Saturday 14th October 2007

CAERNARFON 45 Dolgellau 3

Caernarfon sit proud at the top of the table as they are the only side to not only win all their games but they are the only side in the Division that have also claimed a Bonus Point in each of their league games to date. The final score was a comfortable 45-3 victory with 6 tries and a personal tally of 20 points for Kelvin Morris who had an unblemished 100% record with the boot and a try.
The game nearly started with a bang, with the Cofi’s piling on the pressure in the opening minutes only loosing out when the ball was knocked on just short of the line. Dolgellau weathered the storm and started to find their feet. They were rewarded for the efforts on 8 minutes when they were awarded a penalty which was slotted over by wing Tom Roberts to give the visitors a 3 point lead. For the next quarter of an hour the game as a spectacle disappeared as both sides struggled with the wet conditions and a stop start passage of play. It was the 23rd minute that the crowd finally got something to cheer about when Kelvin Morris went on a dazzling run from the Dolgellau 10 m line. Jinking in and out Morris danced his way all the way to the line; Morris duly added the extras.

The lead was doubled within five minutes when captain and scrum half Trystan Gwilym crossed for a try. It all came about following a tantalising kick from wing Steffan Thomas. Dolgellau were forced to concede a 5m scrum. The set piece went like clock work with Rhys Evans at No 8 picking up and charging for the line before offloading to the waiting scrum half. With Morris adding the extras the score had jumped to 14-3. Two minutes later and another score came when Rhys Evans made a break from outside the 22. Just short of the line he again offloaded to his captain, Gwilym, for his second score. Morris continued with his success with the boot to give them a 21 -3 lead. The bonus point came just before the break when sustained Caernarfon pressure earned an attacking 5M scrum. From the resulting scrum the Cofi’s gained a penalty. The quick tap was taken by the Captain who offloaded in contact to Dewi Williams who was in close support. With the conversion added the score at the break was 28-3.

The second half saw much of the same with some attacking rugby despite the miserable weather. Morris added a penalty within 3 minutes of the restart to keep the scoreboard moving. Next to get on the score sheet was full back Mathew Thomas. With the referee, Alun Thomas, signalling an advantage, the Cofi’s used the ball well, choosing to spread the ball out wide. Wing Llion Williams putting in the final pass for Thomas to dive over for the score. Morris stepped up to keep up his 100% record with a difficult conversion from out wide. As Dolgellau legs tired, the gaps were there to be exploited.

The sixth and final try came when wing Steffan Thomas found the gaps before offloading just short of the line for flanker Paul Rowlands to cross for the try. Morris completed the honours by adding the conversion.