BALA 15

PWLLHELI 29

IT'S becoming a habit that Bala claim the man of the match honours, but miss out on the big prize that is the North Wales Senior Cup.

For the third year in a row, Bala made it through to the final, but as in the previous encounters, they were beaten on the showpiece occasion.

Twelve months ago, Bala's Rhydian Jones claimed the man of the match accolade as his side lost out 32-10 to Pwllheli.

Turning to last Saturday for the final at Bangor and it was Pwllheli who once again lifted the cup.

Yet again, a Bala player was the stand out performer on the day and on this occasion is was skipper Ilan Rowlands.

There was a fair bit of a wait for the opening score, with Pwllheli finally taking the lead courtesy of a penalty in the 20th minute.

Prior to that, Bala will feel they should have been in front and they had the better of the opening 20 minutes.

A couple of kickable penalties were off target, while prop Dave Yates burst through the opposition defence and instead of haring for the line, he checked for support.

After their successful penalty, the cup holders scored two converted tries in quick succession, which opened their lead to 17-0.

Bala responded in the closing five minutes of the half by hammering away at the opposition line, but Pwllheli's defence somehow held firm to maintain their 17-point advantage through until the half-time whistle.

The men from Maes Gwyniad probably felt they had to open the second half scoring to stand a chance of producing a fightback.

However, it was Pwllheli who extended their lead when a try wide out made it 22-0.

A converted try then saw Pwllheli go even further clear and Bala's hopes of silverware were at an end.

Despite this, they kept pushing forward and Bala managed to grab a trio of tries during the closing stages.

Two of them were scored by winger Robin Jones, while prop Dave Yates also crossed the whitewash.