Old rivals ready to do battle in historic clash
HISTORY of the unwanted kind will be made at Belle Vue this Friday when archrivals Rhyl and Bangor City clash for the first time ever in the secondtier of Welsh football.
Two of North Wales’s most successful and well-supported clubs, they met on 46 occasions between 1994-95 and 2016-17 in the topflight Welsh Premier League.
The Citizens recorded 24 wins, the Lilywhites registered 17 and there were five draws.
This season, for the first time since the League of Wales was formed in 1992-93, neither of these coastal giants is involved.
Inevitably, with both clubs at tier-two level this term, their respective average attendances have plummeted, but there just might be a chance of a big turnout at Belle Vue on Friday evening.
One of the chief reasons for that is the fine form of the main protagonists. Bangor have won nine in a row in all competitions, with Rhyl victorious in their last six.
City currently lie fourth in the table with the Lilies just a place below.
Bangor maintained their winning streak last Friday with a 3-0 victory over Prestatyn Town.
These two also had a rich WPL history, though not as prolific as City-Rhyl, with the Seasiders having been relegated from the national league along with the Citizens this term.
In what was Stephen Vaughan Jr’s final game as interim-manager before joining Mosta FC of Malta as assistant-boss, the Blues profited from a strong start.
Debutant goalkeeper Niki-Lee Bulmer denied Town’s Danny Davies early on but, after 11 minutes, City took the lead and never looked back.
A free-kick from the right by Jake Phillips was headed home by Mike Williams at the back post for his first goal since joining the club.
Five minutes later came a second goal for Bangor.
This time it was Marc Williams who copied his brother’s exploits with a well-placed header from a Jacob Farleigh cross for his fourth goal in successive games.
Bulmer saved well from Alex Jones before City’s Robbie Parry sent a 30-yarder crashing into the back of the net for what looked like a third goal only for the referee to rule it out and call play back for a free-kick to the hosts.
The visitors began the second half strongly, Bulmer saving well from Ian Griffiths and Alex Jones in quick succession.
In the 66th minute, however, City made it three when a neat throughball from Parry was picked up by teammate Farleigh, who ran through to slot low past goalkeeper Ryan Roberts.
An impressive win for Bangor, perhaps overshadowed by events off the field, but certainly this group of players have bonded into a strong, well-organised outfit who have a variety of goal threats and a strong defence.
News on Vaughan Jr’s replacement was promised by today (Wednesday) with the first assignment for the new management team that mouthwatering derby clash at Rhyl this Friday night, the match having a 7.45pm kick-off time.