Tenby United 10 pts. Felinfoel 38

After an already long injury list grew even more for the GD Harries & Sons sponsored Tenby United last weekend when they lost another three key players, it was never going to be easy as they welcomed high-flying Felinfoel to Heywood Lane amidst heavy rain and almost gale force winds.

Despite the setbacks of recent weeks, the Seasiders remained spirited and although the final scoreline would suggest a one-sided game, it was anything but and the young United side showed much improvement and remained competitive for most of the game.

The visitors opened the scoring in the fourth minute when speedy winger Daniel Thomas managed to squeeze in at the corner for a try which was converted by outside-half Aled Roberts.

Both teams traded blows and looked to entertain the brave onlookers despite worsening weather conditions and they both moved the ball well and proved how tight a contest Division One West is, as for much of the first half you would never have known that the teams are currently at opposite ends of the table.

The Seasiders gained good possession from the hard work of their pack, which was led from the front by stand-in skipper Harry Bolton, who had successfully proposed to his long-term partner Sarah less than 12 hours before and had been granted the green light by his new fiancée to return home early from their trip to Bath to play in the game.

The home side strung together some good phases and looked dangerous as they attacked the Felinfoel defence and in the seventh minute the ball went wide through the hands of the threequarters which put talented young fullback Luke Conbeer into space.

Conbeer pinned his ears back and cantered into the corner, beating three defenders on his way to the touchdown.

Thomas Lewis successfully landed the conversion into wind from the touchline to level the scores at seven-all.

There wasn’t much between the sides for the remainder of the half and, although the visitors managed another try, scored by hooker Rhodri Owen and converted by Roberts, a well-struck Lewis penalty kept the Seasiders in the game and they went in for Mo’s oranges just four points adrift as the scoreboard read 10-14 at the interval.

Injuries sustained during the first half to second row Wyndham Williams and centre Jay Williams, who were both playing well, meant that the two players couldn’t return to the field and were replaced by Ieuan Rowell and Aaron James, respectively.

Straight from the restart, the visitors found themselves deep in Tenby territory and a powerful driving lineout enabled prop Rhys Evans to crash over for an early try which went unconverted.

The two sides battled hard and it looked pretty even again for most of the second half and the Seasiders were joined by experienced scrum-half Will Crockford on the hour after his young apprentice Nathan Lowe had had a solid game.

Another veteran in the shape of Rob Tuttle also took to the field to replace the well-played but injured flanker Marcus Read shortly after.

Despite the United battling hard, they found themselves further behind when Felinfoel notched up another try which was scored by replacement number eight Steff Phillips following another powerful driving maul. The score went unconverted, but the visitors were still 14 points clear of the Seasiders at 24 points to 10 and were looking good value for the win.

The Seasiders’ defence was beginning to be stretched more and more as the game went into the final 10 minutes, especially when the dangerous Felinfoel back three came alive and started to make inroads into Tenby United territory almost every time they had possession.

The roll of the dice dealt the Seasiders a further blow late on when wing Joe Criddle was forced to leave the field after receiving a blow to the head and Nathan Lowe was forced to return to the fray despite carrying a knock of his own.

The visitors ran in two more tries in the dying minutes, with the first coming from fullback Elliot Dawe and the second from wing Martyn Bowles and both of them were converted by Roberts, giving their side the win by 38 points to 10, which didn’t really reflect the efforts that the United had put in or the vast improvements that they have made over the past few weeks.

The United are at home again tomorrow (Saturday) when they welcome Llangennech to Heywood Lane and will be looking to go one better than their narrow defeat away to the Llanelli outfit during the first game of the season.

Kick-off is at the usual time of 2.30 pm, so come along to Heywood Lane and support the boys.

As the second half of the season kicks-off, the United will be looking to put the past behind them and are working hard both on and off the pitch and will look to start climbing up the table and only get stronger as the players that have been missing of late return to fitness to bolster the side.

Tenby United fielded: Luke Conbeer, Jordan Asparassa, Jay Williams (Aaron James), Jack Guerreiro, Joe Criddle, Tom Lewis, Nathan Lowe (Will Crockford), Rob Weston, Marcus Read (Rob Tuttle), Harry Bolton (capt), Wyndham Williams (Ieuan Rowell), Luke Dedman, Ethan Morgan, Wes Bonser (Dan Allen), Scott Payne.