RUTHIN 14

LLANGEFNI 24

WHILE they were happy to be making a return to action, it wasn't the weekend outcome Ruthin were looking for.

A lovely Saturday afternoon at Cae Ddol saw the first team pitch being playable for the first time since the end of December.

However, the Blues failed to halt their WRU League Division One (North) losing streak against a combative Llangefni side.

It was a game of missed opportunities on the Ruthin side and opportunities taken by the visitors.

The Blues started brightly enough for the first 10 minutes, but they failed to get points on the board when a penalty kick went wide.

The visitors began to work their way into the game and when they pushed Ruthin back into their own 22, flanker Tom Owen went over for an unconverted try.

Llangefni were moving the ball around well and they were rewarded with an odd interception of a Ruthin ball on the Blues' try line, which fly half Greg Horsman touched down.

Wing Rhys Hughes added the conversion points.

After half an hour, the Blues were beginning to look more competitive and from a lineout on the Llangefni 22, the pack drove over the line for a fine forwards' try, with the honours going to flanker Alex Pope.

This was converted by fly half Nathan Jones.

Ruthin started the second half well with a try by second row Deian Lloyd Williams and Nathan Jones' conversion put his side 14-12 ahead.

The hosts weren’t able to hold on to their lead for long, though, and an interception in the middle of the park resulted in visiting centre Richard Foulkes speeding over the try line.

With the scoreline 17-14 in favour of the visitors, the Blues tried to reduce the arrears, but handling errors and infringements reduced their effectiveness.

The final nail in the coffin came in the 75th minute, when the visitors won a penalty on halfway.

From the resultant lineout, flanker Paul Magee nipped over the line for his side's bonus point try, which full back Carwyn Milburn converted.

The final few minutes witnessed a midfield struggle, with the Blues trying to salvage a losing bonus point, but it was to no avail.

The Blues next challenge is at home to Bala tomorrow (Thursday, February 22) in the quarter-finals of the Conwy Land Rover North Wales Cup.