Bro Ffestiniog 36 Porthmadog 7

Admiral National League 1 North

A highly awaited derby match occurred at Blaenau Ffestiniog on Saturday as Porthmadog travelled down for the second time this season to play Bro Ffestiniog in Division 3 North West, writes Ioan Gwilym.

The match had a fierce build up online over the prior two weeks and a large crowd well into the hundreds from the two rival towns gathered to spectate.

Porthmadog took optimism from earlier in the season when they lost 21-7 at the same ground which surprisingly from the scoreline was a match that could have gone either way. This time however, it was very, very different.

Bro Ffestiniog were highly charged and stamped their authority on the game from the outset, playing strong quick rugby which Port could not cope with.

Bro scored three tries in the first 20 minutes from Dylan Daniels, Luke Evans and the evergreen Dewi Atherton, two which were converted from the boot of Callum Evans.

In hindsight the match was won in the first quarter.

Port did start to try and gain a little bit of momentum with ball in hand which was thwarted by an unfortunate injury to Arron Jones which ruled him out of the rest of the play.

His absence on the pitch resulted in Bro asserting dominance in thee scrum also, the set play which has been so vital to Port over the season so far.

Joseff Edwards, Bro’s fly half received a yellow for a deliberate knock on before half time, but Callum Evans scored a penalty to take the score to 22-7 on the break.

After the break it was Porthmadog’s turn to have a player in the bin, hooker Martin Williams receiving marching orders after repeated warnings for verbals.

After a period of deadlock in play Huw Parry and Callum Evans scored two more tries for Bro in the last 15 minutes to earn them a deserved bonus point and take the full time score to 36-7 which fairly reflected the dominance of the home side on the day.

Porthmadog will have a two week break now and will aim to bounce back in a home match against Holyhead on 18 February, whils Bro Ffestiniog host Pwllheli Seconds.