DOLGELLAU showed their good fighting spirit as they took valuable points from a 17-22 win against a determined Colwyn Bay side in Division One North.

With both sides occupying the lower section of the table, a win was key to an improvement in standings, and spectators were treated to a lively contest, played with tempo and purpose.

Dolgellau’s front eight showed early dominance in the set-piece, which resulted in territorial advantage.

The possession and territory gained kept the home team in their back third of the pitch for much of the first half. Colwyn Bay’s back line worked hard to provide cover defence, and to their credit, they thwarted chances by Dafydd Elis on the left wing, Dylan Evans at 13 and impressive back row player Marius Jones.

It took 25 minutes for the first points to come Dolgellau’s way when Henri Roberts at 15 burst through the Bay defensive line from 10 metres off quick ruck ball.

The extras were taken to put Dolgellau 7-0 ahead.

The visitors stretched their lead further through the boot of Henri Roberts, after a Colwyn Bay infringement on the 35 minute mark.

The hosts started the second period with more intent, but Dolgellau were able to hold out until an infringement in their own 22 awarded the home side with a free play, and a deft kick to the right wing was gathered as the hosts went over for an unconverted try.

The home side drew level three minutes later as they caught Dolgellau’s defence off guard with a try wide left, again unconverted.

Injuries to the home team resulted in an uncontested scrum format and a rearranged back line. This improved the possession and territory for Colwyn Bay, with the last 15 minutes of play being nip and tuck.

It was Dolgellau who scored first, to break the deadlock, with Dylan Evans combining with replacement left wing Rhys Lewis, who used his pace to beat the scramble cover defence to score a memorable try.

Henri Roberts added the extras to put Dolgellau back in the lead by seven points.

Dolgellau right wing Rob Pugh then gathered a cross field kick by stand-off Gerwyn Thomas with five minutes remaining to extend Dolgellau’s lead further.

With a scoreline of 10-22 the game looked to be slipping away from Colwyn Bay, when the home full back found a way through the visitors’ defence to score a late try between the posts.

The quickly taken conversion gave Colwyn Bay a losing bonus point and a chance of a possible victory.

Dolgellau however closed out the game to complete a deserved win, with a losing bonus point to Colwyn Bay.