RGC back to winning ways
TWO aircraft engineers from Anglesey have certainly been ramping up the speed on the karting circuit.
Matt Hildred and Gerallt ‘Gez’ Owen make up the Dynamic Duo Racing (DDR) team and they race 125 Rotax Evo power karts which are capable of up to 80mph – which is very fast, especially as those racing are literally one inch off the floor!
Competing up and down the UK from midScotland to Wales and southern England, the team spend many hours on the road.
DDR, which was formed in 2016, are backed by a plethora of local companies and races are often streamed on Facebook by AlphaTiming, allowing sponsors, friends and family to follow the karts in action.
The team is managed by Anna Southgate who oversees the team wear, finances, advertising and promotion.
For the 2019 season the team competed in the National Kart Cup (NKC) in which there was an impressive
RGC got back to winning ways with a 21-3 win over Swansea at Stadiwm Zip World.
Ahead of the game, captain Tom Hughes said he didn’t want a repeat of last season’s performance, which saw the Whites win 31-17 in Colwyn Bay.
“We didn’t play well last season, and they ran up the points in the first half,” he told the club’s official website.
“We know they will try and dominate the set-piece with the heavy pack, which was key for them in last year’s win.
“We have had two weeks to work on some of the aspects of our game that let us down against Carmarthen Quins, and it is up to the players to deliver a performance on Saturday.
“As a group we were disappointed after the Quins game, but we know we have an opportunity to get back on track, especially with two home games back to back.”
Both teams have lost the past two outings, with RGC sitting in sixth place and Swansea in eighth place heading into last Saturday’s clash. showing for both karts across the six circuits – from torrential rain in Rowrah, Cumbria, to the Sunshine of Clay Pigeon kart track in Somerset.
The home side had all the possession and all territory in the opening quarter with both Rhys Tudor and Tom Hughes proving good attacking options.
Around the breakdown Efan Jones was looking to recycle the ball quickly and get the backline moving.
Dion Jones had an opportunity as he spotted a gap, with numbers wide but the ball went loose before being called back for an RGC penalty.
Pressure was mounting on the Swansea line with a number of good scrums from RGC.
Tom Hughes and Tim Grey were both held up on the line
The team amassed an impressive 12 trophies across the season, taking the Southern Cup in the 162kg weighted class and Northern Cup in the 177kg weighted class. before the penalty try.
RGC will be disappointed that they didn’t deal with the restart well, and Swansea were back in the game with a simple penalty.
The visitors then began to move the ball through hands, and had a good spell in attack.
RGC were making some errors which compounded their problems.
Swansea looked to put some pressure on the RGC whitewash, but credit to the RGC defensive work as they tackled strongly and were disciplined at the breakdown.
The forwards referee awarded were
awinning
The team are looking forward to the future and excited to be racing in the 2020 NKC and are always on the lookout for sponsors. the battle at the scrum, and kept Swansea at bay.
RGC ended the half on a high after a quick tap penalty, and Billy McBryde showed fast feet to run in under the posts.
The fly-half added the to make it 14-3.
The second half struggled to get going, with both sides playing in the middle of the field, with the game interrupted with handling errors.
It was a bit of a scrum fest for much of the half, but RGC were the ones coming out on top.
Defensively RGC were working well, and the fact they kept the visitors scoreless in the second half shouldn’t go unnoticed.
They themselves did cross the whitewash late in the game after the ball was switched wide and winger Tudor finished in the corner. McBryde added the extras to make it 21-3.
Coach Josh Leach talked to the players about “controlling the opening of the game, and keeping the pace fast, and we did that in the first 20 minutes.
“A couple of poor restarts got them back in the game, but we did well to keep them out. We conversion
For further information, please email: dynamicduoracing@ outlook.com or on Facebook under Dynamic Duo Racing team -DDRacing. got the tempo back towards the end of the half and worked it well to get the try,” he told the club’s official website.
“It was difficult to resume the tempo in the second half, as they managed to slow the game down at the set-piece and with substitutes, but we kept them out for the 40 minutes which is a huge positive.
“We also ended the game well with the try late on, so overall it is a good performance to take into the Ebbw Vale game at home next Saturday.”
Last week, the Welsh Rugby Union AGM took place at the Principality Stadium where North Wales’ WRU board member Hywel Roberts presented retiring President Dennis Gethin with a small gift on behalf of all the clubs of North Wales.
“Dennis has been a fantastic servant during his 12-year spell as president of the Union and he has been a very good friend to all in North Wales, paying many visits to the region and assisting clubs and individuals wherever possible,” said Roberts.
“We wish him the very best in his retirement.”