DINBYCH 17

BRO FFESTINIOG 12

DETERMINED Dinbych have managed to claim their first win of the season.

Giving a gritty performance, Dinbych gained a hard earned victory over Bro Ffestiniog, who led at the interval having had the better of the first half play.

In the second half, the visitors were forced to concede a sequence of penalties as they had to defend against growing Dinbych pressure, with full back Gruff Roberts punishing them by kicking four penalty goals to secure Dinbych's first victory of the season.

Dinbych started poorly with unforced errors both in attack and defence allowing Bro to take the lead in the fifth minute.

Prop Jordan Rye went over for an unconverted try after a quickly taken tap penalty just short of the Dinbych line.

Bro then had the better of the first quarter with their speed to the breakdown and their more aggressive play in contact creating good attacking opportunities.

They went further ahead in the 24th minute following a ruck near the touchline just outside Dinbych's 22, when centre Aaron Humphreys cut inside and beat several defenders to score a try at the posts, leaving an easy conversion for Jordan Rye.

This galvanised Dinbych to raise their game and they replied with an excellent try from a scrum just inside their own half.

Quick service from half backs Rowan Hughes and Garin Roberts allowed centre Aled Evans to give a cut out pass to Gruff Roberts, whose pace took him clear before releasing right wing Kieran Bonar on a touchline sprint from the 22 to go over for an unconverted try.

Trailing by seven points at the interval, Dinbych's normally solid scrum began to be pressurised by Bro's bulkier pack early in the second half, but this was rectified with the introduction of replacements Harry Collins and Callum Taylor in the front row.

The pack was now winning more possession in most aspects of play, with Gareth Beach and Narmer El Lamie competing well at lineout time.

The pressure began to tell in the 50th minute when Gruff Roberts kicked the first of his penalties from 24 metres when Bro offended at a ruck.

Dinbych continued to press, with replacement centre Loui Lloyd on his first XV debut soon making his presence felt with some strong tackling.

With a quarter-of-an-hour left, Gruff Roberts reduced the deficit to a single point with his second penalty from just outside the 22 near the touchline after Bro offended by handling in a ruck and conceded a further 10 metres for dissent.

The hosts went ahead for the first time in the 70th minute when Gruff Roberts kicked his third longer range penalty after a high tackle.

A break by skipper Tom Seddon in injury time took play just short of the Bro line, where the visitors conceded another penalty at a breakdown for Gruff Roberts to cap an assured kicking display with his fourth penalty to clinch the victory.