Milford Haven 13 Neyland 16

Mark Riley was the toast of his Neyland team-mates as the fly half slotted a last-gasp penalty that deprived Milford Haven of their first league point of the season.

The scores had been tied on 13-all with just a minute to go when the Mariners were caught offside and Riley pinged over his penalty from fully 40 metres to snatch a verdict that made sure the All Blacks remained in the top five - and kept Milford firmly pinned at the bottom of the table with eight defeats in as many matches.

But home coach Dean Hadley was still up-beat after this Friday evening floodlit local derby because he knew his make-shift side had given their all and came close to a verdict, a fact recognised by veteran Neyland prop Peter Davies afterwards as he admitted that the Mariners deserved at least a share of the spoils on the basis of their first-half performance, where the homesters led by 13-10 and might have had a wider gap if they had taken their chances.

The Mariners had to call veteran fly half Brendan Murphy into action and the 43-year-old showed that he has lost none of his touch - and he might have had a perfect come-back if only his late drop-goal attempt had found the target instead of flying wide.

Ioan Dolling also played his first game of the season as centre partner for Jim Farr, Shane Griffiths helped out at short notice in the back row alongside Andrew Robertson and Mark Wonnacott while Lyndon Griffiths made a welcome return at scrum half after injury so that what appeared to be a player shortage for the match turned out to have several plus points.

But it was the All Blacks who made the better start as Mark Riley sniped over for an opportunist try after being released by half back partner Paul Power 40 metres out. Nicky Greggain, the hero of the previous week with 22 points, missed the simple conversion and after a couple of other misses was replaced as kicker by Riley.

The Mariners were very strong in the scrums but struggled in the linesout as Neyland skipper Chris Busby and Ben Lloyd reigned supreme. But Milford gradually clawed their way back and reduced the deficit with a well-struck penalty by Jim Farr before grabbing the lead when a move established on the training field paid off as Mark Wonnacott picked up at a scrum and fed Griffiths on the blind side for the scrum half to take out the cover and release winger Ian Ashworth on a little canter to the corner.

In an exciting game where fortunes ebbed and flowed, Neyland bounced back for Colin Picton to maintain his recent good form as he stood off and received a canny short pass from Power which allowed him to bustle over from 15 metres.

Milford moved back into the lead with a second Ashworth try that was again unconverted and at the interval were good value for a narrow lead. The second half was evenly contested but the Mariners were rarely able to gain sufficient possession from the key line-out area to make real inroads - and Neyland had the experience of Peter Davies and Tony Busby to join the fray as ball-winners alongside Williams, Chris Busby, Richard Banner, Mark Smith and Adrian Riley.

They switched kickers and Riley pulled them level with a penalty before snatching the win with that late kick to ease the All Blacks through in a match which was superbly refereed by top official Clayton Thomas, which meant that both teams concentrated on the ball when local derbies sometimes result in head-hunting instead!

lThere was further good news for the Neyland camp because prop Martin Dawes suffered only bruising to his neck in the previous game and will hopefully be back in action in about a month - a fact that will delight all local rugby lovers.

Milford Haven: Nathan Young: Grant Bennett; Jim Farr; Ioan Dolling; Ian Ashworth (Craig Thomas): Brendan Murphy; Lyndon Griffiths: Simon Jenkins; Gareth Phillips; Mark Russell (Phil Picton): Carl Allen; Scott Walters: Shane Griffiths; Andrew Robertson; Mark Wonnacott. Replacement (not used): Jack Killingsley.

Neyland: Nick Greggain: Greg Miller; Martin Tamilia; Lee Perkins; Jason Riley: Mark Riley; Paul Power: James Picton (Peter Davies); Richard Banner; Mark Smith: Ben Lloyd (Tony Busby); Chris Busby: Adrian Riley; Colin Picton; Mathew Williams.