DOLGELLAU turned the tables in the last half an hour of their match against Bro Ffestiniog, as they came from behind to claim their first points of the season with a 20-12 win at the Marian.

The home side overcame what seemed a dominant Bro forward unit in a tense and hard-fought local derby encounter.

It all started so well for Dolgellau as five minutes in Bro scrum half Mathew Haydn broke free deep into Dolgellau territory, but was robbed by home prop Dan Brazier at the breakdown. He found centre Dylan Evans, who broke through several tackles to sprint clear to touch down.

Then, five minutes later, Dolgellau stand-off Gerwyn Thomas slotted over a penalty kick to put Dolgellau 8-0 ahead.

Bro dominated the rest of the half, however, as their forwards gained ascendancy, and after 15 minutes a driving maul saw flanker Llion Kerry crash over for a try, and stand-off Huw James converted to narrow the gap to a single point at 8-7.

Bro’s forwards pounded away and on 28 minutes flanker Kerry was again involved as the ball was spun wide to centre Aron Aspden to go over and give the visitors a well-deserved 8-12 lead at the interval.

Bro Ffestiniog continued to dominate at the start of the second period, but 15 minutes in Dolgellau brought on props Huw Jones and Dewi Pugh, and their presence had immediate effect on their fortunes.

From a scrum 10 metres out, Dolgellau scrum half, Jac Roberts, took advantage of his new-found freedom to manoeuvre at scrum time, and found centre Dylan Evans in good support to go over for his second try of the game. Gerwyn Thomas’ conversion gave Dolgellau a 15-12 lead.

Despite several downpours, a decent crowd was being fully entertained, and it was uncompromising at times, with Dolgellau centre Gareth Hughes having to receive treatment for a gash to his cheek.

It was the home eight that now began to dominate and wing Gerwyn Pugh, flanker Danny Evans and No 8 Dylan Llewelyn were all thwarted short of the try line.

They clinched the win, however, with four minutes remaining, as Gerwyn Thomas’ magnificent cross field kick was gleefully gathered by left wing Rhys Lewis to go over in the corner for a 20-12 victory. Bala let it slip BALA succumbed to a thrilling 22-20 defeat in a tense game against Nant Conwy, as the home side secured the victory with an exceptional try and a difficult conversion in the final minute, after the visitors had been in the lead for most of the game.

Nant opened the scoring after seven minutes when Sion Pringle crossed the line for an unconverted try, but a successful penalty kick, awarded for offside, saw Owen Aled close the gap to two points.

There followed a period of attacking and counter-attacking, with neither side able to break through, but on 27 minutes Bala were penalised for offside, and the resulting penalty award saw Arthur Lenon confidently slot over the three points.

Three minutes before half time, a powerful and skilful move resulted in Bala scoring their first try of the afternoon through Elgan Evans, with the successful conversion by Owain Aled putting them 8-10 up.

Within six minutes of the restart, Bala extended their lead with a fine try by Ilan Rowlands, converted by Owain Aled.

Neither side gave an inch, but with 10 minutes to go, the visitors extended their lead with yet another successful penalty kick by Aled to put them ahead by 20-8.

When all seemed lost for the home side, however, the last seven minutes saw them score and convert two wonderful tries, with Carwyn Davies and Sion Pringle both going over, and Lennon held his nerve to slot over both conversions to clinch victory from the jaws of defeat.