BALA 9
DOLGELLAU 13
DESPITE knocking heavily on the door late on, Bala were left to rue missed chances as they began the Division Two (North) season with a narrow derby loss at home to Dolgellau.
The men from Maes Gwyniad were pressing hard for a winning score in the last five minutes but failed in their quest to cross the Dolgellau whitewash.
“It was a kind of first game of the season,” said Bala chairman Tony Parry.
“There were a lot of mistakes and it was a job understanding the new laws.”
Parry added: “A lot of the game was in the middle of the field and both defences were good against each other.”
There was just a solitary try throughout the 80 minutes and that was scored by Dolgellau outside-half Conrad Williams.
That score, together with a conversion and penalty from the boot of centre Owain Thomas, helped Dolgellau build a 10-3 interval lead.
Bala’s only bright spot in the first half came from a successful Rhydian Jones penalty and Jones kicked another early in the second half to reduce the gap to four points.
Thomas’ second successful penalty stretched Dolgellau’s lead, only for Jones’ third penalty of the afternoon to set up a grandstand closing few minutes.
“At the end of the day we didn’t start playing until the last 10 minutes when we were 13-9 down,” said Parry.
“But we just couldn’t break them down.”
Bala spent the closing stages on Dolgellau’s five-metre line, but a host of circumstances meant there was no way through for the home side.
“We had a very young side out and maybe it was a bit too young,” he added.
Bala were missing a clutch of senior players away on a stag weekend, but despite the youthfulness of the side the Bala chairman still admitted: “It could have gone either way.”