Fixture

This match was played at Ysgol Bro Idris as the Marian pitch was unsuitable.  The pitch was very soft after recent rain and the teams made the best of the difficult conditions.  Ruthin started brightly with some good attacking moves but were resisted by the home defence.  Play moved to Ruthin’s half and fly half Gerwyn Thomas put Dolgellau ahead with a penalty goal.  Ruthin looked dangerous in attack but their moves were faltering in the home side’s 22 with some unnecessary penalties being conceded.  Thomas kicked another penalty after 15 minutes and then had the opportunity to kick another but it fell wide.  The dour struggle continued and Dolgellau then conceded a couple of penalties under pressure one of which fly half Nathan Jones kicked over for the visitors after 30 minutes play.  The last 10 minutes of the first half were played in Dolgellau’s half as Ruthin tried to gain ascendancy but the home side’s defence held until conceding another kickable penalty on 40 minutes.   Nathan obliged and the teams went with the score level at 6-6.  The second half was a different affair.  The pitch was looking more like a ploughed field than a rugby pitch and the home side managed the conditions much better than the visitors.  Thomas kicked two more penalties for Dolgellau and although Ruthin had periods of flinging the ball around attractively they were making no headway against a dogged defence and were losing possession too often in a match where possession was key.  10 minutes from the end Dolgellau got the better of a kicking competition and the ball was carried down the wing through the Ruthin defence for winger Rhys Lewis to score with Thomas converting.  The game was played out with no further score with Dolgellau looking the better team and winning 19-6.