19.09.10 Cowyn Bay 8 Ruthin 10 John Palmer Reports

Away matches at Colwyn Bay have always been a challenge for Ruthin and this one in 80 minutes of pouring rain was no exception. For the first 20 minutes most of the pressure came from Ruthin but it wasn’t until scrum half Deian Williams slotted over a penalty goal that the Blues saw some reward for their efforts. Despite Ruthin pressure the home side had been getting the better of the scrums and following a scrum on Ruthin’s 22, the Blues conceded a lineout 5 yards from their line and the Bay scrum half went over for a try. Play then oscillated between the two halves but with a slippery ball making handling difficult for both sides neither were able to improve on their score and the whistle blew for half time with the home side ahead 5-3. At the start of the second half the Blues conceded a penalty which led to a line out on their own 22 but the home side lost possession and counter attacking forward play by flankers John Meldrum and the excellent Clwyd Jones set up replacement prop Richard Manley to offload to wing Kyle Davies who went over for a try converted by Williams. Although Ruthin’s scrummaging was better in the second half Ruthin were unable to add to their score and the Bay narrowed the gap with a penalty goal in the 60th minute. The Blues came near to scoring a couple of times after good running by No 8 Lee Pope, wing Huw Parry and Kyle Davies but it was not to be and the final score remained at 10-8 to Ruthin. Although the match was low scoring and something of a struggle there were some good individual performances with Richard Manley and fly half Jamie Morris being of note in addition to Clwyd Jones.