DINBYCH 44
NEWTOWN 13
RED-hot Dinbych brought their league campaign to an end in fine style with a comprehensive bonus point victory over Newtown.
Yet, on a warm and energy sapping afternoon, the Mid Wales visitors were competitive throughout at the set pieces and breakdown with the main difference between the sides being Dinbych’s aggressive defence, which stifled Newtown’s attacks at source.
The back row of Dave Roberts, John Winning and Gavin Rizzi not only led the blitz defence, but also contributed to the scoring with Winning and Rizzi both crossing for tries.
Dinbych’s centre combination of James Wynne and Rob Schrimshaw also proved too hot to handle for Newtown’s defence with their strong running creating tries by both.
The hosts dominated the early exchanges and took the lead after only four minutes following a strong surge infield by number eight John Winning from a scrum near the touchline on the Newtown 22.
When the ball was recycled, Newtown conceded a penalty which outside half Llion Edwards kicked from in front of the posts.
Newtown then took advantage of Dinbych conceding a string of penalties at the breakdown to force their way back into the match and they eventually drew level when outside half Dylan Green kicked a penalty from the 22.
Dinbych soon recovered to dominate territorially and were unlucky not to add to their score when first Gavin Rizzi was hauled down just short of the line after a diagonal run to the corner and then left wing Wil Jones was denied a try under the posts when he was penalised for a double movement.
This only delayed the inevitable and Dinbych increased their lead in the 32nd minute when John Winning again broke from a scrum 15 metres out to cross for a try, which Llion Edwards converted.
When Newtown were caught offside on their 22 on the stroke of half-time, Edwards then added his second penalty to extend Dinbych’s lead to 13-3 at the interval.
Dinbych went further ahead in the opening minutes of the second half following a strong surge down the touchline into the 22 by prop Dan Jones.
When the ball was recycled infield, Newtown were penalised for a high tackle which was easily converted by Edwards.
From the restart kick, lock David Haydock launched an attack from the Dinbych half for deceptive running by Rob Schrimshaw to release co-centre James Wynne on a strong run to cross for a try, again converted by Edwards.
Dinbych soon added to their score following yet another good take at the tail of a lineout outside the Newtown 22 by Gavin Rizzi.
Good handling in midfield allowed Rob Schrimshaw to beat the defence for pace on the outside before crossing in the corner for a try, converted again by an excellent kick from the touchline by Edwards.
Having put the game out of Newtown’s reach with this burst of scoring in the first 15 minutes of the second half, Dinbych suffered a blow when prop Dan Jones was yellow carded for a non-malicious tip tackle.
This failed to halt their momentum, however, and they added to their score when John Winning again broke from a scrum 40 metres out before offloading to back row colleague Gavin Rizzi who went over for a try, converted by Edwards.
In the final 10 minutes, Newtown got some reward for their competitive effort throughout as they launched a number of attacks to score two unconverted tries.
The first came from hooker Mat Land after pressure close to the Dinbych line and a second in the corner came from left wing Junior Dean from an attack down the touchline from halfway.
It was Dinbych who had the last word when they turned over possession on halfway for James Wynne to break through the first line of defence to put Rob Schrimshaw away on a run to the corner for a try.
Llion Edwards completed a 100 per cent kicking success rate for the afternoon with another excellent conversion from the touchline.