RHYS ALUN STRIKE KEEPS PORT IN PLAYOFF HUNT
Ardal League North-West
CPD Y FELINHELI 0 CPD PORTHMADOG 1
Rhys Alun 20’
AN excellent crowd of 420 witnessed this absorbing and tense battle at Cae Seilo, as Port, for the second game in succession gained three points by the most slender of margins to keep them in the hunt for a play-off place at the end of the season, writes
Treflyn Jones.
It is fair to say that the margin of victory should have been bigger as Port squandered several clear-cut chances especially in the second period.
Port started well. In the first minute, Dewi Thomas won a high header which allowed John Littlemore to cross low and dangerously into the box but Matty Jones narrowly failed to get on the end of it.
In the 20th minute, Stuart Rogers did very well to evade two defenders before laying a pinpoint low cross to Rhys Alun who blasted home from close range to open Port’s account. A minute later, Stuart’s attempted chip from outside the box went over the bar.
The rest of the half became a keenly contested midfield battle with Felinheli coming more and more into the game and desperately close to an equalizer when Iwan Owen found himself one-on-one with Paul Pritchard but the Port keeper pulled off a great close range save and the first period ended 1-0 in the visitors’ favour. However, Port could have doubled their lead had Littlemore’s close range effort had not sailed over the bar coutesy of a very bad bounce before he pulled the trigger.
Both teams, especially the visitors , set up very promising situations in the second half. After barely three minutes, Gareth Jones-Evans headed against the crossbar with the goalie well-beaten and seconds later, Guto Hughes produced an excellent save diving to his left to parry a tremendous shot by Stuart Rogers to safety. During this early period, Felin again came close when a leftfooted effort by Rhys Parry drifted wide of the post. There then followed two point blank saves by Guto Hughes, the first from a Littlemore effort and the second from a very firm shot on the turn by Jamie McDaid. There followed the miss of the match when Marcus Banks put a header over the bar as he stood virtually on the goal line in the 78th minute. In the final quarter, the game became a fast and frantic end-to-end affair and Paul Pritchard was twice called upon to make great last ditch saves as the excellent Caio Hughes taunted the Port defence time after time.
In the 85th minute, there occurred a moment of huge controversy when a clever chip from a tight angle by Rhys Alun had Hughes well-beaten and the ball, according to several Port fans had ‘clearly’ crossed the line. But, to Port’s anger and frustration, the linesman, when consulted by the ref, said “No”.
The final whistle brought cheers of relief as well as joy. For all the hard work of Caio Hughes and Rhys Parry, we had held on to the three points. We anxiously await the FAW decision on the infamous Saltney match, which, if favourable, would leave us well-placed for a play-off spot. Fingers crossed!
Y Felinheli: Guto Hughes (GK), Connor Japheth, Ryan Cain, Rhodri Dafydd (I. Emyr 85’), Dylan Jones, Carwyn Dafydd (Gavin Lloyd-Jones 80’), Caio Hughes,Aled Griffith (capt.),Iwan Owen,Iwan Edwards , Rhys Parry. Porthmadog: Paul Pritchard (GK), Gareth Jones-Evans, Josh Banks, Iddon Price (capt.), Ifan Emlyn, Stuart Rogers (Marcus Banks), Dewi Thomas (James Morgan), Matty Jones (Jamie McDaid 37’), John Littlemore (Cian Pritchard 89’) Rhys Alun, Euron Roberts.