Otters brave fight all in vain (From Western Telegraph)

Otters brave fight all in vain

Narberth 15 Caerphilly 19

Narberth bowed out of the Principality Cup at a wind-swept Lewis Lloyd Ground but not before they had given Caerphilly the fight of their lives.

This was especially the case in the first half when the Otters produced quite scintillating rugby into the elements and should have been in front but for a few handling errors and some decisions by referee Phil Fear that baffled the vociferous Narberth support in their jam-packed stand.

A 5-7 half time deficit showed how close the teams were and the Otter camp were confident of making the wind pay after the break - but Caerphilly showed that they might be bottom of the top echelon but have learned plenty against Wales big guns as they held on after the break, even after Narberth had gone 16-13 ahead, to snatch a win that took them into the last eight of the competition.

It leaves the Otters to focus on promotion but it did at least show that they have the capability to hold their own at a higher level, not only on the field but in their excellent off-pitch organisation which saw 136 sponsors and guests, several TV vans and a big crowd well catered for in terms of hot food and drink on a bitingly cold day.

The players also helped warm their support from the very start as they produced a splendid series of 12 different phases that took play to the Caerphilly 22, only for the ref to penalise them at the first scrum.

To be fair to Caerphilly, they weathered the early storm as they used lanky line out men Mark Workman and Paul Jones, plus No 8 Andrew Williams to gain possession - and after ten minutes they took the lead after fly half Luke Richards had booted them into the corner, and from the lineout a strong forward drive removed the Narberth cover and centre John Calderley was able to cut through unopposed for a try near the posts, which Richard converted.

But if the visitors thought they were on top they were soon disillusioned because Narberth set up another series of drives involving Alan Reynolds, Simon Davies, Gareth Bennett, Emori Katelau, Alan Phillips and especially prop Fifitapuku Faletau, who was in his element.

Jamie Bohata and Simon Delaney made several charges and it came as no surprise when the Otters managed to score in the clubhouse corner as outside half Simon Daniel put them there with a well-judged penalty, Katelau won the lineout and Alan Reynolds was driven over by his entire pack for a try which Daniels only just failed to convert.

Caerphilly went close from a tap penalty from Andrew Williams but Andrew Bowen and Tevita Manaseitava were rock solid in defence as well as running strongly into the gale - and the Otters might have taken a deserved lead as Simon Daniel lead several forays and just missed a penalty attempt before Luke Richards put a similar attempt wide for Caerphilly.

Narberth set out looking for the scores that would have taken them to a surprise win, but Caerphilly soaked up early pressure and then scored a soft try after John Whitticombe had been replaced by Simon Crane.

The visitors took a quick tap penalty via replacement scrum half Andrew Jacob which allowed No 8 Williams to plough over in the clubhouse corner.

It was a body blow to be trailing by 12-5 after so much good work but the Otters showed their depth of character as they scored ten points in two minutes to snatch the lead.

Chris MacDonald, who was at his abrasive best in the No 9 shirt, grabbed a try as he twisted out of two tackles and Daniel converted - and the fly half kicked the ball deep after the restart to put pressure on winger Hollo Taufahema, who was adjudged to have knocked on and then penalised for angrily throwing the ball out of the ground.

Daniel landed the penalty and the noise from the stand was deafening. Sadly, the Otters tried too hard to secure good ball from the kick-off and a knock on gave Caerphilly a foothold from which flanker Ben Watkins scored a try which Richards converted.

Narberth tried desperately to claw their way back again but there were some neat touches at the back from Welsh international Justin Thomas and skipper David Hawkins, who organised things while continually chatting to the referee - to the dismay of the home crowd.

Daniel was marginally off target with a long-range penalty and although the Otters brought on fresh legs in Jason Jennings and Meurig Daniel they were unable to score the try that would have given them a deserved win.

So now they can concentrate on gaining a deserved promotion to Division One for next season.

The match sponsor was Euros Hughes, Silverhill Windows, Red Roses whilst the team sponsors were the St Clears Boys. The match balls were sponsored by Woodford Engineering, Narberth; Sinclair Garages, Neyland; Chris Rogers, Pinner; Peter Barrett, Narberth; Allied Health Care, Clynderwen; The Bystanders of Narberth; Vale Steels, Narberth; HNO Hughes and Associates; Greg Morris and Associates; Phil Evans, Builder; Emyr Jenkins and Associates; Nat West Pembs Business Centre, HWest; Professor Dai Morris, St Clears; Haven Business Services, Angle; Garfield Daniel and Associates. Clive James produced an excellent 48-page programme while Sandy and Eddie Mutch managed to feed 136 sponsors and guests as well as looking after regular supporters and the Caerphilly crowd!