Picture shows Alan Hughes from Linney Cooper being thanked by the Chairman of Colwyn Bay RFC for supporting the Club as one of their main Sponsors.
Mold 18 v Caernarfon 26
Caernarfon’s margin of victory in this Swalec league encounter was far in excess of the one point margin ensured a week previously in the Plate competition but the overall performance was generally similar.
Mold came out of the blocks quickly with the flankers break causing confusion in the Cofi defence. An offside call granted wing Luke Jones the opening score with a well-struck penalty.
The Cofis soon responded, forcing Mold into mistakes and pinning them in their own twenty-two. Yet another kickable penalty was quickly taken by tireless flanker Gwilym Jones who charged towards the try line. On being halted just short, Mathew Bohana took up the battering ram role but it was prop Joe Simpson who split the defence to score from ten meters.
With the Cofis believing that they could add to their tally they were soon reminded of the Mold threat when tight head prop Ollie Hughes drifted through the hapless defence and sprinted the further thirty meters to score a try many a centre would have been proud of. Luke Jones added the conversion to grant Mold a five-point advantage.
Good recycling and driving play by Dafydd Roberts and Dylan Parry brought the Cofis to within inches of the try line and the front row theme continued when prop Rhobat John leap over would be defenders with ball in hand to ground with aplomb. Fly half Mathew Thomas struck a fine touchline conversion to edge the Cofis ahead.
Caernarfon then enjoyed their best period of the game with Rhys Evans and Joe Simpson prominent in driving out of defence. Such surges granted the Cofis two further kickable penalties and in form Mathew Thomas duly added the six points before half time.
The Cofis were expected to consolidate their superiority during the second half and things began well when Trystan Gwilym snapped up a lost ball at a scrum. His blindside dart wrong footed the defence and with Dafydd Roberts as a link Iolo Hughes was freed to speed the thirty meters required to ground out wide. Sadly the trickle of points didn’t materialise despite the dominance of Sion Gwyn at the line out.
Mold to their credit rallied well with wing Luke Jones and full back Tom Webb counter attacking dangerously with ball in hand. One Jones attack resulted in a midfield offside call and he bisected the posts to claw Mold back to within ten points. Numerous forced changes disrupted the Cofi flow to an extent and when a spell of pressure could have possibly resulted in a bonus point try it was the sure boot of Mathew Thomas that was elected to add to the points tally.
Mold however still probed and were rewarded with six minutes remaining when a sustained period of pressure finally saw fly half Mathew Condren break through to score close to the posts. Had the conversion been successful the final few minutes could have been testing for the Cofis but as two scores were required the challenge proved beyond their means.
International duties afford a free Saturday next week before the second half of the season kicks off with a home tie against Pwllheli a week later.
*****
Abergele 9 v Rhyl 19
Rhyl came away from Gele with a hard fought win after an entertaining game at Pentre Mawr in which the young Dragons team proved that their defence can be every bit as good as the side's usual expansive style of play.
After a bright start from the visitors, Paul Sellwood went over in the corner thanks to some good interplay from the backs. However Gele then started to use their big forwards to good effect and Rhyl had to dig deep with some superb defensive work on their own line to restrict Gele to a solitary penalty. Indeed it was Rhyl that struck next with a superb solo try by centre Henry Roberts from his own half to make the half time score 12 -3 to the visitors.
The second half started with another sustained period of pressure from Gele. However even though the home side edged closer with two more penalties, the Rhyl line held firm and it was the Dragons who had the final say with a try from prolific scorer Jack Hughes, converted by stand off Callum Bennet. Both sides deserve credit for an excellent game and Rhyl coach Phil Blakoe will be hoping that this performance can help to kick start Rhyl's season.
*****
Mold 2nds 71 v Rhyl 2nds 0
Mike Potter's side travelled with a weakened lineup and found themselves up against a well organised Mold side, who scored 11 tries and 8 conversions. Rhyl were behind 39-0 at half time and the loss of key players such as Geezer Davies early in the second period made their task even more difficult. So it was to their credit that they only conceded 32 points, playing most of the half with two players short.
*****
Rhyl Youth 22 v Pwllheli Youth 5
Rhyl's Youth side played a full part in what was described by the referee assessor as the best game of youth rugby he had seen for a long time.
Rhyl started very brightly with the ball getting spread to the fast wingers. First try from Rhyl came after Matt Jones came off his wing to create the extra man in the backs to create a try under posts for Seb Collenge, converted by Simon Evans. Matty Jones then scored himself with a scintillating run to give his side a 12- 0 lead at half time.
The second half started with Pwllheli putting pressure on the Rhyl try line which ended up with a try for the visitors. But Rhyl responded bwith some great attacking play which ended up with Seb Collenge scoring again, also converted by Simon Evans. A penalty in front of the posts in final minutes wrapped up the game at 22-5.
Denbigh away is next up for Rhyl's youngsters. Man of match was Louis Collenge.
*****
Wrexham 2nds 24 v Colwyn Bay 2nds 12
Colwyn Bay seconds travelled to Wrexham in the latest round of their Clwyd Cup campaign to go down in the last five minutes to two soft tries from their ultimately much more street-wise and experienced opponents.
The Bay were two players short due to a no-show by two of their front row which meant they played uncontested scrums from the start. They conceded a try to give their opponents an early lead but fought back well to get two converted tries from centres Chris Jones and Dougie Graham. Jones converted his own try and scrum half Dewi Hughes converted Graham’s. The Bay were 14-5 up at half-time
An injury to flanker Wes Roberts reduced the Bay’s numbers to 13 and this let in the home side in the second half who scored three more tries (two of which were converted.)
The Bay lads can take heart from a spirited performance which if they had had the numbers and the nous of their opponents would have given them the victory which their commitment deserved.
*****
League Division 6 (South Central)
Tref y Clawdd 0 v Llandrindod Wells 6
The was a slog-fest of a game, enlivened mainly because it was a local derby match but also because both sides were propping up the rest of the League table and there was a lot to play for.
Not that you would have known this from the scoreline. Neither side really looked capable of scoring a try, though in the first half Tref y Clawdd spend most of it in Llandrindod territory but could not get the ball out to their backs efficiently enough to threaten, leaving it to their forwards to make any real progress. In the second half, it was
Llandrindod's turn to dominate territory which they did marginally more effectively than their hosts, but still could not touch down though in the last quarter their forwards were able to push back a tiring Tref y Clawdd pack and allow their backs some space to work, with Dale Wilson and Jonathan Duggan linking well together.
The only chinks of light in the general dourness of this encounter were the two penalties kicked by Llandrindod's Joe Bradley, one in each half, and both well taken from quite wide angles. A try by either side, unlikely though it was for most of this game, would have enlivened the proceedings somewhat and sent the spectators home marginally more satisfied.
Llandrindod have no match this week. Next weekend, they travel to Crickhowell in the League.
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