LLANGEFNI 33

RUTHIN 31

THERE was plenty of drama as Ruthin suffered a narrow defeat during a weekend trip to Anglesey.

With both sides scoring bonus point tries and just two points separating the teams after 80 minutes, this match between Llangefni and Ruthin wasn’t for the faint hearted.

The first try came after five minutes from wing Josh Wilson after good work by the Blues centres, but the home side responded almost immediately with a penalty goal from Rhys Hughes.

Ruthin then widened the gap again within five minutes with a well-worked try by centre Jamie Jones, which he converted himself.

The home side came back again and with their quick ball and strong forwards play, they went over the Ruthin whitewash with an unconverted try from number eight Aron Jeffries.

Another five minutes went by and Blues' second row Chris Davies was released over the try line by Ruthin’s backs, with Jones converting.

The topsy-turvy nature of the contest continued and again Llangefni responded and after some pressure, with Hughes kicking a penalty goal.

The score was 19-11 to Ruthin after half-an-hour and for the last 10 minutes of the first half, the game became a bit scrappy and there was no further score.

Straight after the break and Ruthin’s pack was camped on Llangefni’s try line, with hooker Liam Davies stretching over for the bonus point try.

At 24-11, it looked as though Ruthin were in control of things, but Llangefni had other ideas.

In a 10-minute spell, scrum half Aled Jones and hooker Alex Phillips scored a try each.

Hughes converted and he also kicked a penalty goal to push the home side into a 26-24 lead.

The Blues, not helped by some indiscipline, were having to mount a desperate defence against Llangefni’s attack and they then went down to 14 men with a red card.

The home outfit pressed home their advantage and with 10 minutes to go, second row Cai Oliver scored the bonus point try, with Hughes converting.

Ruthin reset themselves after this and in the tense period into injury time, they threw themselves at Llangefni’s try line.

Second row Cameron Lumsden scored, with Jones converting, and then just as Jones was heading for the try line for a certain score, the referee blew his whistle because of a fracas on the far side of the pitch.

Nothing came of the penalty that was awarded and after a few more minutes of play, the ball was kicked into touch to make sure of Llangefni's thrilling win.