DINAS Powys took on Rumney in the National League 1 East Central and the encounter ended in a thrilling 19-19 draw.

The fact that the hosts’ pitch at Riverside Park was waterlogged meant that the game was switched to Moorlands Park in Splott , the home of Old Illtydians RFC.

The hosts described this fixture on their website as a must win game for themselves as they fight to avoid relegation.

The home side started brightly and dominated the first quarter of the contest.

The Villagers were lacklustre and they contributed largely to their problems with a series of poor decisions and poor passes.

The hosts’ large pack were well drilled and were dominating possession as they looked anything other than a relegation haunted side as they scored two tries within the first 15 minutes.

With the first of these tries converted they were deserving of their 12-0 lead.

It took 20 minutes for Dinas to get any flow and continuity into their play, a powerful run by left wing Jim Wiltshire down his wing raised the visitors’ spirits and soon after another powerful burst by the exciting winger saw him pass back inside to centre Rhys Evans who transferred to team captain Tom Baister who drove on powerfully before been dragged to the floor by three home forwards.

The ball was recycled from the resulting ruck via scrum half Sam Middlemiss to fly half Ben White who put a grubber kick through that he regathered to score the try that he then converted.

The Villagers had awoken from their slumber and further scoring opportunities were created as Baister and flanker Rhys Gambold combined to go close to scoring without being able to find the crucial final pass.

At half-time the score was a rather flattering 12-7 as the hosts were unlucky not to be further ahead after their early dominance.

The second half started brightly for the Villagers as they enjoyed possession deep in the Rumney half.

However unusually for this season they were unable to add to their score at this stage. A further wayward pass was dropped and the hosts joyfully cleared the ball upfield to enjoy some territorial pressure of their own.

The pressure was intense and despite resolute defending by flankers Gambold and Lane Dyer against the large Rumney foRwards.

The home side moved the ball wide to their right wing who raced over for their third try, which was converted to extended their lead to 19-7 with 20 minutes remaining.

The away side, as so often during recent seasons, showed great character and resolve and during the remainder produced a period of frantic, frenzied attacking rugby.

There were occasions when Villager supporters thought the fates were against them as right wing Nathan Williams crossed the tryline only to have the ball dislodged from his grasp by a home defender.

The talented Williams soon rectified himself as he combined with fellow winger Wiltshire to breach the defence before providing the scoring pass to centre Rhys Evans who crossed for the try, the difficult conversion was added by White and they now trailed 19-14.

The enigmatic White was moved to full back and replaced at fly half by Callum Bricknall as the visitors pressed for a further score.

The visitors were displeasing the referee at the breakdown and were suffering in the penalty count, 20-4 by the end of the contest, thus allowing the home side to clear the attacking threat of the Villagers.

The spirit was indomitable in adversity and after a powerful scrum in which the front rowers of Andrew O'Malia, Baister and Caleb Robinson supplemented by second rowers Dan O'Donnell and the evergreen Matt Knibbs.

The ball was moved along the backline initially to the right and then to the left and a sublime 30 metre pass by Bricknall missed out two players and found Baister in open space on the left wing and the skipper showed good pace to score in the corner.

The conversion drifted wide, but the Villagers were level with only a few minutes remaining.

However gloom soon descended upon the Dinas camp as they were once again adjudged to have erred at the breakdown and conceded the penalty.

Fortunately for them the kick was not successful but regathered by Wiltshire who bolted upfield, supported by Middlemiss the visitors were in the opposition half , a strong carry from the man of the match number 8 Corey Imperatto provided impetus to the movement. The defence was desperate as Williams, Evans and finally Wiltshire were agonisingly close to escaping the clutches of desperate defenders.

A chip through by Wiltshire was knocked on by a defender on the Rumney tryline and hopes were high of a winning score.

Unfortunately, the referee decided that time was up and the final whistle was blown and the game ended 19-19.