Some more great reports from games played last Saturday involving the clubs of North and Mid Wales.
Bala 6 v 18 Pwllheli
Swalec Plate 2nd Round (h/t 6-10)
The Llyn side travelled to Bala expecting a tough match but needed a win to overcome the disappointment of loosing to Ruthin at home the previous week.
On a wet grassy pitch and drizzly weather with intermitent heavy showers throughout the afternoon, the visitors took hold of this game from the start and were consistently in control with an occasional foray by the home team into Pwllheli territory from clearance kicks or penalties. Discipline was poor, especially in the second half and resulted in two yellow and one red card dished out to both teams - but the game was not nasty, just niggly.
Pwllheli opened the scoring in the first quarter after inserting a lot of pressure on the Bala defence and second row Geraint Parry forced his way over the try line. Nic Butterworth converted. Ruck offences and an offside decision allowed Bala some impression on the score board when outside half Rhydian Jones converted two penalty attempts to give a score of 7-6 to the visitors with twenty minutes on the clock.
The weather deteriorated and the rugby suffered from the slippery ball and wet turf. Pwllheli were within a couple of inches of scoring an opportunist try when centre Brunelli escaped the tackles in mid field following excellent rucking and a turnover by No8 Robat Williams but the centre was brought down. A penalty was eventually awarded allowing the visitors to extend their lead to 10-6 just before half time.
The second half was all defence by the home side who constantly niggled the opposition with innocuous scullduggery which was allowed to fester. A successful Butterworth penalty attempt mid way through the half eased the pressure on the away side and five minutes later flanker and leader Dafydd Anwyl skillfully found his way through the defenders to score a decisive try.
Bala rarely ventured on the opposition territory for the remainder of the match which became progressively indiciplined. The visiting players became more inpatient when the referee ignored a blatant offence when outside half Pugh was about to run under the posts to complete a well executed try in injury time, but was held back.
Play was allowed to continue for eight minutes of additional time at the end of the match and all the play was in the Bala 22m box, but indiscipline boiled over again and red cards issued.
Pwllheli go into the draw for the 3rd round of the Swalec Plate together with Nant Conwy and Bro Ffestiniog. Bala move on to the first round of the North Wales Cup.
Youth League GC1
Pwllheli Youths 42 - 3 Rhyl Youths (5t - 0t)
*****
Abergele 13 v Machynlleth 12
Division Two North fixture
ABERGELE held on in a tense final few minutes to win 13-12 in a close-fought clash away to Machynlleth.
In support of the continued search for April Jones, Abergele wore pink socks and armbands for this game that had to be re-arranged after she went missing in October.
Machynlleth, who had beaten top-of-the-table Denbigh the previous week, started brightly and took the game straight to Gele, winning a kickable penalty which was pulled wide of the posts.
Abergele reacted well to the early onslaught and started to follow their game plan, playing in the Mach half and slowly putting on the pressure.
It wasn't long before the tactics paid off, with a strong scrum from the Gele pack giving some clean ball for the backs, allowing young centre Josh Lloyd to crash over the try line. Gaz Evans converted.
Gele continued the pressure, but a quick turnover from Mach saw them burst up the pitch, evading a number of Gele tacklers to score a try which was not converted.
The rest of the first period saw Abergele playing deep in the Machynlleth half, but a mixture of stubborn defence and poor decision-making meant that neither team was able to add to their score.
Conditions in the second half started to deteriorate, meaning that there was unlikely to be any fast-flowing rugby and so a war of attrition ensued..
Gele managed to come away from the opposition half with points on one occasion, Evans slotting over a penalty.
Machynlleth's winger then intercepted a telegraphed Danny Lawrence pass, and no-one was going to stop him running 60 metres to score under the posts. The conversion was successful, giving Mach a 12-10 lead.
Gele now played tight, direct rugby, taking the Mach forwards on and powering their way up the pitch, winning a penalty directly in front of the posts. The reliable Evans slotted over the resulting penalty.
A collection in support of the search for April Jones was presented to Machynlleth by Abergele after the game.
*****
League Division 6 (South Central)
Wick 5 v Llandrindod Wells 9
Llandrindod ended a somewhat disappointing first half of the season with a good win away at Wick. On a sticky pitch that got muddier by the minute, both sides showed 100% commitment in a tense tussle notable for crunching tackles and a nail-biting finish.
With Llandrindod having the advantage for much of the first half, Wick's discipline slipped conceding two quick penalties to Llandrindod, both kicked by Llandrindod skipper Jac Holden to give the visitors a six point cushion. They certainly needed this when, down to 14 men due to a yellow card, Wick woke up to the situation and penetrated Llandrindod's
defence to allow Jac Richardson to touch down for an unconverted try. This score was a good as it was going to get for Wick as, strangely, scoring penalties awarded to them were kicked to touch rather than to goal even though attempted kicks could well have succeeded,
A frantic period of play close to the Wick line resulted in another penalty for Llandrindod by Holden to increase their lead. This was the sum total of the scores for the rest of the match but the second half more than made up for being scoreless by the tension as Llandrindod presented a solid defensive wall against Wick. The Llandrindod hooker,
Kyle Stevens, and inside centre, Sean Cosgrave were outstanding in defence, as indeed were the rest of the Llandrindod squad, and by their considerable efforts broke up and repelled numerous Wick attacks, even making up lost ground as flanker Geraint Evans used his skill to drive them forward.
Long periods spent in their own half took their toll on the Llandrindod players as both Jonathan Duggan, stand-off, and centre Jac Holden received knocks that looked bad at the time but fortunately, and probably due to the adrenalin running, they continued to play until the final whistle.
Llandrindod now have until 5th January when they host Aberbargoed in the league, their first home game since 20 October!
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