The injury ravaged Bala Second team was a selection nightmare for team manager, Harry Guttridge, as there were 16 forwards and only three backs to choose from.

Talented young prop, Dave Yates, was forced to become a centre for the day and back rowers Miall Roberts, Iwan Twin and Tom Ffrancon filled in at scrum half and on the wings.

Almost half the team put their hand up when the referee asked who the front row replacements were!

Bala got off to a promising start with a sustained period of pressure in the Benllech half. Mei Pen Swej, Gethin Williams and Robin Cablyd rumbled the ball up to the Benllech try line. Bala players were queuing up to score but the forwards didn’t want to let go of the ball.

It looked as though the game was going to come to an early end though when Gethin Williams mistook the referee for a Benllech player and cleared him out of the ruck. Fortunately the referee was able to soldier on!

After 15 minutes of play, slippery scrum half, Miall Roberts, snuck round the side of a scrum to put the visitors five points ahead.

Benllech weren’t going to give up without a fight and took the game straight back to Bala. Their big pack, led by their powerful number eight, provided the platform to score two well worked tries before half time.

The game was finely poised at 10-8 at the interval.

The first quarter of the second half was characterised by ill discipline. The referee had made it clear from the beginning that he wouldn’t tolerate back chat and each team conceded several soft penalties for verbal abuse.

Replacement centre, Eben Jones, made a big impact when he came on with his tactical kicks and well timed offloads. Dylan Llwyncelyn also made an impressive debut on the wing after agreeing to play in a drunken moment in the Plas Coch last weekend.

The game seemed to come alive half way through the second half when Benllech lost their prop and scrums became uncontested. Electric Bala number eight, Dochan Roberts, picked the ball up from the base of the scrum and ran thirty yards through half the Benllech team to score under the posts.

Benllech answered immediately with a fine try in the corner, which was converted with a magnificent drop kick to bring the score to 20-18 with just minutes to go.

Robin ‘Rocky’ Cablyd had a friendly tussle with his opposite number and the no nonsense referee sent them both to the sin bin to cool down.

It was fitting then that the game should be won by Bala’s old workhorse, Neil Penlan, who forced a penalty by beating the Benllech back line to the ruck. Liam Anderson remained calm under pressure to convert the penalty and win the match 20-21.

Today’s win meant a lot to Bala after suffering their fifth consecutive defeat in the league. They face another tough test at home against COBRA on Wednesday night.