DOLGELLAU returned to Division One North amid jubilant scenes on the final whistle of their 33-7 win at Shotton Steel.

It had taken a try against the run of play from replacement wing Carwyn Pugh mid-way through the second half, when the visitors were only 12-0 ahead, to finally give Dolgellau breathing space in what was a tense and closely-fought match.

It was another personal triumph for youngster Henri Roberts in scoring 23 of his side’s points - calmly handling the pressure of easing Dolgellau ahead with three first half penalties, all from difficult angles, to secure a 9-0 half-time lead.

Although the visitors were controlling the game, they could not break down Shotton’s resistance and as the half went on, the hosts grew in confidence and began to disrupt Dolgellau’s set pieces.

Shotton started the second half on fire, and wing Shaun Kemp and centre Huw Sargeant both had tries disallowed by referee Amanda Lattuca, and it took Henri Roberts’ fourth penalty after a quarter of an hour to settle Dolgellau once again.

Going into the last quarter, a Shotton attempted clearance was plucked out the air by winger Carwyn Pugh, and his pace saw him sprint home down the left touchline for the crucial try. Henri Roberts converted to put the visitors 19-0 ahead.

Shotton were still far from finished, and only two minutes later they got their just reward as centre Huw Sargeant finally crossed after several close calls to put them on the score sheet. Stand-off Steve Ellison converted to make the score 19-7.

From this point onwards Dolgellau were magnificent, and after 35 minutes, following a scrum on the home 22, inspirational skipper Gerwyn Thomas wrong-footed the home cover to slip a short pass to centre Henri Roberts, and he burst through for the score. He duly added the conversion to put the visitors 26-7 ahead.

Almost straight from the re-start Dolgellau replacement flanker Iwan Evans broke free into the Shotton half, and he found centre Gareth Hughes, who has been outstanding all season, on his shoulder to sprint away to score under the posts.

Roberts once again slotted the conversion to seal a memorable and hugely important win for the visitors, which ultimately sees the Meirionnydd side return to the top flight of North Wales rugby.