The second team squad completed their season with a 58-51 win over their adventurous rivals, in a tremendously exciting encounter, played in beautiful sunny, warm conditions, on a superb looking pitch at Crickmarren.
The action see-sawed between the respective halves throughout the whole game; young Pembroke flanker Tommy John showed up very well in the loose and scored a brace of well-taken tries, whilst the rest of the tries for the home side were spread throughout the sqaud.
The opposition, however, were far from passive, as the scoreline demonstrates; most of their tries came from broken play and counter-attack moves, which saw the ball moved wide at every opportunity.
Both sides played the whole game with a cavalier end of season spirit, whilst displaying a lot of skill and a determination to finish the season in style, which was really appreciated by the large crowd.
ANNUAL CLUB DINNER
An eclectic mix of over 100 guests travelled to Beggars Reach for the annual dinner to celebrate the past season. The party were treated to some excellent food in beautiful surroundings and after speeches from the club chairman and head coaches, enjoyed an evening of dancing to Steve Briers’ s excellent disco.
The chairman thanked the main club sponsor, ESS SAFEFORCE, for their support, all other kit, match, match ball and on-field advertising sponsors for their continued very generous support, the players and coaches at all age levels throughout the club for their hard work and the entertainment they had provided during a long season and the club’s many officers and volunteers for their unstinting work behind the scenes, which has allowed the club to operate so effectively and efficiently throughout the entire season.
As usual, a number of awards were presented by the head coaches, Geraint Lewis and Kyle Davies. These were as follows.
Player of the Month Shield (March /April) - Will Edwards.
Players Player of the Year - Tom Lewis.
Coaches Clubman of the Year - Matthew ‘Daffy’ Lewis.
Most Improved Player - Jim Brace.
Breakthrough Player of the Year - Tom Kinnear.
Coaches Player of the Year - Jonny Palmer.
Top Try Scorer for the season - Dominic Coleman.
The coaches also reflected on the season’s performances and the disappointing results around Christmas that had cost the team a chance of challenging for the title, having been unbeaten for nearly 12 months prior to these poor performances.
They also praised the younger youth aged players, who had come into the squad and performed so very creditably throughout the entire season.
The chairman rounded off the evening by thanking the ladies’ committee organisers Emma and Jayne, the host venue, everyone for attending, and wished the senior players a good time on their forthcoming tour to Cork and everyone a good summer’s rest.
UNDER 16s at
COUNTY FINALS DAY
Pembroke U16s played Crymych in the final of the Pembrokeshire Cup on Sunday, April 16, at Crymych, after having previously beaten Tenby 23-7 in the quarter-final and Haverfordwest 31-12 in the semi-final. This was the third cup final in five years for this squad of players.
All season, Pembroke have played excellent rugby and the cup final was no different, with the team putting in an heroic performance against a Crymych side who had not lost for three years and fielded eight Scarlets players and the Welsh U16 fullback.
In front of a large crowd, Pembroke had to re-jig their team due to serious injuries to scrum-half Jared Sherratt with a broken ankle and Curtis Palmer with an injured shoulder. This meant Douggie Whitbread started at scrum-half and James Jones in the centre.
The game started at a fast pace, with Pembroke showing the determination, passion and commitment that has been with the team all season.
Playing with the slope, Pembroke were soon on the front foot, taking the game to Crymych, with hard yards being made by Liam Brunton, Theo Davies, Leon Stewart and Shane Gwyther against a big Crymych pack.
This enabled half-backs Douggie Whitbread and James Allen to control the game well and use hard running centres James Jones and Rhys Griffiths to cut good angles and punch holes in the Crymych defence.
Pembroke had the better of the early exchanges and Crymych were clearly rattled. Jon Wood and Med Le Britton Booth worked in tandem to stop the big Crymych ball carriers at source and Rhys Taylor and Ryan Gammer made some excellent tackles in and around the ruck area.
With the first 20 minutes even, Crymych eventually worked their way up into the Pembroke 22 following a series of penalties that had the Pembroke supporters scratching their heads in bemusement and from a lineout their prop forced his way over from close range.
Pembroke responded well with numerous attacking runs, but, as was the case all game, Crymych’s defence was unyielding and held out the Pembroke attacks.
Crymych added a further score in the first half, with the fullback rounding off a well worked moved, taking over three defenders in the process.
Pembroke continued to attack, with wingers Joe Watkins and Johnathan Smith and fullback Harry Turner all going close. However, shortly before half-time they lost their influential, hard-running centre Rhys Griffiths with a dislocated shoulder. This forced a shuffle of the back line, with Rhys Richards slotting in on the wing.
At half-time, the score was 10-0 to Crymych and Pembroke were still in the game.
Pembroke held firm for the first 10 minutes, but then a further injury to scrum-half Whitbread disrupted them. With Crymych mounting more and more pressure, something had to give.
Crymych ran in a couple more tries, despite the hard working efforts of all the team.
But yet again Pembroke bounced back and refused to give up. A superb penalty by Leon Stewart typified the never-say-die effort of Pembroke and some good attacking play almost resulted in a try.
Pembroke brought on fresh legs, with Geoffrey Hickey, Josh Axon, Dewi Roberts, Ethan Stewart and Adam Butland all putting in big tackles, but in the end Crymych held firm, won 34-3 and retained the cup for the third year running.
James Jones was man of the match for Pembroke.
Coach Richard Allen was understandably proud of the team after the game.
“Pembroke had competed with an outstanding Crymych team who are probably one of the best U16s teams in Wales and we held them for 60 minutes. In the end, the number of injuries to the team proved too much, but the whole squad put in a performance that typified the hard-working attitude of the team and they were a credit to Pembroke Rugby Club”.
U12s ENTERTAIN COWBRIDGE
The final game of the season at Crickmarren was played by the U12s, who entertained their Cowbridge RFC counterparts. The Cowbridge squad arrived with a huge reputation, having been Area Champions for the last two seasons and they impressed with their confident, 15-man style, which proved just too much for the home team.
Cowbridge eventually ran out very deserved winners and then enjoyed the warm welcome afforded by the home team management group.
Prior to leaving, the Cowbridge management group thanked their Pembroke counterparts for the friendly and warm welcome, and refreshments that had been laid on by the home parents volunteers.
THANK YOU PIG ROAST
On Friday, June 9, there will be a Pig Roast starting at 7 pm. This is the annual thank you to all of the coaches, first aiders, team mangers, club, kit, match sponsors and all other volunteers who have run, sponsored and supported the club’s teams throughout the season.
BRITISH & IRISH LIONS BREAKFASTS
The club will be open for the whole series of three test matches, which kick-off early each Saturday morning in late June and early July. All members and visitors are welcome to come along and watch these eagerly-anticipated fixtures in a truly rugby-orientated atmosphere.
PRO12 SEMI-FINALS
Watch these in the club in the coming weeks. Leinster v Scarlets and the Munster v Ospreys games present opportunities to watch top-notch action live on the big-screen in the clubhouse. All visitors are welcome to come along and enjoy a friendly