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RHYL 22 – BANGOR 10

Saturday 22nd April, 2017.

Rhyl battled against the powerful Bangor pack, who dominated both possession and territory throughout the 80 minutes. Rhyl couldn’t buy a line-out and were comprehensively out-scrummaged, but from 1 to 15 they tackled magnificently to repel attack after attack, and to concede only 2 short range tries.

The first Rhyl try came against the run of play just after Jason Blackmore had been yellow carded. Bangor were pressing hard close to the Rhyl line when powerful mid-field tackling forced a handling error. Jack Hughes seized on the loose ball and sprinted three-quarters of the length of the field to score under the posts – rough justice for Bangor, but it is a fact of rugby life that high quality defence wins matches.

As the game wore on, Rhyl struck hard whenever Bangor faltered, with Man of the Match Jack Hughes going on to score a devastating hat-trick of tries, and laying on the fourth with a (reluctant!) off-load to put Ethan Woodfine in for the bonus point try.

Whilst often receiving the ball on the back foot, Llion Edwards at fly-half gave an object lesson in game management and kicked beautifully, both tactically and for territory. The entire squad put in a magnificent shift, but a special mention for debutant Matt Napier from the Youth Team, who lasted the full 80 minutes in the second row, and to Reeve Wright and Will Larter, both also from the Youth Team, who all made significant contributions to the victory.

Final score:​​Rhyl 22 (4 tries and 1 Conversion)

​​​Bangor 10 (2 tries)