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Division 2 table toppers Narberth, who have secured a return to the top echelon of Pembrokeshire football for next season with three games remaining, overcame the challenge of cup holders Johnston 3-1 on Saturday (Feb 22), the game switched from Jesse Road due to the inclement weather, to the Pembrokeshire Sports Village.

The Bluebirds made a flying start when experienced attacking player Jordan Williams fired in a free kick from twenty yards, beyond the despairing dive of Tigers custodian Anthony Bevans, the military man certainly the Johnston man of the match as he made a string of saves during the game, refereed by Keith McNiffe.

Narberth manager Ryan Williams wore a frustrated look as his charges were guilty of losing their discipline and composure after taking the lead, centre back Conor Bowen and left back Ashley Williams shown yellow cards for robust tackles, before fifteen minutes had passed, Johnston centre back Craig Bendall also finding his name in the referee’s black book for a reckless challenge of livewire striker Steffan Williams on 25 minutes.

Ryan Doyle tied the game at 1-1 a minute later as he had the benefit of a marginal offside call from an electric through ball from his captain Joey George, the frontman driving into the penalty area before drawing the Narberth goalkeeper and placing the ball beyond Dan James into the bottom left corner of the net.

Both sides were intent on using their wide players, the fulcrum in centre midfield for Narberth was veteran Morgan Preece spraying passes to Aiden Howitt and Callum Brown which caused moments of anxiety for the Johnston defence, Martin John at full back one who was a calming influence to stem the blue tide, Craig George also one who strived to influence the game.

Irritations flared from both sets of players, McNiffe not fearful to issuing stern warnings to players and at times calling captains to him, as he endeavoured to allow the players to express themselves by playing several good advantages whilst also keeping a lid on the building testosterone levels.

Lucas George and Josh Knapp had their moments for the Tigers as they made ground to the byline, Bowen, Williams, Kyle Quartermine and Brychan David keeping a controlled defensive line to prevent Doyle, Geno Cleal and Callum Rees from benefiting from goalscoring opportunities.

Narberth returned from the half time break showing more purpose in their play and dominated both possession and territory, Jamie Thomas and man of the match Preece gaining supremacy in the key midfield battle ground, Preece having a shot himself saved by Bevans, before he and Howitt set up his captain Williams on 55 minutes for his second of the game.

The blue shirts showed their promotion form to ensure the game didn’t drift from them as Scott Crawford replaced Lucas George and Andre Algieri swapping with Rees for Johnston, in an effort to wrestle the game back to parity, allowing Lewis Boswell to influence the game with an assortment of arrowing passes.

The game was made sage when Bendell, co-manager for the orange shirted Tigers misplaced a pass which former Haverfordwest County striker Steff Williams accepted with glee as he strode confidently into the penalty area unopposed to rifle in the match winning score with a quarter of an hour to play.

Narberth exchanged Thomas with Dylan Davies, Ifan Rees replaced the impressive Howitt whilst the tiring Williams relinquished his full back berth to Jacob Layfield, Tom Richards a straight swap for goal scorer Doyle, the substitute collecting a yellow card within five minutes of his arrival.

The midfield war of attrition which was a positive feature of the second half continued until the end, James Larsen the last Johnston replacement for John, five minutes later, both sets of players and management teams sharing hearty handshakes with each other and Mcniffe, Narberth content that their quest for a league and cup double continues for another day.

Narberth

Dan James, Brychan David, Aiden Howitt (Ifan Rees), Kyle Quartermine, Conor Bowen, Jamie Thomas (Dylan Davies), Jordan Williams ©️ Morgan Preece, Steffan Williams, Chris Brown, Ashley Williams (Jacob Layfield).

Substitutes not used
Liam Phillips, Calum Phillips.

Johnston

Anthony Bevans, Martin John (James Larsen), Craig Bendall, Lewis Boswell, Geno Cleal, Callum Rees (Andre Algieri), Lucas George (Scott Crawford), Ryan Doyle (Tom Richards), Josh Knapp, Joey George ©️.

Referee

Keith McNiffe (Pembroke)

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