DINBYCH 13
RHYL 19
WITH a 12-point advantage from the first leg, Rhyl made sure of their progress into the next round of the North Wales Plate with a well-deserved victory at Dinbych.
Rhyl owed their victory to their more cohesive pack of forwards who worked well in the contact area, forcing Dinbych to concede three penalties in the final quarter, giving Adam Kirby the opportunity to land excellent match-winning kicks from long-range.
Dinbych had enough possession but failed to launch any sustained attacks often relying on individual efforts which failed due to lack of support.
Russ Rowlands’ side started well and took the lead after only five minutes when centre Dan Jones intercepted a Rhyl pass in his own 22 to set off on a long run upfield before he was eventually hauled down just short of the Rhyl line.
Dinbych took full advantage of this pressure position as they regained possession from a scrum for outside-half Dion Howatson to ghost through the visitors’ defence for a try at the posts which he converted himself.
Rhyl replied three minutes later when Dinbych were penalised for detaching early from a scrum on their 22 giving Kirby the chance to land an easy kick.
Although Dinbych had more of the game territorially, the Rhyl forwards were using their bulk and power to good effect at the breakdown and their driving mauls were difficult to stop.
While Dinbych frittered away some good attacking opportunities, Rhyl took the lead in the 35th minute when they broke infield from a scrum on halfway and after breaking through the first line of defence, good interpassing saw outside-half Shacks Ngwenya crossing for a try between the posts which Kirby converted.
Leading 10-7 at the interval, Rhyl were reduced to 14 men after only three minutes of the second half with a yellow card for persistent offending at the breakdown.
This also allowed Dion Howatson to draw Dinbych level with a successful kick from 20 metres.
He put the hosts into the lead seven minutes later with his second successful penalty after another Rhyl handling offence.
As the half progressed, Rhyl began to dominate territorially with too many loose kicks by Dinbych allowing the visitors to launch counter-attacks which kept them in their own half.
It was now Dinbych’s turn to transgress at the breakdown and after narrowly missing with an early sighter midway through the half, Adam Kirby showed his kicking prowess as he landed an excellent goal from 45 metres to draw Rhyl level.
Two further long-range efforts from Kirby for similar breakdown offences by Dinbych gave Rhyl the lead which they held to the final whistle.
On a positive note for Dinbych, this match gave four of their key players their first runouts after medium or long-term lay-offs for injuries in time for the battle against relegation.