Welshpool battled hard against a strong Rhyl side, and the elements, but were unable to claim anything from this encounter, losing 41-3.
With conditions near-enough unplayable, fitness was always going to be a major issue for the visitors, and so it proved, with the majority of Rhyl's points coming inside the last quarter.
Welshpool began the game brightly, and put their hosts under plenty of pressure, but were unable to find a way through to put themselves ahead. Hitting them on the counter-attack, Rhyl took advantage of an overlap and took a 5-0 lead, which soon became 12-0, after an almost identical try.
Despite the amount of ball being secured in the scrums by the Welshpool front row, who turned over several opposition scrums, the Rhyl defence held firm against the Welshpool attacks, only allowing a Daley Jones penalty to keep 'Pool in the hunt. Despite strong calls for a try after concerted pressure on the Rhyl line saw Welshpool barge their way over, the referee felt the ball had been held up, and the half-time score remained 12-3 to Rhyl.
The third quarter of the match followed a similar pattern, with Welshpool unable to breach the Rhyl defence and claim a desperately deserved score.
With conditions deteriorating, every step seemed to be taking twice the energy it would usually take, and this had a more pronounced effect upon the Welshpool side than on Rhyl, who were able to capitalise with a further score to go 19-3 ahead.
Even at this point, the game did not seem beyond 'Pool, but with Welshpool lungs and legs beginning to burn, Rhyl continued to gain momentum, running in a further four tries in the last 20 minutes to give them a 41-3 victory.
Welshpool: Ben Aldis, Barry William, Dan Hulse, Nick Larder, Pete Thomas, Ryan Evans, Fred White, David Owen, Tom Carter (C), Jonathan Rees-Jones, Dan Lloyd, Andrew Thomas, Chay Bowles, John-Rhys Davies, Daley Jones
Replacements: Peter Davies, Jamie Evans, Dave Roberts
Penalty: Daley Jones
