Chester Gladiators took part in the inaugural North Wales 9s tournament in Wrexham on Sunday to mark the launch of the North Wales Rugby League.

The tournament saw the Gladiators line-up alongside Penrhyn Eagles from Bangor, Mid Wales Marauders from Welshpool, Conwy Celts from Colwyn Bay and the eventual winners Rhyl Exiles. Player of the Tournament was Arwyn Griffiths from Penrhyn Eagles.

All teams played at the Racecourse Ground before Crusaders’ 44-20 win over Bradford Bulls in the engage Super League. The players from all five sides stayed to watch the game, then paraded around the pitch at half-time to a huge applause.

The trophy was presented by Wales coach Iestyn Harris, Patron of Wales Rugby League and loyal Crusaders fan Janet Ryder and Wales Rugby League president Mike Nicholas.

Chester lost their opening game 24-16 to Penrhyn as they paid the price for failing to land any of their conversions. Tries from Simon Quinn (2), Adam Pierpoint and Tom Burrows should have been enough for victory but the Eagles took advantage of some wayward goalkicking to secure the win with a late penalty try.

The Gladiators were then comfortably beaten 20-0 by a physical Rhyl Exiles outfit which contained a number of Welsh Student and Junior internationals. Chester worked hard in defence but paid the price for a lack of agression and composure with ball in hand.

There were no such problems in the third game where a monster hit from Liam Green in the opening minute set the tone. The Gladiators easily dispatched Conwy Celts 24-6 with tries from Andy Vaughan (2), Green and Chris Pape.

Chester then followed up with another victory as tries by Josh Walker, Vaughan and Burrows helped the Gladiators claim a 16-4 win over Mid Wales Marauders to end the tournament in third place.

Chester Gladiators: Simon Quinn, Andy Vaughan, Alexis Wilkie, Adam Pierpoint, Tom Burrows, Declan Foy, Chris Young, Chris Blythe, Steve Sandbach, Damon Williams, Chris Pape, Simon Cooke, Darran Jones, Liam Green, Adam Stanworth, Josh Walker

Full Results

Penrhyn Eagles 14-4 Mid Wales Marauders
Conwy Celts 0-30 Rhyl Exiles
Chester Gladiators 16-24 Penrhyn Eagles
Mid Wales Marauders 14-12 Conwy Celts
Rhyl Exiles 20-0 Chester Gladiators
Penrhyn Eagles 28-4 Conwy Celts
Mid Wales Marauders 0-16 Rhyl Exiles
Conwy Celts 6-24 Chester Gladiators
Mid Wales Marauders 4-14 Chester Gladiators
Penrhyn Eagles 4-14 Rhyl Exiles