On an afternoon when only six Asda League matches were played across the whole of Wales, Chevron Texaco sponsored Tenby United served up their best form to date to record their fifth consecutive win and deprive division leaders Llanybydder of their unbeaten and ground record and continue their march up the table. Straight from the kick-off, Tenby alerted Llanybydder to the aggressive type of game they were going to play on a pitch that was surprisingly void of surface water considering the amount of rain that had fallen in the previous 24 hours, as prop Geoff Martin cleanly took the ball and ran it straight back at the on-rushing home forwards. This positive lead was quickly followed by fellow forward Sam Smith, who showed his experienced counterpart, Robert Price, that he was going to be in for a tough afternoon as he bowled him out of the way with one of his now typical rampaging charges. These early forays by two of the youngest forwards in the Tenby eight, set the scene for the rest of the afternoon as the entire pack rose to the occasion and outplayed and outmuscled their experienced opponents and laid the foundation for what turned out to be an excellent victory. The pressure was maintained when a neat move involving impressive flanker Wyndham Williams and play-maker Tom Lewis forced Llanybydder to minor the ball as it rolled over the line following a deftly- weighted chip over the defence from Lewis. Rather than clear the threat from the ensuing 22 drop-out, the home side inflicted pressure on themselves as the ball failed to travel the necessary distance and a penalty from the resulting scrum gave Lewis the first scoring opportunity, which sailed wide of the upright. Despite their impressive league form and 'points for' record, the home side seemed to lack conviction and their game plan seemed to revolve around kicking possession away, an approach that Tenby were more that equipped to handle as they took every opportunity to simply run the ball back at the on-rushing Llanybydder players, or get the ball to Tom Lewis, who returned the kicks with interest. This game plan was even more confusing as Alex Jenkins was dominating the lineout, so this phase, irrespective who threw the ball in, was another solid source of possession for Tenby. In addition to their attacking game, Tenby paid due attention to the need to defend - and this aspect of their play earned them top marks as every player tackled themselves to a standstill, as well as scrabbling for every ounce of possession when the ball was squirting around on the muddy surface. The back-row was immense in this respect, very closely followed by their front row colleagues, who all secured potential dangerous ball and either created attacking pick-up and drive opportunities or simply picked-up and gained the hard defensive yards as they clawed themselves out of the danger area. Not to be outdone, the second row pairing of Alex Jenkins and newcomer Chase Hann were always close to the ball as they supported both attacking and defensive drives, as well as putting in a high number of driving tackles. When Llanybydder did attack, they hit a brick wall in the form of solid tackles, as a well organised and marshalled Tenby defence stood firm, but as you would expect from a team leading the league by a commanding margin, it did not stop with one tackle, it had to be tackle, followed by tackle, followed by tackle. The home side's support play was out of the top- drawer and during one of their many periods of sustained attacking, they took the lead. A series of scrums and mauls on the Tenby line, during which hard-grafting prop Ben Cray damaged a shoulder and was replaced by Mark Brace, eventually saw them awarded a penalty for offside and their experienced number 10, Barry Thomas, slotted the ball over the crossbar for a somewhat fortunate three-point lead as the half drew to a close. Aware that the home side would now attempt to take full advantage of the slope, heavy conditions and favourable and strengthening wind, coaches Kenny Davies and Chris Brace just asked for another 40 minutes of graft and tenacity, all aimed at frustrating the home side. The side were also urged not to take a backward step and, whenever possible, put the league leaders under pressure with straight driving runs, as for the majority of their successful campaign, the home side had only experienced playing attacking rugby against sides that folded under pressure, but during the initial 40 minutes had shown lapses in defence which now needed to be exploited. With this advice still fresh in their minds, Tenby started the half in the same vein as they started the first, with Sam Smith yet again picking-up from the base of a scrum and making the gain-line to set-up a series of drives that pushed Llanybydder deep into their 22. The home side slowly gained the upper hand and attempted to boot themselves out of trouble, but any attempt to establish a foothold in the Tenby half was thwarted, either by some solid tackling by centres Mark Heywood and captain Gavin Brace, or by some crunching gang tackles by the forwards, both ploys releasing ball for Rhys Thomas to feed Tom Lewis, who pegged them back deep in their own half with some superbly weighted kicks, mixed with some booming touch-finders. The continuous tackling was beginning to take its toll and the sprightly Chris Brace replaced a weary Chase Hann. Tenby were unfortunate not to take the lead when an attempted interception by Tom Lewis just slid off the end of his finger-tips with the try line a mere 75 metres away! He atoned for this temporary lapse by sending Llanybydder 50 metres back when a ball against the head in the resulting scrum flew off his right boot and the body language of the home side as they trooped back, yet again, deep into their half spoke volumes for the effort that Tenby were putting in. Their gloom was to turn into a disaster as from the lineout that followed, their back-row seemed more intent on tugging at jerseys and barging players attempting to secure a ball that had come to rest in the mud, leaving number eight Sam Smith to scoop it up and crash over the line for a deserved 5-3 Tenby lead. Rather than rest on their laurels, Tenby tore into Llanybydder from the restart, as Smith cleanly caught the ball and set up an attacking maul which ended with Lewis sending the home side back deep into their own half. A passage of play that followed ended with Mark Heywood, who damaged his hand in a forceful tackle, being replaced by Matt Johnston. Wingers Tom Dennis and Will Crockford got in on the act at every opportunity, with the gangly Dennis striking fear into his opposite number with a blend of high knee/straight running, while the crafty Crockford made up for his lack of real pace by using the chip and chase ploy to turn his opposite number whenever the opportunity presented itself. With the game slipping away, Llanybydder increased the tempo and the dogged Tenby defence was really tested as, using some close inter- passing involving both forwards and backs, the home side attempted to save their proud unbeaten record. Their intent, however, backfired when, from deep in the Tenby half, a dropped pass, forced by some aggressive defending and tackling by the United, saw the ball booted through to the halfway line and scooped-up by second row Alex Jenkins, who powered his way up-field to score wide out, taking the score to 10-3. Llanybydder made several brave attempts to claw their way back into the game, but Tenby were in no mood to surrender their hard won lead and, despite rather harshly having hard-working flanker Wyndham Williams yellow-carded for slowing the ball down at the breakdown, and losing replacement prop Mark Brace with a blood injury, which saw burly Johnny Lane join the fray, they held on until referee Harries blew for time. As the whistle sounded, the on-field celebrations by players, coaches, support staff and the hardy band of Tenby supporters who had braved the adverse weather conditions and the long trek to Llanybydder, spoke volumes for the performance of all 19 players and sets-up the second half of the season as Tenby continue their impressive form. A jubilant Kenny Davies was very proud of his team and congratulated them on a job well done, but reminded them that to gain the full benefit from this tremendous performance they need to maintain this level for the next, and subsequent games, as they start the second half of the season at lowly Hendy tomorrow (Saturday). Tenby fielded: Neil Powling, Tom Dennis, Gavin Brace (capt.), Mark Heywood (Matt Johnston), Will Crockford, Tom Lewis, Rhys Thomas, Ben Cray (Mark Brace) (Johnny Lane), Mike Lewis, Geoff Martin, Chase Hann (Chris Brace), Alex Jenkins, Emyr Hughes, Sam Smith, Wyndham Williams.