Cofis serve up treat to triumph in Plate
IT proved to be a game too far for RGC as they missed out on a place in the Principality Premiership final after an emphatic 35-7 defeat at Merthyr.
Four tries in a 12-minute period sealed victory for the Ironmen, who had lost their previous three clashes with the Gogs this season.
Merthyr fly-half Mathew Jarvis opened the scoring with his boot before RGC grabbed the first try when good footwork from Jacob Botica saw him set up Cofi Andrew Williams to dot down. Botica added the extras.
The Ironmen hit back with tries from Edward Siggery, Gary Powell and Kyle Evans, Jarvis improving both to make it 24-7 at half time.
Merthyr started the second half as they ended the first with a try early from Rhys Williams.
The lead increased with penalties from Jarvis and Dean Gunter.
A tough day for RGC, but it has been an amazing season which included that historic WRU National Cup Final win.
CAERNARFON Rugby Club comfortably saw off Colwyn Bay 34-5 in the Conwy Land Rover North Wales Senior Plate Final at Eirias Park.
Full-back Aled Jones opened the scoring with a sweetly-struck penalty, a feat he repeated from near the halfway line a few minutes later.
With 20 minutes played, a move from deep brought Aled Jones onto the ball at pace and the timing of the pass put Ellis Roberts in space to step inside the final defender to score. Jones added the extras.
Minutes later Dylan Gwyn stepped infield and with the help of supporting cast Gruff Ifor, Dafydd Lloyd Hughes and finally Ellis Roberts again, the try-line was breached to give the Cofis a fairly firm hold on proceed- ings. Aled Jones split the posts to make it 20-0 at the break.
During the third quarter Bay were dominant territorially with lineout ploys working well to establish an attacking platform. One effort ended with the ball being held up, while another saw the ball squirm free over the try-line. The Cofis, on the other hand, made their first incursion into Bay’s danger zone count.
Colwyn secured the ball from a lineout but it was stolen and quickly fed to stand-off Carwyn Roberts, who powered over from close range. Replacement full-back Dominic Yau added the conversion.
Bay mounted one other telling attack and after having been camped near the Cofi try-line following a series of close quarter surges prop Krystan Yeomans detached himself and ploughed over in the corner.
However, there was still enough time for the Cofis to venture back upfield and following a series of surges by Mac Jones and Gareth Pritchard the ball finally fell into the hands of Ieuan Owen, who crashed over between the sticks, Yau boosting with the boot. ● Caernarfon secured third place in Division One North with a 32-28 victory at Bala.
The first half ended with the Cofis 20-14 to the good.
Dylan Gwyn notched two excellent tries for the visitors, while Aled Jones kicked the rest of the points.
Gwyn completed his hat-trick after the restart, but two converted Bala tries had them 28-25 ahead entering the closing stages.
However, replacement flanker Bryn Owen pounced for the Cofis’ winning try, which Jones improved. ● Caernarfon Ladies hammered Llandaf North 75-5 in a game where nothing was at stake.
Home tries came from Elen Evans (4), Beth Davies (3), Rachel Taylor (2) and Jess Kavanagh-Williams (2), Davies adding 10 conversions.
In a much tougher test, Caernarfon lost 37-17 to league champions Swansea in a physical encounter, Cofi tries from Gwenllian Pyrs, Taylor and Davies, who added a conversion.
This weekend the teams are due to meet again in the Super Cup Final at Bedwas.