Last Friday evening the First XV entertained Whitland in the Pembs KO Plate quarter final. After heavy rain for days the pitch was remarkably good, but still heavy and the players had to contend with a wet ball in the heavy rain. The Div 2 visitors were confident they could beat their Div 4 rivals to progress; the winners having a home tie against Div 3 Neyland.
The home side started very brightly keeping Whitland penned in their half, winning repeated penalties at the breakdown, which lead to the home side’s first, converted try of the game from a lineout. Whitland then lost a player to a yellow card at the end of the first quarter. Minutes later Pembroke’s forwards’ built multiple phases allowing No8 Rogers to crash through defenders to claim a second try. Whitland broke back immediately scoring an opportunist, converted try after slack home defensive tackling. In the final minutes of a pulsating half the home side’s forwards again forged a position close in, where a solo run from flanker Walters breached the defence and offloaded for centre Darling to score near the posts to give his side a well-deserved 24-7 advantage at the break.
The second half mirrored the first, in that Pembroke’s forwards were extremely efficient at the breakdown, presenting their backs with lots of opportunities to gain territory. After five minutes, the home forwards again built multiple phases from their own half and winger Pratt was put into the wide right corner. Both sides then lost a player to cards; a yellow to Pembroke and a red to the visitor’s No8. This galvanized a lack lustre Whitland, who scored the next try, after a Pembroke mistake in midfield. During the final quarter the home side’s dominant forwards and backs combined really well to build territorial gains, which lead to their backrow scoring two more tries from scrums close to the visitor’s try line. Whitland did respond by scoring one really well executed try late in the half, but they fell short, leaving the jubilant hosts winners by 39-19, in what was an absorbing and entertaining contest, in front of a large crowd.
The eager Panthers squad, very disappointingly, had another game cancelled last weekend. They are due to travel to Blackwood on Sunday Dec 7 in the WRU National Bowl. During the past weeks the squad has linked up with the Sharks girls teams and held a few really well attended training sessions to build stronger links with their feeder hub.
The Youth entertained a strong Narberth outfit last Friday night in really challenging conditions on a very heavy pitch. The scoreline changed hands many times throughout what was a fiercely contested match, but eventually the ecstatic home side prevailed winning 34-20, which is a huge confidence boost for them, prior to travelling this coming weekend to play Porth Harlequins in the WRU National Shield.
The Junior age groups were out in force across the district last weekend; reports say there were many excellent individual and squad performances, with mixed success.
The Panthers and Sharks players combine for a very enjoyable and useful link training session