Fixture

The league season resumed following the Autumn Internationals with a derby fixture between Ruthin occupying second position in the Division 1 North table and Dinbych holding up all the others at the bottom. What on paper should have been an easy victory for the visitors turned out to be the opposite as Dinbych with limited set piece possession, fought fiercely at the breakdown and other aspects of play as well as producing a brave defensive display to restrict Ruthin to just two converted tries and a penalty.

It was Dinbych who threatened to score first after Gwern Pierce won a line out in the Ruthin 22 which released outside half Gruff Roberts on a diagonal run which was only halted as he was tackled into touch just short of the corner flag. Ruthin however began to dominate both possession and territory but were held at bay by Dinbych’s fierce resistance. The visitors eventually took the lead towards the end of the half when hooker Liam Davies forced his way over for a try from a short range maul after the visitors took a quickly taken tap penalty. Outside half Deian Williams added the conversion points to give the visitors a seven points lead at the interval.

A similar pattern of play developed in the second half with Ruthin having the lion’s share of play but frustrated by Dinbych’s resistance until midway through the half when prop Steff Simm went over for Ruthin’s second try again from a short range forward maul. Deian Williams again added the conversion points. Dinbych showed what might have been achieved with more possession when wing Kieran Bonar was only halted just short of the line after a break from his own half beating several defenders on the way. Ruthin’s final score came from a penalty awarded for a high tackle which also resulted in a yellow card leaving Dinbych down to fourteen as did Ruthin who had earlier lost a player to a red card.  

With Dinbych still missing a number of injured players they were grateful to welcome John Clouston who made a sound home league debut at full back. Next Saturday they face a difficult task away at Caernarfon who they will be hoping to overturn an early season reverse in a national cup fixture.