Ystrad Rhondda 24 Narberth 46

George McDonald produced a man of the match performance for Narberth as the teenage scrum half ran in for a hat-trick of tries in the Otters' 46-24 win at Ystrad Rhondda in the Championship Cup.

Winger Josh Davies also scored a hat-trick as the Otters, having established a 22-17 interval lead, remained in control, with their pack establishing the perfect platform for their talented backs.

Narberth had travelled with several young development players in their team, and it turned into a very entertaining match, with nine tries scored in all.

Winger Nick Gale commenced the scoring with a penalty, which was quickly followed by an Ystrad penalty, kicked by their fly half.

Narberth then won a lineout on the Ystrad five metre line and an excellent cross field kick by fly half Jonathan Rogers saw wing Josh Davies catch the ball and cross for a try in the corner.

Straight from the kick off, the ball was moved to Rogers who attempted a defensive kick downfield, but it was charged down by the Ystrad flanker who collected the ball and scored under the posts. The try was converted to make it 10-8.

Centre Gino Setaro then made an excellent break and was brought down just short of the try line.

From a five metre scrum, however, Steff Phillips picked up and went round the blindside and passed to scrum half George MacDonald who scored in the corner. Gale converted.

Another sniping run by MacDonald from the base of the scrum saw Josh Davies cross in the corner. Gale again converted.

Then, just before the break, the Ystrad full back broke through the Narberth defence and passed to their second row, who ran in under the posts to make the half time score 17-22 to the Otters.

Nick Gale increased Narberth’s lead with a penalty but Ystrad refused to give up.

From a scrum on the Otters five metre line the Ystrad centre crashed through to score under the posts which was again converted to bring the score back to 24-25.

Narberth again rose to the challenge and after a loose kick out of defence by Ystrad, full back Ashley Sutton attacked down the middle of the pitch.

When challenged, he passed to centre Jake Jenkins who in turn released the ball to MacDonald, and he dived in under the posts, with Gale converting.

The Otters were soon on the attack again. A great tackle and turn over by young second row Rhys Williams saw the ball quickly moved to Sutton who kicked the ball ahead and MacDonald (now playing on the wing) was on hand to collect the bounce and score under the posts. Rogers converted.

The final try came when Jake Jenkins made a fine break and slipped the ball to Josh Davies to cross for a try in the corner, which was again converted by Rogers to make the final score 24-46 to the Otters.

This weekend Narberth RFC are at home to Ystrad Rhondda in a league match and this promises to be another thrilling and entertaining match.