JUST one point shy of securing a losing bonus point.

That was the story of the weekend as Ruthin paid a visit to local rivals Mold in their second Division One (North) contest of the campaign.

Ruthin started strongly and after spending a quarter-of-an-hour camped in the home side’s half, centre Nathan Jones kicked across Mold’s try line, only to be obstructed by an opposition player in the chase.

As a result, the Blues were awarded a penalty try.

Mold responded after thus and it was the the Blues’ turn to defend.

After one missed penalty goal attempt, the home side kept up the pressure and were successful with their second kick to reduce the deficit after 25 minutes.

The Blues were having to work hard to keep Mold from scoring again and although they were defending well, Ruthin were unable to get out of their own half.

Just before half-time, Mold scored a try in the corner.

The Flintshire hosts continued to put pressure on their opponents, but there was no further score before the break, with Mold narrowly leading 8-7.

Straight after the restart, centre Nathan Jones slotted over a penalty goal and the Blues were back in front.

Mold responded immediately and after more pressure on the Blues’ defence, they went over for an unconverted try.

Ruthin were beginning to look a bit ragged, losing good ball and not being as clinical in set pieces as they had been at the start of the first half.

The home side scored two further tries to gain their try bonus point and this stretched the lead out to 23-10.

The Blues were not finished yet, however, and after centre Emyr Gwynedd released wing Josh Wilson along the touchline for a fine try, there was hope that the Blues might salvage a losing bonus point.

However, the conversion ended up short of the posts and after a short period of play, the whistle blew with Mold winning 23-15.

Mold’s try scorers were Dylan Payne, Ryan Kirby, Richard Hopkins and Chris Lewis, with George Bryant kicking the penalty goal.