BETHESDA 20

DINBYCH 22

WHAT a win this turned out to be in Dinbych's battle to beat the drop.

With a converted try a couple of minutes from time, Dinbych upset the odds to gain an unexpected narrow victory at Bethesda against the Division One (North) high-fliers.

The visitors owed their success to the grit and determination of their excellent defence, which held out strongly to counter a well-organised Bethesda side that mounted multiple phases of attacking play as a result of their ball retention and good support play.

Bethesda started strongly and they launched a number of attacks deep into the Dinbych half as they kept possession going through a number of phases of play.

Dinbych weathered this initial storm and they went close to opening the scoring when an attack was stopped just short of the line near the left hand corner.

Unfortunately for the away side, they lost influential full back Gruff Roberts with a hamstring injury in the build-up.

Nevertheless, Dinbych opened the scoring after a quarter-of-an-hour when outside half Garin Roberts kicked a penalty from 20 metres when the hosts offended at a ruck.

With defences on top, it took Bethesda until late in the half to take the lead when they counter-attacked from a relieving kick on halfway.

After recycling the ball well from a number of rucks, wing Aaron Roberts went over for an unconverted try.

Bethesda continued to press strongly near the Dinbych line and the visitors were reduced to 14 when right wing Kieran Bonar was yellow carded for a high tackle.

This led to a number of short-range scrums, with Bethesda making their man advantage count with a pushover try.

Number eight Arwyn Griffiths eventually gained the touchdown.

Dinbych responded well and they drew level with a try in injury time by centre Andy Deakin, who burst through several would-be defenders after taking a pass from inside half Jamie Winning after number eight Robin Williams broke from a scrum deep in the Bethesda 22.

Garin Roberts added the conversion points to leave the score tied at 10-10 at the interval.

Bethesda again started strongly in the second half and they continued to have the better of both possession and territory through their combined attacks.

They soon took the lead again when they were awarded a penalty for a high tackle deep in the Dinbych 22.

This was quickly taken for prop Gethin Owen to go over for an unconverted try in the right hand corner.

Denbigh hit back midway through the half when Huw Mars Jones, now playing at full back, took a short inside pass from flanker Shaun Baker to go over near the corner for an unconverted try following several phases of attacks deep into the home 22.

Bethesda again pressed strongly with Dinbych doing well to hold out, but their defence was eventually breached in the 70th minute when wing Ellis Jones went over in the corner from the blindside of a short-range scrum. With time running out, Dinbych now launched a number of attacks before Bethesda conceded a penalty at a breakdown 35 metres out and compounded this by conceding a further 10 metres.

Garin Roberts kicked the penalty to the corner for a short-range lineout, at which Shaun Baker won possession to set up a forward drive.

From this, prop Lewys Eden forced his way over for a try to level things up.

This left Garin Roberts to judge his conversion attempt accurately from wide out for the winning points.

There was still time for Bethesda to launch a final attack from the restart, but they were held out by Dinbych's resolute defence to seal the visitors' first away win of the season.