 12-3.
Despite the strong wind at their backs after the interval, several errors and poor decision making led to a stalemate for the first 20 minutes with both teams losing possession at critical times.
However, some slick interplay by the backs and an excellent running line from Gibby saw him unlock the midfield defence and sprint clear to score in the corner for 17-3.
Narberth could not break the resolute Quins defence until the constant pressure finally told when another attacking move led to the Quins deliberately knocking a ball down and conceding a penalty try.
With Narberth now in total control, an excellent attacking setpiece play saw man of the match Ilan Phillips break through the fragile Quins defence to finally release George McDonald to score the final try of the game.
Full-back Ianto Griffiths converted to round off the scoring.