IT is advantage Rydal Penrhos School after the Cooper Cup first leg against Colwyn Bay Rugby Club.

Some of the region’s most promising young talent competed against each other on Sunday, February 10, which attracted a large crowd to the Bay’s venue at Brookfield Drive.

The Preparatory School’s U8 squad got the visitors off to a flyer with a hard-fought 7-5 win against their Bay counterparts, and the U9 team doubled their aggregate cushion with a narrow 5-4 triumph following a thoroughly entertaining affair.

This was followed by an outstanding performance from the U10 squad, who produced some scintillating attacking rugby to emerge with a 50-28 success and see their lead for the day increase further.

They were unable to complete a clean sweep despite a sterling effort from the U11 squad, who were beaten 33-28 to bring the final score after the first leg action to 3-1 in favour of Rydal Penrhos.

One win for the Prep School during the second leg on Saturday, March 23 would see Rydal Penrhos retain the cup for the fifth consecutive year, with Colwyn Bay needing to win all four games to get their hands on the prestigious trophy.

Jamie McLeod, head of boys’ games at Rydal Penrhos, said: “This was a fabulous effort not just from our talented rugby players at Rydal Penrhos, but everyone involved.

“It was a superb showcase of the town and region’s rugby talent, with every game very closely contested which should make for a very exciting second leg.

“We would like to thank everyone at Colwyn Bay Rugby Club for their hospitality on what was a wonderful morning of rugby played in the right spirit.”