Their reward for a magnificent 23-13 victory in the Welsh capital last weekend is a semi-final clash against the current Division 3 West Central C leaders on 21 March. South Gower currently boast a perfect 11 out of 11 record in their league and lead another semi-finalist, Cwmgwrach, by five points at the half-way stage.
They have already posted three home wins in the Shield, having been given a walk-over in the first round, and followed up their victories against Wrexham 2nd XV (31-24) and Crumlin (24-8) with a narrow 8-3 quarter-final victory against Bettws.
The rise of Holyhead over the past seven years has been one of the heart-warming stories of Welsh rugby. They kicked off the 2013/14 season with a British record league defeat of 181-0 against Llanidloes in Division 3 North. They were down to 11 men at one stage in the game and conceded 29 tries.
Chairman at the time, Emyr Williams, put the defeat own to some over-exuberance from some of his players the night before the away trip, although the club did have some previous experience of conceding big scores having gone down 145-0 against Nant Conwy in the early Nineties.
One of the founder members of the North Wales Rugby Union, they have certainly polished up their act since then. Their current run of good form – they are currently second in Division 3 North have lost once in nine league games – has a lot to do with the influence of Mei Parry, their player-coach.
Parry was one of the three try scores in the win over Cardiff Saracens last weekend. His cousin, Aaron Parry got another and his brother, Rhodri, kicked a conversion and penalty. Holyhead is very much a family club.
“We’ve been through some really dark days in the past, but we’ve enjoyed a real renaissance in the last three years. We’re second in our league, we’ve reached the semi-finals of the local cup competition and now we’re in the Shield semi-finals as well,” said hooker Raymond Lear.
“We’ve turned things around by keeping the same group of players together – we are all local lads and good friends. Mei used to play at RGC and he has made a major impact as our coach and on the field as a player.
“His father and grandfather both played for the club and he has helped to turn us around. We are all proud to be coming out on the other side of things are we have a thriving junior and youth section as well as a women’s team.
“We didn’t really know what to expect from Cardiff Saracens, but we knew about their unbeaten run. It was a case of both sides feeling each other out in the first half.
“We lost three players to yellow cards yet still managed to go on and win. It was a great performance and now we can’t wait for the semi-finals.
“We are the only north Wales side left in the cup competitions and we’d love to go all the way to represent our region. We took down a lot of supporters with us to Cardiff and we had massive support from the other clubs in the north.”
The other semi-final sees Cwmgwrach face the winners of the postponed tie between Rhigos and Pontardawe.
Specsavers National Shield
Matches to be played on the weekend of 28 March
Rhigos or Pontardawe v Cwmgwrach
Holyhead v South Gower
