Saturday 22nd March 2008

Ruthin 03 CAERNARFON 31

CAERNARFON took a giant step towards claiming the Division Four North title with a resounding win at the home of one of their closest challengers Ruthin.

The result was rarely in doubt after Caernarfon ran in a bonus-point try with minutes to go before the half-time whistle, and a dejected Ruthin outfit were at sixes and sevens.

And while the scoreline may look totally one-sided, it was a true reflection of the match as Ruthin contrived to waste whatever possession they had and a ruthless Caernarfon clinically dispatched their hosts in some style to move 14 points clear at the top of the table.

Caernarfon came out of the blocks in blistering style and went into a 5-0 lead with barely five minutes on the clock.

With a ferocious wind at their backs Caernarfon’s tactic in the opening exchanges was to kick long through fly-half Kelvin Morris, and it was from one of his cross-field kicks that winger Llion Williams took advantage of some hesitant defending between full-back Kyle Davies and winger Matthew Davies to dive on the ball and score.

And it got even better for the visitors as they extended their advantage only six minutes later through right winger Jonathan Newell. No 8 Rhys Evans broke off the back of a scrum and eventually created space for Newell to run through and score in the corner.

The game was all but over as a true contest on 15 minutes as Caernarfon continued to kick long and created a third try.

Ruthin were trying their best to run the ball out of defence into the near gale-force winds, but were continually being pegged back by the kicking game of Morris and scrum-half Trystan Gwilym.

And that pressure soon told as Ruthin conceded a host of penalties close to their own line, and with Caernarfon putting the ball into the corner for a catch-and-drive try, prop Myfyr Jones eventually forced his way over.

The last time the sides met saw all 30 players on the field embroiled in a skirmish, and that tension had obviously been carried over to the meeting at Cae Ddol, as referee Chris Williams was forced to speak to both captains on a number of occasions as tempers boiled over. Eventually Williams lost his patience and sent wingers Huw Parry and Newell to the bin for 10 minutes.

And to make matters worse for Ruthin, Caernarfon sealed a bonus-point try five minutes before the break, flanker Dewi Williams credited with the score as the forwards drove a line-out over the line.

Ruthin replied with a penalty from Adam Robson six minutes into the second half, but that was to be their only points as Caernarfon dominated and started to dictate the match.

And they applied the killer blow 10 minutes from the end as second-row Andrew Williams dived over from close range after the Caernarfon pack had twice been held up over the Ruthin line.

Report by Rob Griffiths (Daily Post)