BALA marched on into the third round of the national Swalec Plate with a well-deserved 33-0 home win over Abertillery BG on Saturday.

The Division One North outfit made the most of their opportunity to play as they proved too strong in most departments on the heavy pitch, running in four tries to ensure they made progress.

The opening exchanges were fairly even, but slowly but surely Bala started to turn the screw and fly half Rhydian Jones went over for their first try on 24 minutes, which he also converted.

With the home side taking charge, Jones slotted over penalty for a 10-0 lead at the interval, although they were reduced to 14 men for a while when flanker Ilan Rowalds was yellow-carded.

An early penalty from Jones set the home team on their way early into the second half, and the influential No 10 then crossed for his second try of the game after 12 minutes, which he converted for a 20-0 advantage.

Three minutes later Bala’s forwards, who were now dominating, were rewarded as second rower Guto Lynch went over for another try.

With the visitors struggling to get any change from an effective home defence, Bala pushed forward again and a penalty by Jones, for an individual tally of 23 points, extended the lead.

To their credit, the Blaenau Gwent visitors never gave up, but scrum half Dion Atherton had the final say 10 minutes before the end when he went over for the fourth try, to complete a convincing victory by Bala.

Read the full report in this week’s Meirionnydd edition