Nice tan Gareth!

 
Gareth Edwards plays second row for Tenby United and this little story tells of his attempts to pinch a nice tan from a bottle! He was mercilessly teased by the other slightly paler Seasiders but, nice guy that he is, took it all in great fun!
 
Gareth Edwards is a very good rugby player in the second row with Tenby United and when he turned up at Bierspool for the Seasiders’ local derby against Pembroke Dock Quins his team mates were very impressed by his new tan. They asked him where he had been since their last match. Tenerife? Mexico? Las Vegas?

It was then that our Gareth had to admit that he had tried a fake tan in the midweek so the result was plain for all to see. And were his colleagues still so impressed when they gleaned that information?

Not a bit of it – and we daren’t tell you what they called him on a family-orientated web-site like this. But we will show you a picture of Gareth with his fresh fake tan – and my wife thought he looked rather nice!
 
 

Peter’s a pussy cat for jelly beans!

 

You never know who you are going to bump into in Tesco’s store in Haverfordwest and on one visit some time ago I bumped into Gill and Peter Davies, from Neyland RFC – and was surprised at the key item sitting proudly on top of their full shopping basket!
 
Rugby players are usually pretty tough cookies but it seems that they can be real pussycats when their better halves use their feminine wiles to get them to do jobs they are not keen on. I suppose shopping is one of the tasks that most of us sportsmen hate but it seems that a lovely Neyland lady named Gill Davies has mastered the art when it comes to making sure that her better half pushes the trolley around Tesco’s.

Her feller is Peter Davies, who is known to all as ‘Jack’, because he hails from Swansea, but has given yeoman service to Neyland RFC for many years as a tough front row forward and more latterly as the organiser and driving force of their junior section.

He was seen dutifully pushing a full trolley around the store in Haverfordwest and sitting nicely on top of all the vegetables, fruit and other health foods was the biggest bag of jelly beans ever seen!

It seems that our Mr Davies will only agree to go on shopping trips with Gill on the understanding that he can have such large quantities of his favourite sweet to eat in the car on the way home. Isn’t it nice to see a tough front rower so easily pleased – and so eager to go on his weekly shopping sprees so that he can munch down the jelly beans!


 

Ken shows balance whilst Clive gets a soaking backside

 

Every local sports supporter loves to see things not quite going to plan in pre-match warm-ups and I can vouch for the fact that the one below had Otters’ fans almost collapsed with laughter. And I should know because, to quote Max Boyce, ‘I was there to see it happen!

Ken Davies and Clive James both perform some yeoman work for Narberth RFC on the coaching side and both were in attendance when the Otters beat Pontypool in the Swalec Cup – and causing a chuckle for those supporters who turned up early at the Lewis Lloyd Ground.

That the match took place was due to some terrific work by former players Bill Ridge and Tim Simons in removing the snow from the Lewis Lloyd pitch in midweek, but there was still some ice and snow placed neatly behind the dead ball line at the clubhouse end.

Ken Davies was seen trotting across the snowy area to chat to some pals and when he lost his balance he did a neat pas de deux on his own that would have graced any ballet dancer  before regaining his equilibrium and completing his little trek with a cheeky grin.

Not so lucky was Clive, however, because he was kicking the balls back to a player practising his place-kicking and he slipped in the moist conditions and went onto his backside, to loud cheers from Ken and the rest of us. It wasn’t the fact that he had lost his dignity for a second but because he had a soaking wet bum – but he took the ribbing with a typically cheery grin and even had the good grace with our Ken to pose for a picture straight afterwards!




 

New Satnav needed for Ashley

Getting lost en route to away matches seems to be an occupational hazard for rugby players in our county and the latest we highlight is a talented young player who is already serving the All Blacks well but will surely have a SatNav, or whatever they are called these days in Llanelli!
 
Ashley Mathias is a popular member of the Neyland Rugby squad who is well known for his enthusiasm to play, as he did when the All Blacks played at Amman United in the Swalec Bowl competition recently, but he arrived there a little late after getting the venue mixed up with Ammanford.

Ashley travelled with his mother and girl-friend, who are both keen Neyland fans, and they all journeyed by car.  Peter Davies, who had been on the team bus, received a phone call from Ashley when the team were changing at Amman United, asking how Ashley should find the ground and he duly arrived after being told where to go.

It was only then that it transpired that Ashley had actually got to Ammanford’s ground by mistake, had been in the changing rooms waiting for his mates when total strangers arrived and started getting changed!

Ashley made a hasty retreat and soon arrived to meet up with his colleagues – and was praised by Mr Davies for his typically whole-hearted approach to the game. Ashley had his leg gently pulled after the match by Peter and Co - and his team mates could well be clubbing together to buy him a Satnav so that he doesn’t get lost again!

 

‘Chippie’ creates a new name for Herbie

 


It is easy to make errors with the predictive text on computers, as I know to my cost – and I liked this story about two of the people who still voluntarily put so much into local cricket – and with whom I enjoyed playing cricket in Stackpole!
 
John ‘Chippie’ Harries does a great job compiling the weekly cricket scores, tables and best performances in his role as League Secretary of the Pembroke County Cricket Club, aided and abetted by his side-kick Lyn Smith, from Lynjay Farm in Monkton, near Pembroke.

That the intrepid duo are very much part of the local farming community can be gauged by the fact that when they recently sent out the scores and other cricketing details on a Sunday it had  Herbrandston down as Herberts Moor, a well-known local farm instead of the cricketing village!

But Messrs Harries and Smith quickly had the error spotted, sent out to those who need the details, and had a chuckle about their farming faux pas. As someone who knows how easy it is to make a Freudian slip with the lap top they have my sympathy and to both of them I say keep up the good work that you do for Pembrokeshire Cricket!





 

Iwan forgets his kit – but still scores heaps of runs

It is also the case that young players arriving in senior sporting teams have their legs pulled by more senior players. They are no exception at Cresselly Cricket Club, where they love a bit of fun – but also good to show how youngsters can battle back in the best possible way! Well done Izzy – and it’s great to see you now installed as club captain!
 
Iwan Izzard is proving to be a very promising young batsman at Cresselly Cricket Club 2nds and as the youngster in the team inevitably has his leg pulled by older players like skipper Richard Arthur, Steve Thomas and Matthew Lewis.  This was certainly the case after one recent away match where Iwan turned up, minus some of his kit, and had to borrow some from his colleagues. 

They naughtily told me that Iwan had mixed up his school satchel with his kit bag but I know this wasn’t the case – and it was nice to see Iwan chuckle with them at this gentle leg pull.  But this very talented young player has had the final word with his batting prowess, however, because he’s heavily outscoring all of them and as a teenager has many years of first team cricket to come!

 
 
HAVE A GOOD NON-SPORTING WEEK!