BALA 31

PWLLHELI 15

A WINNING end to a promising campaign.

That's what was experienced by the lads from Maes Gwyniad last weekend.

Seven days on from the disappointment of losing out to Pwllheli in the final of the North Wales Cup, Bala took on their Gwynedd rivals once again to conclude their WRU League Division One (North) campaign.

Bala gained a modicum of revenge for the cup final loss by picking up a bonus point from their 31-15 home success.

"It's good to get the season finished," said Bala chairman Tony Parry.

"We are on tour in Berlin next weekend and we are looking forward to it."

As for the match itself, Parry added: "They came with a changed team and we changed our team a little bit as well.

"They were up for it at the beginning, but we just ground them down in the end."

As with the previous weekend, it was Pwllheli who made the better start.

Bala spurned a couple of early penalties, while some errors played their part as the visitors went into the break 15-10 ahead.

Similar to the North Wales Cup final, Bala came storming back after the break and they crossed for a further three tries to complete their 18th win in 22 matches this season.

The tries from the hosts were shared by Owain Aled, Dochan Roberts, Owain Puw and Miallt Roberts.

Rhydian Jones converted all four of the tries and he also added a penalty into the mix.

Concentrating on what promises to be a bright future for the club, Parry added: "There were only three lads over the age of 25 in the cup final and last weekend, we only had two lads over 25.

"Fair play, both teams tried to play rugby on the day."

Saturday's match was the last game as Bala captain for the inspirational Ilan Rowlands and he was able to lead his side to a third-placed finish in Division One (North), just a point adrift of runners-up Pwllheli.