There was Intermediate Cup final agony for Shotton Steel as they were outfought in a 36-19 defeat against champions Denbigh.

The Division Two rivals have impressed in their respective campaigns and have both secured promotion, but it was Denbigh whose class won through on the day.

The loss of fly-half Steve Ellson and flanker Steve Garrett were both keenly felt by the Steelmen who were 19-0 down by half time of the final in Bangor.

Despite dominating the majority of play in the opening exchanges, Shotton were unable to find the final pass or break through the last tackle at crucial times.

Meanwhile, Denbigh’s talented backline punished every handling error ruthlessly and were able to run-in three unanswered tries, the third coming in the final play of a torrid first period for Shotton.

The Steelmen regrouped in the second half, with Roy Cardus opening the scoring an unconverted try for just after the break.

Denbigh quickly hit back with their fourth and fifth tries of the contest to make it 29-5, before Shotton’s Huw Seargeant scored the try of the match when he finished off a sublime team passing move.

John Ketland then powered over the whitewash for another converted score to make it 29-19, before two late tries from Denbigh secured a league and cup double.

Shotton coach Mike Roberts said: “It was a disappointing end to the season but we did ourselves proud in the final.

“There were a few last-minute changes to the line-up and we also had to plan for the loss of John Ketland whose partner was due to give birth on Saturday.

“That said, in replacements Matty Condrem and Martin Harvey we had great replacements who did us proud. There have been some great lessons learned by Shotton this season and we’re looking forward to the challenge of first division rugby next season.”

Wrexham signed off from Division Two action with a convincing 36-13 victory over Newtown. The tries were scored by Owen Weston, and two apiece for Jack Radcliffe and Nick Dodd, while James Price got a penalty and four conversions.

The result secured Wrexham a third-place finish, narrowly missing out on promotion this term and coach Alan Jenkins said: “It was a good result and a satisfying way to end the season.

“They’re quite a tough side and it was actually a fairly tight game.

“We took our chances well and put up a solid defence.We’ve finished the season in third place and played some attractive rugby through the season, but we need to improve on our away performances next year.”

Pwllheli triumphed 29-15 against Gwynedd rivals Bala to win the North Wales Senior Cup.