Gogledd Cymru 18s 6 Scarlets 18s 22
In spite of recording their 5th loss of this years regional age-grade competition, Gogledd Cymru put up their best display of the season so far,in this hard fought encounter.
Early on both sides struggled to come to terms with the swirling wind that seemed to have settled over Colwyn Bay Rugby Club for the afternoon,with balls being dropped and no real pattern being established to the game,and it was the young North Walians who drew first blood when Alex Schwarz slotted over a penalty and although the Scarlets replied with a try from their scrum-half Aled Davies,Schwarz put the Gogledd Cymru side ahead again with another well taken 3-pointer.
It seemed that this lead would be held until the interval but a quickly taken tap penalty as the last play of the half saw the Scarlets finally string a number of phases together, eventually allowing their massive inside centre,Rheon James,to bulldoze his way over from short-range.
If this deflated the Gogledd Cymru team,they didn't show it as led by their back-row of Ben Powlay,Owen Jones and Tom Parry they continued to harass the Scarlets at every opportunity and it was only with the introduction of their powerful substitutes that the Scarlets finally made the game safe through scores from Kirby Myhill and Llyr Morris.
Although disappointed to lose,this was a major step-forward for the Gogledd Cymru team,who probably for the first time this campaign felt that they had been able to compete throughout the entire game.
They can now look forward with renewed confidence to the final 3 games of the season.
