Fixture

Div 2 North Playoff [06.05.2017]

Dolgellau are back in the First division amid jubilant scenes here on the final whistle. But it took a try against the run of play from Dolgellau replacement wing, Carwyn Pugh, mid-way through the second half, when Dolgellau led by only 12-0, to finally give the visitors some breathing space in this, up to then, tense and close match.

The match was another personal triumph for Dolgellau youngster, Henri Roberts, scoring 23 of his sides’ points, calmly handling the pressure of easing Dolgellau ahead with three first half penalties, all from difficult angles, to give them a slender 0-9 half time lead.

Although the visitors were controlling the game amicably, they could not break down Shotton’s resistance and as the half went on, the hosts grew in confidence and began to disrupt Dolgellau’s normally reliable set pieces.   

Shotton  started the second half on fire, and wing  Shaun Kemp  and centre  Huw Sargeant both had tries disallowed by referee Amanda Lattuca, and it took Henri Roberts’ fourth penalty after a quarter of an hour to settle Dolgellau once again, and give them a 12-0 lead. Going into the last quarter, a Shotton attempted clearance was plucked out the air by winger, Carwyn Pugh and his pace saw him sprint home down the left touchline for  the try. Henri Roberts converted  to put the visitors 19-0 ahead.

Shotton were far from finished, and only two minutes later, got their just reward as centre Huw Sargeant finally crossed after several close calls to put them on the score sheet. Stand-off , Steve Ellison converted to make it 7-19.  However from this point onwards Dolgellau were magnificent, and after 35 minutes following a scrum on the home 22, inspirational skipper Gerwyn Thomas

wrong footed the home cover to slip a short pass to centre Henri Roberts to burst through for the score. He duly added the conversion to put the visitors 7-26 ahead.

Almost straight from the re-start Dolgellau replacement flanker Iwan Evans broke free into the Shotton half, and he found centre Gareth Hughes, who has been outstanding all season, on his shoulder to sprint away to score under the posts. Roberts slotted over the conversion to seal a memorable and hugely important, win for the visitors that deservedly sees them return to the top flight in North Wales Rugby.

Referee : Amanda Lattuca

Dolgellau:

1.Dan Hughes,[Arron Brooks] 2.Geraint Evans, 3.Dan Brazier,4.Carwyn Hughes,[Iwan Evans],5.Rhys Roberts, 6.Rob Lewis,7.Marius Jones,[Iwan Pugh],8.Dylan Llewelyn, 9.Jac Roberts, 10.Gerwyn Thomas [capt],12.Henri Roberts, 13.Gareth Hughes,14.Rhys Lewis,[Carwyn Pugh],11.Rob Pugh, 15.Gerwyn Pugh.