Fixture

Colwyn Bay 12 v Dolgellau 15 - match report 
 
Following report kindly supplied by Dolgellau RFC.

Dolgellau travelled to a cold and very windy Colwyn Bay for the North Wales division two return fixture on Saturday last.
 
Playing towards the clubhouse in the fist period, Dolgellau were unlucky not to take an early lead on six minutes when Centre Henri Roberts’s offload, inside the Colwyn Bay’s five-meter area couldn’t be collected. The ball went into touch off a Bay player and the lineout saw another opportunity to pressurise the home team line. Two scrums later and Colwyn Bay’s valiant defence was rewarded with a clearance kick to touch.

Dolgellau’s lineout was working well, and the visitors were soon back down towards the twenty-two before being turned over in the ruck. Another clearance kick by Bay, this time failing to find touch, put Dolgellau back into the driving seat. The home team defence stood firm and payed dividends with a penalty awarded for Dolgellau holding on in the ruck.

This time Bay made good on the clearance kick with a home lineout close to the half way line. The catch and drive worked well from front ball with two phases of forward pressure setting up the backs to move the ball right, only to be spilled by the home team right wing close to the Dolgellau ten metre line. Advantage to Dolgellau, but the clearance kick into the wind was easily caught for a Colwyn Bay counter attack. 

The ball was moved quickly left to the Colwyn Bay number eight, who was caught on the gain line by Dolgellau hooker Celt Lewis. Colwyn then shifted the ball right once more and attempted a kick through on a free play when Dolgellau put in a high tackle. This came to nothing as Dolgellau full back Rob Pugh gathered the speculative kick. 
 
Play was brought back for the penalty infringement and Colwyn Bay made further inroads, with a kick deep inside the Dolgellau twenty-two. Short ball from the lineout saw the Bay openside prop forward gather and set up the phases. This time Bay kept it close to the fringes and Dolgellau were placed under pressure to defend on the back foot. Dolgellau were unable to stem the home team attack and eventually Colwyn Bay’s hooker grounded for the first points of the match close to the posts. A little over thirteen minutes played. The extras were added to put Colwyn Bay into a seven, nil point lead.

Within two minutes of the restart, Dolgellau found themselves back deep in the opposition twenty-two off a penalty kick to touch. The lineout was overthrown allowing Colwyn Bay to gather and relieve pressure with another kick to touch. This time the lineout was caught by openside Iwan Pugh who offloaded to Captain Rhys Roberts to setup a ruck. 

Bay managed to turn over the ball and two phases later, they moved the ball right. The standoff electing a kick to the Dolgellau corner but, the ball was collected by right wing James Owen who launched an excellent 50m touch finder. Colwyn Bay were back first and took a quick throw in. They were unable to clear due to Owen’s follow up of his own kick. Instead the defence put in a way wood kick to the centre of the field which was picked up by Roberts at twelve to launch a counter.

Dolgellau were piling on the pressure, but the ball went to ground off left wing Gareth Hughes. Colwyn Bay picked up and stepped into touch, but play was brought back for the knock on for a Bay scrum. Bay cleared, and Dolgellau’s throw in at the resulting lineout was not strait, relieving pressure further.

Bay kicked the ball deep left towards the Dolgellau twenty-two which was picked up by Rob Pugh, who ran a fine line only to get bundled into touch close to the half way. The home team lineout was working well, and they set up two quick phases at the fringe before moving the ball wide. Dolgellau’s defence was up to the challenge before the referee brought play back for a forward pass of the home team.

Dolgellau moved the ball to the blind side off the scrum, where standoff Jac Roberts placed a well weighted kick deep inside the home team twenty-two to find touch. Rather than exit, Colwyn Bay tried to run through the phases off the lineout. They gained some initial territory but were soon held up by Dolgellau’s Greg Smithies before losing possession in the maul.

Dolgellau countered and were unlucky not to score when outside Centre Gareth Hughes was unable to gather a speculative kick from his centre partner on a penalty free play. A kick to touch and another successful short lineout saw the visitors pile on the pressure once more. Bay were resolute in their defence but could not break out of their back third of the field.

It took thirty-one minutes of play before a Dolgellau penalty on the Bay five metre line saw Jac Roberts setup Danny Evans for a crash ball. Day was brought down but nine Lewis Jones was on hand to supply quick ball to Henri Roberts who put on form captain Rhys Roberts in for a well-deserved try. The conversion missed leaving Bay with a narrow two-point margin.

Colwyn Bay came out strong from the restart and started to make inroads deep into the Dolgellau half. The visitors were able to keep their composure and they defended for the next ten minutes until a Bay scrum on the Dolgellau five metre line gave quality possession to the halfbacks. Again, it was taken up twice before releasing right and finding the home team standoff with one man to beet for a second try at the death of the half. This time the conversion was missed but gave Colwyn Bay twelve points to five lead going into the break.

The home team looked to be sensing a victory and came out of the blocks hard in the second period. Dolgellau dug deep to hold off the attacking play and it took them ten minutes to start to gain the upper hand but gain it they did. 

It was the Colwyn Bay defence’s time to be tested and to their credit, they managed to hold out for the next fifteen minutes. There could have been some calls for the referee to go to his pocket on occasion for infringements in the red zone. Eventually Bay’s defence could hold out no more and Dewi Pugh crossed the whitewash, following an extended period close to the line. Henri Roberts converted to level the contest at twelve all.

The game started to take on a sense of urgency, but Dolgellau enjoyed the territorial dominance. With time running out, light fading fast and the heavens opening, replacement front row Eon Williams managed to pin in a Colwyn Bay tackler on the wrong side of the ruck, to win a crucial penalty five meters from the touchline. The penalty was within the Bay twenty-two and Dolgellau’s Henri Roberts stepped up to slot what was to be the winning three pointer two minutes from time. Colwyn Bay twelve, Dolgellau fifteen.

Colwyn Bay worked hard in the time remaining but were unable to affect any change to the shoreline. 

MOTM Dolgellau Henri Roberts.