Following another excellent weekend at Stackpole, the assembled faithful rocked up in force at Pembroke Dock Harlequins, a cosy club boasting the luxury of covered seating, and very reasonable hot drinks and bacon butties etc. With the sun shining, the tourists settled down to enjoy a feast of junior rugby against completely unknown opposition on an interestingly concave pitch, both ends sloping in to the middle. Good for the defence, but uphill all the way to the line!

First up the 12s who treated us to a wonderful display of passing and offloading, backed up by rock solid tackling when it was required. The crowd out-oggied the home contingent and cheered all the way as the Bristol lads racked up 40 points for no response.

After a slight delay it was the 13s turn to take the Welsh challenge, with Pembroke featuring some big chunks. Early play suggested this would be a tough fixture, but in true 13s style, Owen broke out of defence with searing pace to give the home defenders no chance, touching down and converting to put Plain 7 up in just 2 minutes. It soon became apparent that the visitors were up against more than 15 players, as the official continually awarded penalties against them. Quins profited from one 10 metres out to bang in an equaliser, then 5 minutes later won a scrum just inside the Bemmy half, worked the ball wide and tore into the right corner to take the lead. At that point it seemed that Plain were really up against it. Pembroke were on top at the set pieces, their powerful pack having it pretty much their own way at the scrum, and with lifted Quins players winning all their own line-outs, possession could have been an issue for the tourists, however for once the guys were rucking like demons and winning plenty of ball in the loose, and using recycled ball to move upfield. Otto, who was enjoying the opportunity to sling the ball around from behind the breakdown, swung one out to Taylor, then Callum, and quickly right to Jack R, back from a leg injury and keen to prove he's still on it, who stormed away down the wing to touch down, Owen's successful kick restoring the visitors' lead. Both sides continued to have chances in a pretty bruising encounter, then Plain pulled out their best move of the game, Luke, Derek, Kai S and Owen popping the ball around in a fine display of support running, before sending Kai S in under the posts to stretch the away lead. A third clean conversion by 'Toastie' was the final action in the half, with the teams turning round at 12-21.

Plain created some daylight in the scoreline when Luke navigated through the home defence to cross the whitewash 4 minutes into the second period, Owen pegging the extras in a 100% kicking record for the day. Pembroke were not lying down though, and kept the scoreboard (yes there was a scoreboard!) moving as they banged one in the left corner 4 minutes later. An excellent score, but the ref missed a clear forward pass in the build-up (watch the video!) so a bit fortunate for the hosts. No conversion though, which meant Plain were still 2 scores ahead, with a good quarter hour to play. Pembroke were on a charge and looked to release their big units in wrecking ball style on several occasions, however in a really spirited display of defending, the Bristol lads hunted in packs, and managed to bring the big lads down time after time. Derek's evasive running continued to exploit holes in the home defence and at one point looked to have worked his way through for a dash to the line, only to be pulled back for running into touch. Jack R and Owen also made a couple of big attacking runs, stifled by tenacious home tackling. In an exciting and open match either side could have scored again, as it happened there were no further touchdowns and Broad Plain wound up winners by 28 points to 17, a really enjoyable game between two well-matched and very spirited teams. Each squad was asked to nominate a man of the match from the opposition, Plain picking out Quins big number 3, and Pembroke making the award to Derek.

Thanks to Pembroke for their hospitality and a couple of excellent games. Special mention to all the supporters, parents and kids alike, who made more noise than we get to hear at Ashton Gate sometimes. Even the ref commented on it!

There's plenty of action on the videos if I can get them loaded. see how many penalties you can count for either side!Apologies for the shouting and shaky camera work. Also apologies to Luke as I didn't capture your score, which was a shame because I got all the others. Try not to score so soon after half time in future.