Fixture

With a majority of the players of their last thrilling Dinbych encounter against Caernarfon unavailable the result of this latest challenge against the joint leaders in Division 1 was inevitable. This led to the inclusion of several enthusiastic but inexperienced second team players and even to Club Chairman David Haydock having to come out of retirement to make up the team. However the final scoreline does little justice to a makeshift Dinbych team who gave a spirited performance as they competed well in most aspects of play. Pwllheli however showed why they are in such a lofty position in the league with a well drilled pack having the upper edge in both the set pieces and at the breakdown whilst throughout the side there were strong runners able to break the line whilst their fitness and excellent support play allowed them to maintain momentum to breach an overstretched Dinbych defence as the try count mounted.

Dinbych played against the wind in the first half but surprised their hosts by their play in the opening quarter of an hour as they pressed hard in the Pwllheli 22 with centres Tom Seddon and Aidyn Jones going close with strong runs whilst No.8 Jamie Williams as well as providing good line out possession also sparked attacks with breaks from the base of the scrum.

Pwllheli eventually broke the deadlock with an attack from just inside the Dinbych half ending in a ruck close to the line and the ball recycled into midfield leading to the opening converted try near the posts. Pwllheli then quickly added a second unconverted try following a long break down the right hand touchline halted just short of the line only for them to score from the resulting ruck. Pwllheli finished the half strongly with a burst of three tries, the first from a line out 35 metres out whilst the final two both coming from strong individual counter-attacking breaks then good support play overwhelming the Dinbych defence.

Leading by 29 points to nil at the interval Pwllheli continued to dominate play early in the second half and added a sixth try before finally Dinbych hit back with a brace of tries both of which were excellent solo efforts. Outside half Dan O’Sullivan scored the first after receiving the ball from a maul just inside the Dinbych half he beat several defenders on a strong run down the middle for a try he converted himself. Aidyn Jones added the second from even further out after gaining possession from a maul on the Dinbych 22 he beat several covering Pwllheli defenders on a touchline run to go over wide out for an unconverted try.

The remainder of the match was dominated by Pwllheli as they notched up five tries against a tiring Dinbych defence all of which emphasised the excellent support play which kept attacking momentum going as Dinbych ran out of defenders. Despite the scale of the defeat Coach Russ Rowlands and his coaching team will have proud of the efforts his make-shift side put in making Pwllheli work hard for these late scores.