Swalec Bowl Round Three

Penygroes 8 Swansea Uplands 17

A superb match at a chilly Penygroes Park saw the hosts undone by Swansea Uplands.

Penygroes opened the scoring after 20 minutes with a fine penalty from Chris Powell, and the hosts continued to dominate with the makeshift back row — brilliantly led by No 8 Mathew Evans — providing a stream of quality possession.

The platform created led to a superb break from winger Stu Bennett and a sharp inside pass to his right wing Carwyn Davies who streaked over for a stunning try.

Full back Cerith Evans saw his conversion effort sail wide but the hosts had a well-deserved eight-point lead.

Uplands hit back with some fine attacking rugby and reduced the arrears on 33 minutes when the Groes backs were caught offside.

The visitors continued to lay siege to the home line and only some brave defending kept them out.

On the stroke of half-time both front rows stood up in a five-metre scrum but, much to the annoyance of the hosts, the referee awarded a penalty try to the visitors, which was duly converted to take the scores level at the break.

A ding-dong second half saw both sides playing entertaining rugby and the game could have gone either way.

But with just five minutes remaining, the visitors developed an excellent break to score near the posts.

The try was converted to put Swansea Uplands safely into the next round and leave the hosts ruing a series of mixed chances.

Penygroes can now enjoy a Christmas break before they return to league action on January 3 when they travel to Llansawel.