DINBYCH U-14s 29
RUTHIN U-14s 29
A PULSATING Vale of Clwyd encounter at Caeau Les Phillips saw both teams sharing the honours.
In the best traditions of derby games between Dinbych and Ruthin the game was hard, but cleanly fought and both teams showed huge respect to each other.
The neutral spectator will have thought the final outcome was a fair one given both sides’ efforts.
Both teams ran in five tries, with Dinbych’s scores coming from a brace for Harri Evans and one each for Jake Vaughan Thomas, Josh Morris and Gruff Roberts.
Ruthin started with the greater purpose, but it was Dinbych who scored first.
Captain and scrum half Iwan Johnson took a quick tap penalty on the visitors’ 22 and the ball was fed wide to Jake Vaughan Thomas on the right wing to cross for an unconverted try.
Ruthin continued to demonstrate their hunger to avenge their defeat by Dinbych in the season’s previous encounter at Cae Ddol.
On the other hand, the home side demonstrated their ability to switch off in defence.
The hosts were punished for their lack of concentration as some strong running by the Blues’ back row saw them run in three tries in quick succession, with two conversions giving them a commanding 19-5 lead.
Dinbych realised that they faced a rout unless they picked up their game and they fought back in the closing stages of the first half.
Harri Evans picked up from a base of the ruck on the visitors’ 22 and bulldozed through the defence on the left touchline to cross for an unconverted try.
As the interval approached, a huge tackle by flanker Will Morris caused the ball to be spilled forward into the welcoming hands of fly half Josh Morris.
With the advantage being played Morris broke away to cross in the right hand corner.
No sooner had the second half kicked off, Dinbych’s defensive concentration collectively went wandering again and Ruthin ran in another unconverted try to again open up their lead to 24-15.
This served as another wake up call for Dinbych as they went on the offensive again.
A Ruthin infringement in midfield allowed Josh Morris to kick a penalty into touch.
Dinbych won the line-out and drove forward to find themselves held out by a well drilled defence.
Finally, Harri Evans picked up again and broke through a couple of tackles to power over for his second try.
Josh Morris’ conversion brought Dinbych back to within two points.
Dinbych then took the lead for the second time thanks to two examples of excellent individual skills.
A superbly executed reverse pass from flanker Rhys Davies proved to be the key needed to unlock the barrier.
The pass reached the fleet-footed Gruff Roberts, who saw his gap and took the opportunity to run in a well-taken try from 30 metres out. Another Morris conversion meant Dinbych had a 29-24 advantage.
Ruthin were not beaten and with six minutes remaining, they struck back with a try just wide of the posts to bring the score level.
Dinbych’s players and supporters gave a collective sigh of relief as the conversion attempt sailed wide of the posts to leave it tied at 29-29.
A nail-biting last five minutes saw both teams exchanging possession and scoring opportunities, but the game remained deadlocked at the final whistle.
Particular mention must be made of U-13s’ regular Conor Hinchliffe who was drafted in due to the absence of a number of U-14 forwards.
It was a tough test for his first game at the higher age level, but Hinchliffe put in an impressive and mature performance in the second row.