GRIFF’S MEN PAY ULTIMATE PENALTY

PENYBONT suffered further agony as their 3-2 JD Welsh Cup final defeat was followed by a penalty shoot-out loss to Flint Town United in the JD Cymru Premier Play-Off semi-final.

It was a ninth straight defeat in all competitions for Rhys Griffiths’ men, after they held the north Walians 1-1 after 90 minutes but missed a late extra-time penalty.

And Flint won the shoot-out 3-1, to reach the final clash with Caernarfon Town next weekend.

Flint skipper Alex Jones gave his side a sixth-minute lead, netting after Jake Phillips’ corner was headed on by Mark Cadwallader.

Then Bont defender Liam Walsh was forced off with a wrist injury. But they worked their way back into the contest, forcing Flint keeper Joe Rushton into a number of saves.

And they drew level from the spot on 50 minutes. Flint’s Ben Nash was booked for holding a player in the area and up stepped Nathan Wood to fire in the penalty.

After another smart Rushton stop to deny Wood, the game moved into extra-time.

The best chance of extra-time’s first half fell to Penybont’s Kostya Georgievsky, who wriggled free in the box only to shoot wide.

In the second half, with five minutes left, Penybont won a second penalty when Kai Whitmore was tripped by Sam Duffy.

Wood stepped up for the second time, but this time fired his penalty against the bar. And Bont’s penalty-spot rot had set-in.

Kane Owen’s first spot kick for Penybont was saved. Mark Cadwallader made it 1-0 to Flint and then Sam Snaith levelled things up.

Dan Harrison hit the target for Flint before Wood missed again. Ben Maher netted the decisive penalty.

In the second semi-final, Mike Hayes’ goal just before half-time gave Caernarfon Town a 1-0 win over Cardiff Metropolitan University.

The Cofis were in the final last year, when they lost a 3-2 lead with 10 minutes left and eventually lost 5-3 to Newtown.

Having already beaten the students twice in the regular league season, this made in a hat-trick and ended a run of back-to-back defeats.

For Cardiff Met manager Christian Edwards it was a disappointing end to his 13year stint in charge, during which time he led them to a Nathaniel MG Cup triumph and into Europe.