Travelling down the M4 to the final game against the already known champions of the league Morriston was a tough enough challenge for Chevron sponsored Tenby United, but going there knowing you had also missed out on the second promotion spot, having been in contention for most of the season, presented both coach and players with a huge motivational challenge. The task ahead was not made any easier with a late change to travel plans with players having to pile into cars for the trip and, the final demoralising twist was the very late withdrawal of several key players leaving coach Davies with the unenviable task of taking the field with numerous positional permutations in place and the uncomfortable situation of having just two front row replacements on the bench.
All that to one side, Tenby battled well and showed tremendous fighting spirit and resilience against an outfit buoyed by the tag of champions, and one very keen to go out on a high in front of their loyal band of vocal supporters.
Kicking off, Tenby went on the attack straight away and declared their intentions to run the ball at every opportunity, and in an attempt to stop this ploy, Morriston quickly suffered at the hands of referee Jeff Lake how pinged them for straying off side. Despite the penalty being awarded close to the halfway line, the attempt by scrum half Tom Lewis narrowly sailed wide and Tenby were unlucky not to grab an early lead. The ploy to get the ball wide as soon and quickly as possible nearly back-fired big time when a slick handling movement released wing Jimmy Davies who unfortunately lost the ball in contact and Morriston showed how they could exploit the opportunity by creating a four to two overlap situation, but skipper Ifan Davies somehow got back and saved the day with a superb cover tackle. Not bad considering he was playing second row.
Persisting with their run it at all costs plan, Tenby grabbed the lead when preventing a third or fourth switch of play, Morriston infringed and this time Lewis was successful with his long range attempt putting Tenby a deserved 0:3 up. Morriston were determined to respond in kind but every attempt they made to spin the ball wide fell foul of some determined tackling, with the entire set of Tenby three quarters, backed by their equally determined tackling by the forwards. One bone tingling tackle by Steve Ireland, on fellow centre Ceri Palmer, was worth the admission money alone and lifted the Tenby XV as they knuckled down to the quell the next Morriston attack. Frustration began to creep into the game and the crowd let the home side know that it was about time they got on the score board as they urged them to resort to their forward strength and attempt a series of rolling mauls. Despite this change of tactic, the Tenby defence held firm and the only sniff Morriston got of a score was a wasted penalty attempt by Ceri Palmer for an alleged high tackle.
Tenby were getting more than their share of lineout ball with Ifan Davies and Harry Bolton, being aided by some superb lifting by their fellow furniture movers, and by some pin-point throwing in by hooker Mike Lewis. This source of good possession was extended as they also nicked the odd ball against the throw. Despite all the hard work in the tight, the Tenby eight were also able to be out among the backs and provide the necessary support to maintain the momentum with Wyndham Williams, Mike Lewis and Ifan Davies prominent along with flankers Bolton and Emyr Hughes.
The half ended with Tenby, through the industrious Mikey Georgiau, slicing through the home defence only for his off-load pass to be intercepted. In their attempt to scramble back in defence, Tenby gave away a penalty which was well taken by Ceri Palmer and the scores were level at 3:3 with referee Lake blowing for half time.
That final desperate bout of scrambled defending which had brought the half to an end had taken its toll with prop Johnny Lane being replaced by Damian Hanolan at the start of the second half. Un effected by the personnel change Tenby continued their attacking plan and Jimmy Davies, fielding a speculative kick by fly half Paul Whapham made tracks deep into the Morriston half and killing the ball at the breakdown presented Lewis with an opportunity to put Tenby back in the lead but his attempt sailed wide of the target. Any attempt Morriston made to slow the ball down at the breakdown was being countered by some aggressive rucking by flankers Bolton and Hughes with front row colleagues Lewis and Cray not far behind. Number eight Sam Smith was also active with some typical barging runs as well as the odd crunching tackle, and from one such example had Ben Cray in support to keep Morriston on the back foot.
With the game entering the final quarter, what proved to be the defining moment happened with Smith, attempting to pick-up from a retreating scrum, knocked on. The resulting scrum, awarded to Morriston, saw them attempt to bring their back row into play and although the initial tackle put in by Bolton was effective and legal, the flop onto where the ball and tackled player had come to rest by Smith was not, and referee Lake had no alternative but to yellow card the number eight. In the ten minutes that followed, when the plucky Tenby outfit were down to 14 men, Morriston rattled-up fifteen points and the game was as good as over.
First a concerted effort by backs and forwards stretched the Tenby defence to breaking point with number 10 Whapham slicing through the last line of defence to go over under the posts for a converted try and a 10: 3 lead. The restart by Georgiau went straight into touch, as well as not travelling the necessary ten metres, and from the scrum on the half way the home side exposed the two man back-row situation, that, despite a superb initial tackle by flanker Hughes, ending with a penalty for off side. Palmer extended the lead out to 13:3. With the ten minutes nearly up, Morriston hammered home their numerical advantage as the Tenby seven were shunted back on their put in at the scrum and with the ball “popping” out from the side and neatly bouncing up into the hands of scrum half Richard Evans, he neatly drew the last line of Tenby defence to release supporting flanker Craig Lloyd who slid over wide out. The kick sailed wide, but the 18:3 score line was simply too much for the gallant Tenby outfit.
For the first time in the match the Tenby defence stood off the Morriston attackers and centre Palmer exploited the opportunity to the full as he cantered over for what proved to be the final score of the match. A defiant Tenby side put one or two more concerted attacks together, the pick of which was one that released Dai Meyrick of a wide curving run through the stretched Morriston defence, but lack of adequate support at the breakdown brought a swift end to the threat and Tenby trundled off the field as 23:3 losers which somewhat under mined their solid team performance.
Coach Davies was full of praise for the efforts and commitment of the team and was left to reflect on the “if only” question linked to the yellow card incident as well as what might have been if Tenby had fielded as selected. Focus now falls on the end of season dinner and awards night, when players, coaches, playing management team, club committee, along with supporters, can reflect on what has been achieved this year throughout the club and what will need to be done in close season to mount a more rewarding challenge for next season.
Tenby fielded:, Jimmy Davies, Dai Meyrick, Gavin Brace, Steve Ireland, Arthur M-M, Michael Georgiau, Tom Lewis, Ben Cray, Mike Lewis, Johnny Lane (Damian Hanolan), Ifan Davies, Wyndham Williams (Nick Griffiths), Emyr Hughes, Sam Smith, Harry Bolton.
Other results:
Birchgrove 46 Milford Haven 23
Crymych 70 Pembroke 0
Tycroes 42 Neyland 14