Shaun on the spot to seal place in final

FORMER Wales international Shaun MacDonald kept his cool to fire home the penalty that carried Penybont into their first JD Cymru Welsh Cup final.

Now they will be sitting down today to watch the second semifinal between cup holder The New Saints and Colwyn Bay to see who they will meet in the final. If Colwyn Bay can take a third Premier League scalp then they will go through to their first final as well.

There was nothing between Penybont and Bala over the 90 minutes and it took only one slip in the penalty shoot-out to enable Rhys Griffiths’ side to make it 5-4 on penalties.

It fell to MacDonald to take the kick to win it for Penybont and he hit the target to complete a set of five perfect spot kicks for his team. Where Mael Davies, Sam Snaith, Nathan Wood and Kane Owen had led, MacDonald followed to seal the deal.

“We haven’t won the cup, but it feels a little bit like we have because of where we’ve come from as a club,” said Penybont boss, Griffiths.

“This just means so much to all the people in the background and our supporters. I thought we edged it, I certainly thought we finished stronger and that we were the team looking to create a goal, but it wasn’t pretty at times.”

If it wasn’t a pretty game, it was a cruel one for Bala’s lastminute substitute Brad Bauress. He bravely followed skipper Chris Venables and another former Welsh international, David Edwards, in the penalty taking, but missed the target with what was his first kick of the game.

Today’s second semi at Rhyl will see the current holders, The New Saints, attempt to stay on course for another league and cup double. They have been beaten in the competition for four years, but Colwyn Bay will be hoping to break that streak as they seek their first final by adding the TNS scalp to those of Cardiff Met and Connah’s Quay Nomads.

“We want to make sure we win the game and get through to the final,” said Saints head coach Anthony Limbrick ahead of the game at Rhyl.

However, they face a savvy Seagulls side who have their eyes firmly on the prize in stall for them if they can win the competition.

“We are two games away from Europe, anything can happen in cup games,” said Bay manager Steve Evans, a former TNS player and coach. “TNS are a great side and hot favourites, but we have got nothing to fear.”