Match reports from games played this weekend involving the clubs of North and Mid Wales.
If you have a match report which you would like to be added to this round-up, please email to gwcymru1@aol.com and it will be added with pleasure
RGC 41 v Bridgend Athletic 6
Following report kindly supplied by RGC News
RGC ran in 7 tries in the victory against Bridgend Athletic, and most of the work was completed in the opening 30 minutes.
Josh Leach was a frustrated figure after the victory as he knew his side had failed to do enough in the 2nd half. “We started reasonably well, and made good decisions with ball in hand playing with patience and scored a really good 1st try. After 30 minutes we claimed the bonus point but then sat back. We all spoke at half time about being ruthless against, in all respect, one of the weaker sides we have faced this season. We didn’t do anything we talked about and put in one of the worst performances in the 2nd half.”
“There was a lack of intensity and accuracy and the half just petered out. Both Swansea and Pontypool put teams to bed with 60 plus point scores, and the boys need to learn to do the same. The small errors we make will cost us greatly in the bigger games.”
It was the visitors that opened up the scoring with a penalty from Lewis Evans before RGC gained control of the game with the some quick work at the breakdown and positive phase play.
The opening try was well worked with James Lang setting up Danny Cross for the touchdown. The second score was more power than finesse with Huw Worthington collecting the try after the rolling maul from the RGC pack. Lang hit the extras.
The direct running of Tiaan Loots was causing problems to Bridgend after he was held up short of the line, the ball was spun across the pitch for Ianto Parri to touchdown. It was bonus point time after 30 minutes when Carwyn Ap Myrddin scored his first try of the game. Young scrum-half Efan Jones created the chance with a quick pick and go before Danny Cross passed to the RGC try machine to go over. Another kick from Lang increased the lead.
Bridgend picked up another penalty from the boot of Evans before RGC were reduced to 14 men with Tim Grey yellow carded.
Even though RGC had wrapped up the 4 tries fairly early in the match overall the game was pretty flat, and Bridgend didn’t really offer anything in attack even with the man advantage.
The 2nd half failed to get going for RGC, but they did score another 3 tries. Carwyn Ap Myrddin got his hatrick and the pick of the scores was one where he showed a good attacking line and amazing pace to race down the pitch.
Overall it was a case of enforced errors, as the home side looked to create chances to early instead of building on the phases. The coaching staff were clearly frustrated pitchside as they watched their players fail to do the basics right.
Substitute scrum-half Cam Davies touchdown near the end with a quick tap penalty to catch the Bridgend defence cold before Danny Cross converted.
A bonus point win is what it will say in the record books, but overall RGC will have to perform much better if they are to work their way up the table in the coming weeks.
Nant Conwy 29 v Llandudno 27 - the Llandudno match report
Following report kindly supplied by Llandudno RFC.
LLANDUDNO ROBBED OF WIN BY A LATE PENALTY.
This match was played in a very competitive spirit by both teams, fast, hard and physical, with no quarter being given.
Llan inserted early pressure on Nant from the first whistle, and it was from a free flowing movement, with a strong break by Ed Weston which split open the Nant defence, that he gave a try scoring pass to Lewis Griffith, with two more points added from the conversion by Ryan Pike.
Nant responded to this in typical Nant style,with Carwyn Ellis scoring an unconverted try from a driving scrum. Territorially Llan had the better of this first half, and it was from a line out just near the Nant try line that they formed a maul, and drove over the try line with number eight Bobby Lee Davies claiming the touch down.
Llan continued to dominate, and were rewarded with a penalty which Ryan Pike converted, giving them a ten point lead at half time.
It was Llan that kept up the pressure on the home side, with their forwards matching the home side pack in open play at rucks and mauls, and it was from the forward platform that they linked up with the backs, taking play up into the home side twenty two area with winger Sam Jones breaking through the defence, with Lewis Griffith being at hand to score his second try of the match, increasing their lead to twenty points to five.
Nant however are a team that always comes back at you hard, and this they did, when from a line out their pack drove Carwyn Ellis over for his second try, with Sion Pringle converting.
Back came Llan who sensed that they had the opportunity the seal a notable win, and it was again from the forwards setting up good ball for the backs, that they took play well in to the Nant half with good handling of the ball, and it was Elliot Crowe that was at hand to take the ball over the try line for their final score of the match, with quarter of an hour of play left.
The home side now realised that the match was now slipping away from them, and in true champions style they raised their game, and secured another five points from a try by Cai Jones with Sion Pringle also converted, bringing them within one point of the Llan score.
Only minutes of play were left, and all that Llan needed to do, was to try and close the match down to win, however the final blow came when from some infringement that the referee awarded a penalty to Nant just on the twenty two, that Sion Pringle with the last kick of the match from the penalty robbed Llan of a win that they have not had against Nant for a number of seasons.
Positive Points Llan are capable of competing at the top level in Division One North, and with each match, they are improving their all-round play.
Match Report by Howie.
Next Saturday away to Llangefni Swalec Cup, KO 2.30.
Abergele 16 v Caernarfon 13
Following report kindly supplied by Abergele RFC.
The visit of Caernarfon was going to be another tough test of character for Gele following a narrow defeat at Bala last week.
Gele’s cause wasn’t helped with the late withdrawal of 4 key players necessitating the coaches having to pillage the 2nd XV ranks.
The visitors set out their stall from the kick off with some excellent 15 man rugby which had the Gele defence spending the opening 10 minutes tackling like their lives depended on it. Gele however soon got their hands on the ball and started to impose their game plan on the game. The educated boot of number 10 Chris Edwards had the Caernarfon back three scurrying back to cover and the slick hands of the Gele backs kept probing and looking for chinks in the visitors armour.
The both sets of forwards battled hard in a very even contest with Simon Hughes shining in the line out and Josh Woods at his rampaging best in the loose. The half time score of 3-3 was a fair reflection of how close the teams were and how well drilled, despite good attacking play from both sides, both defences were.
Gele started the 2nd half the better of the two teams, seeming to believe this was a scalp they could actually take and made countless sorties on the Caernarfon line, but again stout defensive work and an efficient clearing of the line by the Caernarfon defence had Gele having to start again from mid-pitch.
It was from a clearance that Gele crossed the line, the high ball was collected by Rich Medlicott, who was having one of his finest games at 15, he attacked with one of his ghost like runs, beating four defenders only to be dragged down a couple of metres short, the ball was quickly recycled twice and went into the arms of Josh Woods who crossed the line to break the deadlock.
Penalties were exchanged with Ben Jones slotting 1 for Gele and Caernarfon replying with one and the attacking play and strong defence continued from both teams.
Gele then had the break they were looking for a long kick up the touch line seemed to be covered by the retreating defence but a slip and fumble presented the ball for Ed Davies who was following up, he skilfully dribbled the ball over the line and touched down to take the score to 16-6.
The last few minutes were tense, with every player putting in a hard shift in particular those players who stepped up late on Friday, Tomos Coathup putting in some shuddering tackles, Zac Woods who Gareth Davies like, left his scrum half post to cover the wing and Si Hughes & Si Johnston in the forwards.
Caernarfon threw everything at the Gele defence which resulted in firstly Ben Jones ‘taking one for the team’ receiving a yellow to save a certain try, closely followed by James Needham. Caernarfon did eventually cross and converted but it proved to be the last play of the match and Gele this week holding on to their 3 point margin.
Ruthin 41 v Pwllheli 17
Following report kindly supplied by Ruthin RFC.
Ruthin edged themselves off the bottom of the table in this exciting bonus point win against 2nd placed Pwllheli at CaeDdol on Saturday.
The Blues got off to a flying start with an unconverted try by Wing Josh Wilson in the first two minutes only for the visitors’ scrumhalf Nick Butterworth to grab one back, converted by fly half Manu Acebo, 3 minutes later.
The game was fast moving and after Pwllheli missed one penalty goal kick they went further ahead with penalty goal from the boot of wing Osian Parry-Jones after 15 minutes.
Ruthin were putting together some good moves and centre Harri Morgan went over the whitewash twice in quick succession, both tries converted by 2nd row Deian Lloyd Williams, to put the Blues 19-10 ahead after 20 minutes.
Pwllheli tried to reduce the arrears but good defence by Ruthin held them off.
A few minutes before half time in a lovely move on the wing in the visitors 22 centre Kyle Davies offloaded to full back Lewis Isaac who nipped inside for Ruthin’s bonus point try which Lloyd Williams converted. At half time the score was 26-10 to Ruthin.
The visitors came out strongly after the break but after resisting Pwllheli pressure Harri Morgan put his brother Steffan through for the Blues 5th try. Pwllheli were not giving up however and after a period of pressure prop Elgan Davies got their second try.
Lloyd Williams added to Ruthin’s total with a penalty goal but Butterworth went over the line again for the visitors. The gap had narrowed to 34-20 to Ruthin but narrowed no further as Isaac put Wilson through for his second and the Blues 6th try again converted by Lloyd Willaims.
Robin Hughes Jones got the last try of the match converted by Acebo just before full time with the final score 41-27 to Ruthin. Both the 2nds and youth teams won their matches against Abergele and Llandudno so it was a good day at Cae Ddol.
Ruthin play away at Dolgellau in the Swalec Plate next Saturday.
Nant Conwy 29 v Llandudno 27
Following report kindly supplied by Nant Conwy RFC.
Nant yn Ychwanegu at ei Harweiniad o’r Gynghrair
Mewn gornest galed a chlos, fe ychwanegodd Nant at ei harweiniad or gynghrair gyda buddugoliaeth yn erbyn Llandudno o naw pwynt ar hugain, i saith pwynt ar hugain.
Dechreuodd yr ymwelwyr gyda nifer o ymosodiadau cadarnhaol, ac o fewn un munud ar ddeg, roeddent ar y blaen gyda chais gan Lewis Griffiths a gafodd ei drosi gan Ryan Pike. Ar yr hanner awr, ymatebodd Nant gyda chais gan Carwyn Ellis wedi sgrym 5 ymosodol.
Erbyn diwedd yr hanner cyntaf, roedd Llandudno wedi ychwanegu at y sgôr, gyda chais, a chic gosb, i’w rhoi a’r y blaen o ddeg pwynt.
Yn yr ail hanner, gwelwyd yr ymwelwyr yn ychwanegu at ei sgôr gyda dau gais ychwanegol. Gyda Carwyn Ellis, y Capten, yn ysbrydoli’r tîm, llwyddodd Nant i sgorio dau gais i wneud y sgôr yn chwe pwynt ar hugain i Nant, a saith pwynt ar hugain i Landudno.
Gyda Nant yn synhwyro buddugoliaeth, a thîm Llandudno’n gwywo o dan ymosodiadau ffyrnig Nant, fe roddwyd nifer o benderfyniadau yn erbyn yr ymwelwyr am droseddu yn cynnwys un cerdyn melyn. Er holl ymdrechion Llandudno, Nant gafodd y fuddugoliaeth ar ddiwedd y dydd gyda chic gosb lwyddiannus yn chwarae olaf y gêm ardderchog hon.
Sgorwyr
Nant Conwy
Carwyn Ellis - dau gais
Carwyn Davies - un cais
Cai Jones - un cais
Sion Pringle – tri throsiad ac un cic gosb.
Llandudno
Lewis Griffiths – dau gais
Bob Davies - un cais
Elliot Crowe – un cais
Ryan Pike – dau drosiad ac un cic gosb
Nant Conwy Extend Their Lead At the Top of Division One
In a hard fought and closely contested game, Nant Conwy extended their lead at the top of Division One North by beating second place Llandudno by twenty nine points to twenty seven.
The visitors started positively and within three minutes Lewis Griffiths had crossed the Nant Conwy try line. A successful conversion by RyanPike put the visitors ahead by seven points. On the half hour, Carwyn Ellis replied for Nant with a fine individual try after a set scrum. By half time, Llandudno had extended their lead to ten points with an additional try and penalty kick.
The beginning of the second half saw Llandudno scoring two additional tries putting them well ahead. However, showing great determination and spirit under the inspirational leadership of their Captain, Carwyn Ellis, Nant clawed their way back into the game scoring two fine tries to bring their score within a point of the visitors.
The final ten minutes saw Nant exerting constant pressure in the Llandudno twenty two, resulting in a number of professional infringements by the visitors which lead to a yellow card for Llandudno and a victory for Nant with a successful penalty with the last play of this really top class match!
Scorers
Nant Conwy
Carwyn Ellis - Two Tries
Carwyn Davies - One Try
Cai Jones - One Try
Sion Pringle – Three Conversions and One Penalty
Llandudno
Lewis Griffiths – Two Tries
Bob Davies – One Try
Elliot Crowe – One Try
Ryan Pike – Two Conversions and One Penalty
John Parry
Machynlleth 20 v Denbigh 23
Following report kindly supplied by Denbigh RFC.
Forward power sneaks Dinbych to victory
David Haydock and his men travelled down to Machynlleth, the first of three away fixtures to the midlands of Wales.
Dinbych gained a narrow victory over Machynlleth coming from behind several times in a hard fought encounter. The visitors owed their success to their forwards who were led by example by skipper David Haydock who had the upper hand in the set pieces and whose driving play in the loose gained valuable territory.
The centre pairing of Matt Hulse and Aidyn Jones in their differing ways also made inroads into the Mach defence which kept Dinbych on the front foot. For their part Mach themselves had dangerous individual runners behind and they capitalised on Dinbych errors in scoring each of their three tries.
Dinbych started well and were pressing hard near the Mach line in the twelvth minute when a grubber kick was charged down and then booted downfield for outside half Cameron Sandey to win the race to touch down near the posts for Mach’s first try which he then converted.
Dinbych replied four minutes later when David Haydock went over for an unconverted try from a short range tap penalty following a good break by Aidyn Jones. The same player was then caught isolated as Dinbych attempted to counterattack deep in their 22 for Mach to recycle and after moving the ball to the left prop Hedd Wyn Griffiths forced his way over in the corner for an unconverted try.
Dinbych then levelled the scores ten minutes before the interval when No.8 Gareth Price went over for a try converted by outside half Dan O'Sullivan following an incisive break down the middle by flanker Alex Usher.
With the scores tied at twelve all at half time Dinbych fell behind when the referee reversed a penalty forty metres out which Cameron Sandey converted with an excellent kick.
Dinbych were soon back on the attack and took the lead for the first time when Aidyn Jones went over for an unconverted try following a short range scrum. Mach replied immediately from the restart kick again taking advantage of a Dinbych error when flanker Harry Vaughan charged down a relieving kick to score an unconverted try.
Dinbych responded well and began to dominate territorially and forcing Mach to concede penalties as they defended in their 22. This allowed Dan O'Sullivan to kick a penalty from 30 metres when Mach were caught offside and then to kick the winning points from a shorter range effort with ten minutes remaining. It was only desperate defence by Mach which prevented further scores as Dinbych closed out the game for a narrow but well deserved victory.
On Saturday Dinbych have another trip to Mid Wales as they face Aberystwyth University in the Second Round of the SWALEC Bowl competition.
Llangefni Youth 18 v Denbigh Youth 34
Following report kindly supplied by Denbigh RFC.
Hat trick hero Fish helps Dinbych down Llangefni
Prior to the colossal Pool A clash between Wales & Australia, Dinbych Youth journeyed to Anglesey to face Llangefni RFC.
Although the score line and 6 try tally suggested a comfortable win for Dinbych, the team were made to work hard for the victory by a spirited Cefni side.
Highlights of the game included a hat trick for the versatile James Fisher-Jones and a first try in youth team rugby for Prop Lewys Eden. The game also saw another demonstration of Dinbych’s increasing development as a strong scrummaging unit.
Dinbych were in control in the early stages of the game and 10 minutes in a well-timed pass from Wing Jac Sherrington put Centre Gruff Roberts into space to cross for Dinbych’s opening try.
The visitors should then have pressed home their advantage but ill-discipline allowed Cefni to gain territory and eventually secure their opening score of the game with a penalty kick in front of the posts.
Dinbych’s lead was extended after a period of sustained phase play from the forwards with Lock James Fisher-Jones powering over for his first try of the day. Dinbych again showed a lack of concentration after the game restarted and the last play of the first half saw Cefni’s No.8 allowed to break through some poor defence to score their first try. The sides went into the interval with the score finely balanced at 8-10.
The second half started with the home side resurgent after their finish to the first half. Dinbych defended well but eventually conceded a penalty that gave Cefni the lead for the first time in the game at 11-10.
This served as a wakeup call to Dinbych’s players who finally took control of the game by scoring 3 tries in quick succession without reply. A well worked move from the line out saw Dinbych’s backs attack the Cefni try line. Despite fierce Cefni tackling, James Fisher-Jones by now playing in the Centre, stretched out to score his second. The conversion was well taken by Full Back Dafydd Pierce-Evans.
Moments later Fisher-Jones secured his hat trick with a try in almost identical circumstances. Although the conversion went just wide, Dinbych now had a comfortable lead of 11-22. Gruff Roberts sped in for Dinbych’s fifth try to give Dinbych a margin of 16 points and put the game beyond Cefni’s reach.
In credit to the home side, they remained unbowed and scored a consolation converted try.
There was still time for the game to restart. Dinbych introduced Prop Lewys Eden as a late replacement and he made an immediate impact scoring a try in the left corner on his first touch of the ball. Dafydd Pierce-Evans ended the game on a high note with an extremely well taken touchline conversion to give Dinbych a bonus point win at 18-34
Dinbych have a rest this Saturday to prepare for the challenge of visiting Nant Conwy in the Cup on 24 October.
Canton 71 v Llandrindod Wells 10
Following match report kindly supplied by Llandrindod Wells RFC.
League Division 3 East Central B
Canton 71 v Llandrindod Wells 10
Canton's effervescent set of backs scored most of their eleven tries, eight converted, in a game that was not quite as one-sided as the scoreline suggests. Indeed, for periods of the game, Llandrindod were a match for the Cardiff outfit, and were led from the front as always by skipper Geraint Evans, and ably supported by the rest of the forwards though with a number of players unable to travel this week the potency of the visitor's attacking ability was neutered to a certain degree.
Perhaps the most outstanding performance from Llandrindod's point of view was that of Dale Wilson as scrum half. Always a thorn in Canton's side with his breaks and shimmies, there was one startling moment when, from a loose melee, he suddenly popped out of the crowd like a cork out of a bottle and, ball in hand, sprinted most of the 50 metres to the Canton posts only for the ball then to go loose.
Llandrindod's two tries were scored by Jamie Price and Aled Price, the latter playing slightly out of position as a prop rather than as hooker. It was Aled Price who nearly scored again in his accustomed position as unofficial guardian of the touchline, from
which position he has scored many tries, but on this occasion he could not quite make it to the touchdown.
All in all, though, Canton were too strong for Llandrindod, who are still getting used to this League and who, were they able to always field a full 1st XV for away matches, would be able to compete more strongly on those occasions. Perhaps there is a message in this.
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