Fixture

LLangollen got back to league rugby on Saturday when they hosted local rivals Wrexham in Division 2 East match up. It promised to be tight affair as Wrexham who had only lost to Shotton so far in the league and had beaten LLan 3 weeks earlier in the North Wales cup would be looking to push on and LLan who were still un-beaten in the league would want to keep that record going. The first 20 mins was a very tight and cagey affair with both sides swapping penalties, LLan outside half Roger Chadwick on target for the homeside. With the LLan pack starting to dominate at scrum time it was some loose back play that gifted wrexham the ball in the LLan 22 they quickly setup the scoring chance and crossed the the line and converted to take a 3-10 lead. As the half wore on the dominance of LLan's forwards started to have an impact as the Wrexham scrum was beginning to creak and LLan were now applying the pressure. A clearance kick from Wrexham was taken by full back Josh Wilson inside his own 22 and he proceeded to beat the first line of defenders, he then showed the rest of the Wrexham defence a clean pair of heels as speed and footwork took him all the way down to the corner and he crossed for the try. Chadwick couldn't convert from out wide. LLan now with the but between their teeth dominated possession and territory and were soon awarded a 5 meter scrum, their dominance at scrum time continued and they steadily drove the Wrexham pack over the line enabling captain and number 8 Chris Jones to pick up and cross the line for the try. Chadwick missed the conversion but LLan looked good for their 13-10 lead. With halftime approaching LLan looked to extend their lead with hooker Jack Wilson and Flanker Peter Smith making in roads into the 22 but couldn't quite get over the line. The second half saw Wrexham look to get back in the game and looked to get the upper hand they pressured LLan but LLan managed to withstand this and Outside Half Chadwick increased the LLan advantage with a well struck penalty to take the score to 16-10, Wrexham came back and after 10 minutes the pressure paid off as they crossed the white wash to bring the scores back to within a point following a missed conversion. Half way through the second half Wrexham were dealt a blow as their winger was shown a red card for a no arm tackle on LLan second row Iwan LLoyd Jones who landed heavily on his neck. LLan could sense the victory and began piling on the pressure which finally paid off when fullback Wilson capitalised on the forward pressure and acrobatically crossed in the corner. Chadwick converted and LLan took a 23-15 lead. Wrexham however were not giving up and with 10 mins to go and both sides having a player in the sin bin they looked to steal the game from LLan and applied concerted pressure this finally paid off as they crossed the line out wide. The conversion to take them within a point was missed and LLan settled down and played out the final minutes to secure the victory. Coach Mark Price added "what a great performance we knew it would be tough but we also knew we could compete with them. We made a couple of mistakes in the cup game and we knew if we cut them out we could win. I am so proud of the lads the shift they all put in was immense, we are classed as a little club by many but games like this and the fact we are still un beaten in the league shows that this little club can compete. We have a tough away game next week at Welshpool and we will start work for that in training".