RECENT contests between Dolgellau and Bala on the Marian have been settled by a single score, but this time Bala had the edge, and were full value for their 28-5 bonus point victory in Division One North.

Dolgellau kicked off with the swirling wind behind them, and they had the better of the early exchanges, with centre Gareth Hughes failing to hold on to a difficult low pass that could have brought them some reward after five minutes.

Bala, facing the elements, kept the ball in hand well, and outstanding No 8 llan Rowlands spotted a narrow gap in the home cover to surge through for their opening score of the game after 10 minutes. Stand-off Luis Prieto converted.

Straight from the restart, the Bala back three misjudged the ball, extending over the dead ball line, giving Dolgellau a five metre scrum. Dolgellau scrum half Lewis Jones switched to the blind side where right winger James Owen squeezed over.

Dolgellau stand-off Jac Roberts thwarted Bala’s Dochan Roberts, and home wing Rhys Lewis stopped a certain second try for skipper Ilan Rowlands, but the half ended with the visitors 5-7 ahead.

Despite the wind subsiding a little for the second period, Bala turned the screw early, and they went further ahead after three minutes when full-back Miall Roberts darted over down the right touchline. Stand-off Luis Prieto converted superbly from the touchline to make it 7-14.

Five minutes later Bala’s Iwan Hamner crashed over from a five metre scrum, and Prieto converted to make it 5-21. Bala kept the pressure on, and from a quickly taken penalty, skipper Ilan Rowlands capped a fine all round performance with his second try of the game. Again Prieto converted from wide out to make the score 5-28 with 25 minutes left.

Dolgellau’s young side never gave up the stern challenge facing them, despite losing their skipper Rhys Roberts and full back Gareth Hughes to yellow cards.

They will now look forward to facing Cobra on the last weekend of the year, and it is a must-win game if they are to survive this most competitive of leagues.

Both sides shared a superb pre-Christmas dinner after the game. A special thanks went to those who prepared it, and the half-time tipple of mulled wine.