Rugby: Nant Conwy and Llandudno battle for semi-final spot

Jan 22 2009 By Tim Channon

NANT CONWY will start favourites to reach the last four of the North Wales Cup when they play their derby quarter-final tie against LLANDUDNO this Saturday (January 24, 2.30pm).

Both clubs are former cup winners, with Nant enjoying a period of domination when they lifted the trophy four times in five years.

But it needed a last minute penalty by Carwyn Ap Myrddin deep into injury time for them to snatch a thrilling victory from the jaws of a shock league defeat at home to Bala last weekend.

There seemed no danger at half-time when they trailed 7-5 with the fierce wind behind them in the second half, but two interception tries and a second conversion put Bala 19-5 ahead.

With the weather conditions worsening, passing and kicking the ball became an absolute lottery, and although Nant Conwy managed to get a couple of tries back, with Carwyn Ellis scoring under the posts and Carwyn Ap Myrddin in the corner, plus a conversion, the game went into injury time with Bala still 19-17 ahead.

Carwyn Ap Myrddin then kept his cool to curl that last-gasp penalty kick in on the wind for victory.

Wing Iwan Davies got Nant’s first half try.

The win kept Nant seven points clear at the top of rugby’s Division One North, although main rivals Caernarfon also won at home to Pwllheli and have a re-arranged home game against struggling Llanidloes this Saturday which should see them close the gap at the top to two points with a game still in hand.

Ruthin are currently level on points with Caernarfon, and also have a game in hand on Nant Conwy, after their 26-18 win over Denbigh last weekend. They play Bala in a re- arranged league game this Saturday and face Caernarfon in the quarter-finals of the North Wales Cup on Tuesday February 3.

LLANDUDNO go in to the game on the back of 36-3 defeat at Mold last weekend and they know they will need a much better performance on Saturday.

They face a testing few weeks with their next four games made up of cup and league fixtures away to Nant Conwy, a home derby against Colwyn Bay and then a trip to another of the title contenders Caernarfon.

But Llandudno will take heart from the fact that they still have to play all the bottom three sides Bala (home), Llanidloes (home) and Dolgellau (away) – boasting only one win each so far – and victories in those games should be enough to keep them out of the relegation battle.

Mold ran in five tries through Rhys Hayes, Arron Jones, David Hogg, Jamie Griffiths and a penalty try to keep them in the top five last Saturday, while Llandudno’s only reply was a penalty from Rhodri Carlton Jones.