Last weekend saw Tenby United secure a well deserved promotion to Division One West, we sat down with coach Andrew Barlow to get his thoughts on this outstanding season for the club - that could be made even better when they face Aberaeron in the Pembrokeshire Cup final. Not only have the Seasiders secured promotion but they also have gone unbeaten at home all season, Heywood Lane has been a fortress or as we've learned it's more commonly know as 'Our House' in the Tenby camp.
Firstly congratulations on promotion a huge achievement, you must be delighted?
Absolutely thrilled with achieving promotion. All involved with the club, both on and off the field have worked exceptionally hard for this. That said, no one has worked as hard as the players. They deserve this recognition and it is great that their efforts have been rewarded.
What’s been the most pleasing aspect of the past season for you?
Probably the most pleasing aspect of the season has been how we have maintained our consistency from the tail end of the 2022-23 season. Our record in 2023 was astonishing, with us only losing 4 games in that calender year. This gave us a fantastic springboard at the start of this season and despite a few bumps in the road we have continued to pick up the victories required to gain promotion. Another thing we as a coaching group are proud of is the integration of the emerging youth talent into the senior team. We have been able to blood a number of youth team players this year and as we continue to do this moving forward, then this can only be a positive for the first team and Tenby RFC.
Heywood lane has been a fortress for you, how important will home form be next season?
Which game stands out from the season which demonstrated you had what it takes to gain promotion?
The game that stands out for me would be the Lampeter at home game. In an epic game for the supporters the 39-37 victory was when I thought we could achieve our goals. We won with the last kick of the game after being some distance behind on the score board and with a number of injuries within the match day squad. The character shown that day was superb. The boys never gave up, never panicked and worked together as a team to work through the difficulties and make the necessary on field adjustments to win a penalty with the last play for us to kick the 3 points for victory.
Looking forward to next season, what are the goals and plans for the club?
Before we contemplate next season I think it's important we do 2 things. First we need to celebrate as a group (1sts,2nds,youth) the league campaign, and recognise the achievements of everyone throughout the season. Secondly we then need to give our cup final opponent's the respect they deserve and prepare for them as best we can. We have 2 weeks to do this, and there will be no stone unturned in our preparation to try and win the Pembrokeshire Cup for the first time since 2017. Once we have done these two things we will then start our planning for next season and fingers crossed I hope we can do ourselves justice in Division 1. What I do know is that the future for Tenby Utd is an exciting prospect.
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