DINBYCH 24

NANT CONWY 2NDS 13

HOLDERS Dinbych reached this season's final of the North Wales Intermediate Cup with a hard earned victory over a youthful, but highly motivated Nant Conwy unit.

The home side had to pull out all the stops to gain the verdict in an exciting and pulsating semi-final before a large and vociferous crowd.

In an ideal start, Dinbych opened the scoring in the fourth minute.

Lock David Haydock went over for a try following a driving maul by the forwards from a short-range lineout, with outside half Dan O'Sullivan adding the conversion points via a well-judged kick from wide out.

Division Three (North) frontrunners Nant Conwy soon regained their composure through the driving play of the forwards and clever running by the backs.

They kept possession as they went through multiple phases of play.

In contrast, Dinbych failed to hold on to possession for any length of time and they were second best at the breakdown, where they were often turned over or conceded a stream of penalties.

Despite their possession, Nant failed to make any significant line breaks as they were met by a determined Dinbych defence, with excellent aggressive tackling often forcing the attackers to concede ground.

Nant did eventually reply after half-an-hour when their backs attacked deep into the Dinbych 22 for the forwards to hammer away at the line through their driving play.

Lock Meredith Pyrse forced his way over the whitewash for an unconverted try despite Dinbych's desperate defence.

Nant then took the lead just before the interval when full back Gwion Jones kicked a penalty from wide out, making it 8-7 to the visitors at half-time.

This lead turned out to be short-lived, though, as Dinbych replied in the opening minutes of the second half.

Centre Tom Seddon broke down the narrow side from near halfway to release left wing Kieran Bonar on a touchline run to cross in the corner.

The Conwy Land Rover man of the match then rounded to touch down at the posts to leave an easy conversion for Dan O'Sullivan.

Dinbych were now becoming increasingly dominant, with their pack putting Nant under pressure Nant at scrum time and they gaining good possession from lineouts, mainly through Gareth Beach, which allowed their backs to launch dangerous attacks.

The hosts increased their lead when Nant conceded a penalty close to their line in the corner and from the subsequent five-metre lineout, youth number eight Robin Williams forced his way over for an unconverted try.

Dinbych went further ahead when a long-range attack by replacement full back Gruff Roberts took play to the Nant line, where the visitors were forced to concede a five-metre scrum.

From this, scrum half Garin Roberts first attempted to break infield, but when he was halted he managed to change direction by offloading to prop Gareth Jones, who forced his way over for an unconverted try despite the close attention of several defenders.

With Dinbych now leading by three scores and the tie drawing to its close, Nant Conwy showed their character and determination by throwing everything into a final phase of all out attack.

They gained their reward with a typical try as they went through a number of phases of driving play, mainly through their forwards, with outside half Grant Menin forcing his way over for an unconverted try in the last move of the game.

This was a fitting conclusion to an excellent game, which was a credit to both sides.