Hotspur well adrift after defeat
HOLYHEAD Hotspur’s relegation plight deepened after suffering a damaging 3-1 home loss to fellow strugglers Penrhyncoch, writes John Bridgwater.
Former Bangor City and Rhyl striker Carl Lamb scored twice to earn the Roosters a precious win in their fight for survival, while defeat leaves Holyhead seven points adrift at the foot of the table.
Tomos Clarke gave Holyhead the perfect start with a third minute opener, but Lamb levelled matters at the break with a 37th-minute reply.
After the break, the encounter seemed to be heading for a draw before substitute Stef Davies fired Penrhyn ahead in the last minute and Lamb settled the issue with his second in injury time.
Hotspur have now earned just three points from their last five matches and are next in league action a week on Saturday with a testing trip to Porthmadog.
Just four games survived the ice and snow at the weekend, with Buckley Town v Guilsfield, Denbigh Town v Holywell Town, Ruthin v Prestatyn Town and Rhyl v Conwy Borough all postponed due to unfit pitches.
● Porthmadog gave a good account of themselves before finishing 1-1 against leaders Airbus UK Broughton in a quality encounter at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium.
Steve Tomassen gave the Wingmakers the advantage when heading in a Leo Riley free kick on 20 minutes, but Port were back on terms seven minutes later through Shaun Cavanagh’s stunning 22-yard free kick.
Despite the attacking endeavours of two evenly matched sides, that was how the scoring remained as high-flying Airbus saw their lead at the top trimmed to nine points.
Porthmadog manager Craig Papirnyk, whose side remain fifth in the table, felt it was a fair result, adding: “The game was a credit to two competitive sides who went toe to toe with some real quality football on show.”
The two rivals will come face to face again on Saturday when they clash in the semi-final of the Huws Gray Cup at the Traeth.
● Flint Town United are up to second, nine points off the pace, after overturning a half time deficit to secure a 2-1 success against lowly Llanrhaeadr at Cae-y-Castell.
Iwan Matthews had latched onto a ball over the top to give Llan a 12thminute lead, and Tom Evans hit the post for the Mid Wales visitors seven minutes later.
But Flint turned it around with two goals in the first 10 minutes of the second half, with debutant Dimitri Christou levelling with a powerful header and Mark Cadwallader notched a second from a rebound after keeper Jimmy Haynes had failed to hold a Kyle Smith shot.
Haynes then pulled off a terrific double save from Smyth and Brandon Burrows to keep Llan in the hunt.
Flint finished with 10 men after having Burrows red-carded eight minutes from time, but they held firm to secure the points.