'RGC 1404 Under 17 10 CANADA Under 17 8
RGC 1404 Under 17s pulled off a famous victory at Eirias Parc yesterday afternoon as they held off a committed Canadian side with the result being in doubt right until the final whistle.
The young North Walians got off to a flying start and almost scored in the opening 3 minutes. 5 minutes later they did cross the whitewash when a slick handling move led to Owain Aled ( Bala) touching down in the corner. Although Dion Jones ( Nant Conwy ) was unsuccesful with the conversion, the RGC side was very much in the ascendancy in the opening quarter where the forwards led by Captain Aaron Gwyn ( Caernarfon ) produced a steady stream of ball with which to challenge the Canadian defence. The second RGC try was in many ways a replica of the first with a good backs move leading the ball being touched down in the right hand corner, only this time it was Matt Richards ( Ruthin ) who showed good footwork before putting the ball down.
The second-half saw the Canadians ring the changes and led by their lively scrum-half Riley Locker they began for really the first time to apply pressure to the RGC side, and fittingly it was Locker who scored Canadas try when he forced his way over from a yard out. When Justin Blanchett added a penalty a few minutes later it was a 2 point game with everything to play for. However although Canada continued to threaten it never really looked like they would score again as the RGC defence held out to record a great victory.
Commenting after the game, Marc Roberts the North Wales Performance Manager said,
'" This week has been a great experience for all involved. We have a huge amount of potential in our region and we have made significant strides forward over the last few seasons but its only by playing quality opposition that we can continue this rate of progress. Canada proved to be a totally committed,physical team and I would like to thank them for the opportunity to play them. The result today is a Brilliant one for North Wales and is nothing less than the Players, Management and coaches deserve for there commitment and hard work. However all accept that we still have work to do as the performance today showed that we can still improve on our key skills and be more clinical and disciplined. Having said that the players showed a huge amount of character in the second half to hold on and eventually win the game."
RGC 1404 Under 17 next game is against Cheshire on Wednesday night at Ruthin.
