RHYL and District reached the next round of the WRU Bowl with a 38-20 home win over Abergele.

The Dragons picked up their second consecutive win over their derby rivals after another physical and frantic clash between the two sides, but Gele made a strong start to proceedings and raced into an early lead courtesy of a well-struck penalty and an unconverted try.

This finally sprung the hosts into life and they reduced the deficit soon after when Ian Marshall dotted over for a try which he also converted, but ill-discipline and handling errors were costing the Dragons in crucial situations and they fell further behind when Gele went over for another well-worked score following some good possession.

A stunning solo try from Richie Williams proved to be the catalyst for the home side, who enjoyed a supreme spell of dominance thereafter which also saw skipper Simon Johnston and Callum Morris cross the white wash to give them a commanding lead for the first time in the contest.

The away side are a much-improved outfit this term and failed to go down without a fight, ensuring a nervy end to proceedings with another surge over the line to leave things all to play for heading into the final quarter of the contest.

With Gele throwing everything at their opponents in pursuit of a way back into the tie, the Dragons took full advantage of the extra space and went over on two occasions in quick succession through Johnson and pacey winger Jack Hughes to round off the scoring.

The Dragons’ are back in Specsavers Two North action next Saturday when they make the long trip to Welshpool, and there was further cause for celebration as their second unit secured an eye-catching 33-31 friendly triumph over Bala.