Mariners finish strong (From Western Telegraph)

Mariners finish strong

Milford Haven 18 Pembroke 7 A superb try by young fly half Ian Rusinek inspired Milford Haven to a hard-fought win over old rivals Pembroke.

They had only led 8-7 at the interval and had to face the Scarlet runners and the elements after the interval.

The Pembroke pack played really well in the first half to limit Milford to that single point advantage with their extended drives into the wind and rain, plus some solid support play and decent handling in the greasy conditions.

But a good try from winger Matthew Reynolds after some quick thinking by Paul Evans added five points to the Milford tally and then Rusinek received the ball behind his own line, dummied a looming tackler, brushed off two other attempts to hold him and sped 100 metres for a try to remember for the talented teenager.

Rusinek had also opened the scoring for The Mariners from a penalty before they lost influential number eight Mark Wonnacott with a damaged shoulder. Pembroke were awarded a penalty try for a scrum infringement that the referee decided had prevented a try, with outside half Gary Pickering adding the simple conversion.

Milford recaptured the initiative when their pack set up a rolling maul from which livewire flanker Matthew Doncaster burst free, drew the last line of defence and put Paul Evans through for a try as reward for his excellent support play.

But Pembroke must have fancied their chances with the elements and slope in their favour for the second half, only for the Mariners to raise the tempo and score a try from Evans' quick thinking with Matthew Reynolds on hand to take the scoring pass on the 22.

Then came Rusinek's splendid effort and his try seemed to kill off Pembroke's lingering ambitions. Player/coach Bruce Evans missed the conversion and was also off target with a late penalty, so although Pembroke lost the match they had some consolation since they were winners of the Ian Jones Memorial Trophy, played for annually between the teams, because they had won at home by 14-0 and so had a points advantage of 21-18 over the two games.

Milford Haven: Bruce Evans; Matthew Reynolds; Rob Kingston; Ioan Dolling; Craig Thomas (Jonathan Coe); Ian Rusinek; Paul Evans; Neil Phillips; Dean Matthews; Darryl Jones; Chris Saunders; Carl Allen; Matthew Doncaster; Anthony Picton; Mark Wonnacott (Alun Harries). Pembroke: Ross McNally; Nathan Hearne; Mark Williams; Nicky James (Andy Dawe); Gareth Lewis; Gary Pickering; Darren Gilbert; Richard Mason; Gareth Jones (Martin Goodrick); Richard Morris; Dai Beynon; Johnny Jones; Owain Johns; Paul Williams (Geraint Lewis); Lee James.