Division Three Central West

Penygroes 18 Furnace United 24

The first match of the new season in the new Division Three Central West proved to be a fast and entertaining affair keenly contested by two very good sides.

The new look Penygroes team, with several village players returning to the club, gave a very good account of themselves which augurs well for the coming season.

An early exchange of penalties saw the two sides locked at 6-6 after 25 minutes of entertaining rugby.

Penygroes then stormed into the lead with a well-worked try from No8 Gareth Davies, who had an outstanding match. The try was converted by Cerith Evans to put the Groes 13- 6 up. Furnace hit back right on half-time with their third penalty to see Penygroes go into the interval 13-9 up.

Immediately following the break, the hosts had two excellent chances to increase their lead but over anxiousness and a lack of clinical execution saw both chances go begging.

Four successive penalties from outstanding Furnace outside-half Ashley Powell then pushed Furnace into a 21-13 advantage.

The new look Groes team stuck to their task well and a superb sniping try from scrum-half Carwyn Davies pulled his side back to within three points of Furnace.

Although the promising young Penygroes team hammered away at the Furnace line in the last ten minutes they were finally sunk by a superb long-range penalty from the clinical boot of Powell who saw his side just hold on for a 24-18 victory.

Penygroes travel to Pontyates on Saturday for what promises to be another exiting encounter. The team needs your support so come along and roar them to their first victory of the season.