Unfortunately, at short notice, due to a death in their camp, Milford Haven informed Pembroke that they were unable to turn out for the league fixture last weekend.
The squad are eagerly anticipating their trip to play COBRA (near Newtown, Powys) in the last 16 of the WRU Bowl Cup competition next weekend. The fully subscribed supporters bus will leave the club at 8.30 am promptly for the long journey.
The squad seem quite relaxed, yet are keen to make a statement against an opposition they know very little about, except from their own and the WRU websites. After talking to many of those signed up to the travelling support last weekend, many are confident that our lads can do a job up there, progress and carve a little history of their own for the club.
Everyone involved with the club has passed on their best wishes to the squad, coaches and management team.
With the Six Nations kicking off soon, the next league games for the senior XV will be St. Davids (away) on January 27, Aberaeron (home) February 17, all kicks-off are 2.30 pm, then Haverfordwest (away) on March 3.
YOUTH XV
The Youth squad entertained a strong Whitland outfit at Crickmarren, led by the son of Dominic Setaro, who showed himself throughout the game to be a chip of the ‘old block’.
The weather was calm, dry and cold, but the pitch remained heavy after the recent wet spell.
The teams agreed to passive scrums from the outset and Pembroke started very well, pressurising the visitors’ line for the first five minutes, but being repelled by some determined defence.
Whitland settled in the next five minutes and mounted a few attacks of their own, only too to be kept out by solid Pembroke defence.
Soon after Whitland forced a scrum five metres from the home line; quick ball saw their bulky, quick number eight pick up, move sideways and drive through a packed defence to open the scoring with a converted try.
Both packs seemed to cancel each other out at times and both sides’ handling let them down on occasions, whilst the packs cancelled each other out in the loose.
Both teams used the chip kick to advantage quite regularly and Pembroke, after 19 minutes, used this tactic and crossed the line, but their try was disallowed for two movements on the ground.
The young, very competent referee, Thomas Carew, had warned Whitland a number of times for killing the ball and being offside in the loose, then after a home attack that took them close to the visitors’ line, he awarded a penalty try for yet another defensive infringement.
This galvanised the home side, who continued to build pressure over the next 10 minutes, but again they were met with resolute defence. Five minutes before the break, another Whitland infringement gave the home side a chance to build a phase of play and centre James Jones showed some deft footwork to create some space to cross for a well deserved try, which went unconverted.
With minutes to the break, Whitland lost a prop for verbal criticism of the referee and Pembroke’s scrum-half likewise received a yellow for a no-arms tackle in midfield.
The half closed after a fairly even contest overall, with the score at 12-7 to the home side.
Pembroke started the second half well, but failed on a number of occasions to protect their possession and generally solid defence from both sides ruled for the initial 10 minutes.
After 10 minutes, Pembroke mounted an attack and some clever dribbling of the loose ball saw winger Kyran Gray race to beat a flat-footed Whitland defence to score an opportunist try, which was converted by skipper Tom Harding Jones, to the delight of the large, vociferous crowd.
Pembroke made a number of changes as the heavy ground took its toll and for the next 10 minutes the teams continued to cancel each other out through dogged defence.
Whitland mounted some clever attacks through their accomplished backline and some strong runs from their big forwards, whilst Pembroke also thrusted into the visitors’ territory, but to no avail; all of this made for a very entertaining and exciting match.
Then after 25 minutes, Whitland backs and forwards combined well to move up the pitch and released quick ball for their number eight to crash over for a very good, but unconverted team try.
This proved to be the last score of what spectators from both sides agreed had been a highly entertaining and well-fought battle, between two very good sides.
Whilst the whole of the home team had worked really well together, there were notable performances by Billy Kinnear (number eight), Tommy John (prop), Hal Gaskell (flanker), Shane Gwyther (hooker), Med Le Britton Booth (flanker), Harry Turner (fullback) and skipper Tom Harding Jones; whilst for Whitland, their number eight and centres were their stand-out players.
This was Pembroke’s last league match and it finished a narrow, but well deserved win for the home side by 19-12, which will give this young side a huge boost and a lot of confidence going into their WRU Youth Cup match at home versus Cwmtwrch on February 17, kick-off 2 pm.
The large crowd showed their appreciation for both sides as they left the field and also paid high praise to the young referee, who had officiated in a very, controlled, mature, sympathetic manner, allowing the action to flow, which allowed all of the players to enjoy a keen contest and really entertaining match.
The Youth teams in the county will in the coming weeks be split into a three Conferences, which will be played out before the end of the season; details will appear in weeks ahead.
The Pembroke players and their coaching team, and everyone at the club, all send their heart felt best wishes to head coach Ross Taylor, who was unable to attend the match last weekend due to illness.
Pembroke’s squad included: H. Turner, J. Watkins, J. Jones, R. Griffiths, I. Cole, K. Gray, T. H. Jones, T. O’Neil, T. Davies, M. Le Britton Booth, H. askell, H. Dawe, B. Kinnear, T. John, S. Gwyther, M. Washbourne, J. Allen, C. Galdo, L. Stewart, L. Brunton, A. Butland.
JUNIOR SECTION
All age groups were sadly curtailed last weekend due to the state of the club’s pitches, but they are all looking forward to resuming fixtures in the coming weeks, after a prolonged break. The U11 to U15 age groups are eagerly awaiting news regarding the outcome of their first round cup draws, which were set out recently by the county committee.
SIX NATIONS
The club welcomes members, friends and all visitors to come along during the tournament to watch the matches.
A Bluestone XV will be taking on the club’s ‘Tigers’ (Second XV) on the morning of Saturday, February 2, kick-off 11 am, prior to watching the Ireland v Wales international on TV in the afternoon.
The game is a charity event in aid of the Bluestone Foundation that donates funds raised through their many activities to local charities, children’s groups and other organisations doing work in the community. Gate entry, proceeds from a raffle and other activities organised by the Foundation staff on the day will all go into the Foundation’s funds. We hope to see lots of people here to support this very worthy cause and to watch the match afterwards.
CLUB GENERAL KNOWLEDGE QUIZ
The quiz scheduled for January 26, will now be moved to another date, as the funeral and wake for long-time member Charlie Webb, who recently lost his battle with a long illness, is taking place on this afternoon. The new date will be listed in the next edition.