Lawrence stars as Tenby triumph (From Western Telegraph)

Lawrence stars as Tenby triumph

Camrose 1 Tenby 4

Camrose and Tenby dished up a feast of high octane soccer on Saturday in a game of high drama and high skill.

Despite the appaling weather which has played havoc with a host of fixtures over the past few weeks, the pitch was in remarkable condition and both sides went out with a positive intent.

Camrose started off well, as they so often do and pressurised the Tenby defence. Within five minutes they were ahead as their forwards took control and from a corner, John Reagan rose high to powerfully header home.

Shocked by conceding such an early goal, Tenby began to exert their influence on the game. They shored up at the back and took control in midfield with Ricky Morgan, Phil Catlin and James Thomas to the fore. However it was Ryan Lawrence who stole the show as is pace was just too much for Camrose to handle.

In fact it was he who brought Tenby level with perhaps one of the greatest individual goals seen in Pembrokeshire over the past couple of years. It's a shame that there wasn't any television cameras there on the day as it was a goal of such flair and vision that only a series of television replays could do it justice.

Tenby keeper Dewi Davies kicked the ball up field and Lawrence, despite being hounded by the Camrose defence on the half way line, somehow flicked the ball through his legs, turned sharply and used his pace to get away from Reagan.

Trevor Wright came out of his goal to narrow the angle but it made little difference as Lawrence picked his spot and struck the ball nonchalantly into the back of the net.

Shocked by this piece of of individual brilliance, Camrose were unable to raise their game back to the levels they showed at the start of the match and Tenby took control.

Soon after they drew level, they nearly scored again as Lawrence delivered a cross in from the right but Morgan was unable to convert. Despite virtually attacking the Camrose goal at will, the home side did have their chances with the dangerous Mike Venables having the best opportunity as he saw Davies off his line and attempted a goal from distance, but despite striking it well, Davies was able to save the day.

Morgan thought he had scored when he struck a powerful shot only from it to rebound off the bar but soon after he made it 2-1 when a free-kick from Dave Rogers landed at his feet and he made no mistake in converting.

Following the break and Camrose came out fighting. They closed Tenby down in midfield with Adie Smith and Steve James standing out and caused Tenby some problems. James in particular proved to be a real menace for the visitors as a series of crunching tackles scuppered any attempts to move forward, while Venables too was a real handful with his pace.

However, despite substitute Anthony Davies having a shot well saved they just couldn't get the ball into the back of the net. Sadly for them, Tenby could.

They increased their lead when a cross in from Phil Catlin dissected the defence and Lawrence nipped in for his second. Soon after and Morgan made it 4-1 with a powerful shot from close range.

While Tenby's forwards were just too quick for the Camrose defence to handle, the home side just couldn't break the visitors down and they were forced to shoot from distance. With the wind behind them this wasn't such a bad ploy and Venables had the best chance as his powerful shot flew just wide.

It was an unlucky moment for the diminutive flyer as he was industrious and skillful throughout, but the day belonged to Tenby and they thoroughly deserved their win in such an entertaining game.