Division Three West A:
Neyland 14
Milford Haven 22

THE Mariners came through their highly anticipated derby with Neyland with a win after an intense clash at The Athletic Ground.

An entertaining 80 minutes produced five tries and six yellow cards - although many felt the game was spoilt somewhat by fussy officiating with both sides penalised frequently.

The build up to the derby began early in the week via social media, with many envisaging a much tighter contest than in recent seasons with Neyland showing signs of progress under new player-coach Steve Martin.

And so it proved early on with neither side getting on the board in the opening half hour, before the game turned in Milford’s favour as both Neyland second row Mark James and flanker Craig Power were sent to the sin bin.

Away full back Craig Barnett opened the scoring with a penalty, before The Mariners won turnover ball and flanker Archie Smithies rounded off a series of offloads by diving over in the corner.

Barnett converted from out wide - but Milford then had a yellow card themselves when Dan McClelland was sent to the stands for 10 minutes.

Yet it was the away side who again struck early in the second half when Mark Wonnacott came off the bench to set up Ryan Mansell - and the flanker shrugged off a number of tackles for a try that Barnett again goaled.

But Mansell then saw yellow for The Mariners, as did opposite number David Round, minutes after coming on as a replacement for The All Blacks.

The home side fought back though and ever reliable centre Adam Collins exploited a gap in the Milford defence to cross under the posts, and Sutton added the extras to reduce the deficit to 7-17.

The game was then effectively settled however, by Milford No 8 Sam Dolling, who powered down the touchline for an unconverted try.

The game’s sixth yellow card came when Milford centre Dan Jenkins was penalised for a high tackle - and it was The All Blacks who grabbed the final word when No 10 Sutton jinked through for a try he then goaled, but there wasn’t enough time for the home side to strike again as they frustratingly finished one point off a losing bonus.

Milford head of rugby Bruce Evans said he was pleased with the win, but felt his side are yet to hit top gear.

“Neyland were well organised and they will come good,” he told Mercury Sport.

“We have managed two away wins without hitting the heights - and I hope we can still improve.

“The referee could have let it flow more and was too quick to hand out yellows, but it was an exciting derby match played in front of a couple of hundred people which was good.”

Neyland player coach Martin agreed with Evans’ view on the officiating.

“It had the makings of a really good game but the referee spoilt it,” he said.

“The Milford pack edged ours but overall it was quite an even game and a good derby.

“Overall we are disappointed because we felt like we were close to doing it today but came away with nothing.”

Neither side play this Saturday, having had byes in the first round of the National Bowl competition.

Neyland: Patrick Bellerby, Ben Goodridge, Steve Martin, Adam Collins, Luke Conbeer, Ashley Sutton, Adam Cawley, Jack Harries, Richard Jones, Luke Dawes, Mark James, Gareth Hein, Andrew Slark, Craig Power, Ben Williams.

Replacements: Craig Bennett, Iestyn Bennett, David Round, Mark Riley, Tony Hayman.

Milford Haven: Craig Barnett, Jimmy Thomas, Dan Birch, Dan Jenkins, Jordan Roberts, Jamie Barnett, Dan McClelland, Adam Rees, Luke Ryan, Jamie Parr, Tom Manning, Dai Sweeny, Archie Smithies, Ryan Mansell, Sam Dolling.

Replacements: Mike Cockburn, Matthew Doncaster, Mark Wonnacott, Ben Groves, Efan Morgan.