Fixture

Clwb Rygbi Dinbych’s first league visit to Tynewydd Road was met with a deluge of rainfall which tried it’s best to hamper a competitive Division 2 North derby.

The hosts mixture of Youth and experienced campaigners performed well throughout and a purple patch either side of half time gave Dinbych plenty to think about before they extended their lead and secured victory.

A Dinbych scrum just inside of Rhyl’s half was the platform for Skipper Dan O’Sullivan to begin an attack as he released Full Back Gruff Roberts on an elusive run towards the touchline. A well measured chip off his left foot was sent towards the Rhyl try line for Club Captain O’Sullivan to chase and out pace the covering defence to open Clwb Rygbi Dinbych’s scoring. 

The Captain then regained his breath and calmly struck the ball between the sticks to put his side ahead 7-0 with 19 minutes gone. 

Once again Gruff Roberts’ footballing skills would provide the assist for Dinbych’s second score of the day, the visiting pack put their hosts on the back foot with a powerful drive from a scrum 7 metres out, before the ball was recycled to the back line. 

Dinbych attacked to the right of the posts before coming back the other way and attacking to their left, a delicate chip from Gruff Roberts looked destined for Wing Findlay Jenkins to touch down and score.

Only for a retreating defender to beat him to it and knock the ball over the line into the in goal area, Flanker Richard Williams was rewarded for his chasing up when he pounced on the loose ball and extended Dinbych’s lead to 12-0 at the half hour mark. The conversion attempt by O’Sullivan just drifting wide of the mark.

From the restart Rhyl looked reinvigorated and kicked well to keep play in the visitors half, a spilt ball by Dinbych gave the hosts a scrum to attack from just outside of Dinbych’s 22. The ball was moved slickly along their backline to the on rushing Winger, who was felled by a high tackle. Rhyl opted to kick for the corner and from the resulting drive Hooker Osian Burt would dive over for a well worked try. An excellent touchline conversion from Tommy Jones would close the score to 12-7.

Dinbych would then lose a man to the Sin Bin following a high tackle from the restart, boosting the hosts confidence and giving Dinbych some uncomfortable moments prior to the referee’s half time whistle.

Rhyl continued to pressure Dinbych by pushing play deep into their 22 during the opening minutes of the second half, in an almost identical scenario to their first try. Hooker Burt would hit his man at the lineout and reclaim the ball at the back of a powerful Rhyl drive to dive over and draw the game level 12-12.

Six minutes elapsed before Dinbych were back in front once again, Club Captain Dan O’Sullivan striking a superb penalty kick in monsoon like conditions to make it 15-12.

From a Dinbych attack well within Rhyl’s 22, the hosts looked to have snuffed out the visitors progress when they turned the ball over and setup to clear the ball away. Dinbych’s Elliott Davies had other ideas as he charged down the clearance kick and pounced on the bobbling ball to score just short of the dead ball line. Club Captain Dan O’Sullivan was left with a simple enough conversion to take his side to 22-12.

A Rhyl scrum perilously close to their try line gave Dinbych’s pack the opportunity to flex their muscles and win the ball against the head, experienced No.8 Dave Roberts then guided the ball over to secure Dinbych’s 4th try of the day and with it the all important bonus point. O’Sullivan’s conversion attempt drifting to the right of the posts to keep the score at 27-12 to Dinbych.

Reminiscent of the game against Colwyn Bay earlier in the month, Full back Gruff Roberts would close Dinbych’s try scoring with a wonderful effort from just within Rhyl’s half.

A secure Dinbych scrum set the platform once again for the hosts, but the slippery conditions made handling difficult as the ball bobbled backwards twice. Reclaiming the ball and accelerating past three defenders, Roberts would take advantage of tired legs to score behind the sticks and gift his Captain an easy conversion to end the game at 34-12 to Clwb Rygbi Dinbych.

Both side’s played their part in an exciting, well tempered local derby, which despite the torrential rainfall gave all present an entertaining fixture to watch.

We look forward to hosting Rhyl at Caeau Les Phillips in December.