The victory was even sweeter as scrum half Jess Kavanagh was a late arrival after being involved in Wales U20 training in Cardiff. Her presence proved crucial for Dolgellau as she broke through in the dying minutes to secure the win.
Waunarlwydd opened the scoring through prop Tonia Crowther. Carol Ann Burt then knocked over a penalty to give her side a handy 8-0 lead but Dolgellau hit back with two well worked tries
by flanker Louise Akers and hooker Nia Thomas.
Shortly before half time, Kavanagh took to the pitch straight out of her car following her journey up from Cardiff!
Dolgellau held a slim lead at 10-8 at half time but they knew Waunarlwydd would be looking to score more points after the break.
The two teams were locked in a titanic battle, but then Waunarlwydd’s much larger pack shifted into a rolling maul and went over for a try with Crowther crashing over for her second try.
Dolgellau then spent the final 15 minutes in the opposition’s 22. The whole of Dolgelalu were celebrating fly half Dyddgu Hywel’s try but the ref deemed it was knocked on as she grounded it. Then, Dolgellau’s No.8 Charlie Houlder had to leave the field following an injury, again leaving Dolgellau with 14 players.
Dolgellau never gave up and kept on probing for a way past the Waunarlwydd defence and finally after a lot of sustained pressure, Kavanagh broke through.
Following the game, the referee stated that he was impressed with the quality of the game and skill level especially given the horrendous weather conditions in which the match was played.
