An injury-ravaged Ruthin side shorn of several of their stars travelled to a resurgent Bala who had won their previous two games. It started on a bleak grey and drizzly afternoon with the wind whipping down the lake and finished even more bleakly for the visitors after perhaps their least convincing performance of the season.
Ruthin kicked off and soon threatened the Bala line only to lose the ball forward just short. Thereafter they put Bala under prolonged pressure and Jack Wilson eventually touched down in a mass of forwards for the first score of the game, the try not converted. Bala had a newly arrived outside half who had recently flown in from Argentina and he kept Ruthin in Bala territory with a sequence of errors though as the game progressed his game improved markedly and his confidence increased. Following the kick-off that did not go the required ten metres a Bala lock was red carded and Nathan kicked the resultant penalty. It was soon Ruthin’s turn to be reduced to fourteen as a yellow card was flourished for a high tackle and it was Bala’s turn to exert pressure which eventually paid off with a try by Miall Roberts converted by Luis Prado. A penalty awarded near the Ruthin line allowed him the opportunity to kick another three points and the half finished with Bala leading 10 -8.
The second half began with a penalty kicked by Nathan to edge Ruthin back into the lead. Bala then put Ruthin under pressure in their 22 and this eventually resulted in a yellow card for repeated technical offences for Arwyn Davies who otherwise had a storming game. Bala’s Miall Roberts scored another try from the resulting line-out. Despite their extra man advantage for most of the game Ruthin were unable to make further progress due to a catalogue of poor decision-making and handling errors and Bala scored again when David Yates touched down, converted by their exotic number 10. Despite a late surge Ruthin were unable to reduce the deficit and so ended the game without even a losing bonus point to show for their efforts.
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