Bala Town earned a statement victory on the opening weekend of the Novira Cymru North season by triumphing 2-1 over Bangor City 1876 at Bangor City Stadium on Friday night.Â
Bala took the lead moments into the second half as Craig Lindfield steered home Tom Kelly’s to mark his debut in style, but Bangor equalised just seven minutes later through Declan McManus, who latched onto Guto Williams’ header back into the box and sent a clinical volley past Rhys Williams.
It seemed the two favourites for the Novira Cymru North title would share the points at Nantporth, but there was drama deep into stoppage time as Charlie Fisher, son of Bala boss Steve Fisher, made no mistake firing home the rebound from Tom Kelly’s saved free-kick to earn the Lakesiders a remarkable opening day win as they begin their first second tier season in 18 years.
Newly-promoted Porthmadog marked their return to the Novira Cymru North with an impressive 3-1 win over Penrhyncoch at Cae Baker on Saturday.
Porthmadog found the breakthrough in the 37th minute thanks to Osian Ellis, who joined the club on loan from Caernarfon Town just two days ago, but his strike was quickly cancelled out by Penrhyncoch’s teenage debutant Jakub Michalski.
Ellis turned provider for fellow summer arrival Dylan Summers-Jones just one minute after the restart to put Port back in front before the away side found comfort late on through Rhys Alun Williams’ finish.
Brickfield Rangers began their season in style with a 5-1 victory over newly-promoted Llanuwchllyn at Clywedog Park on Saturday.
Jay Richardson and Andy Vale, who were two standout performers for Brickfield last season, both found the target in the first half to open up a two-goal cushion. New signing Sam Flory then opened his account for the club on 57 minutes with a calmly converted penalty.
Llanuwchllyn quickly pulled a goal back through Meilir Williams, who tapped in the rebound from his own saved penalty. However, Richardson and Vale both scored again to bag their braces and round off a five-star performance from Gary Wilson’s side.
There was no shortage of goals at The Globe as Denbigh Town earned an entertaining 4-2 victory away to Buckley Town on Saturday.
Buckley took the lead early on through Aled Bellis’ composed finish when one-on-one with Ollie Farebrother, but Denbigh were instantly level as new signing Tom Kelly fired home.
Kelly was involved again and this time won his side a penalty as he went to ground following a high boot. Denbigh captain Nathan Brown stepped up from the spot and made no mistake putting his side in front.
Kelly made it a brace on his Denbigh debut with a clinical curling effort into the bottom corner before Ffranc Vaughan-Evans got in on the act and finished from Hugh Holland’s low cross to ultimately put the game to bed. The Bucks bagged a late consolation as Ben Guest converted from the penalty spot following Luke Johnston’s foul in the area, but the damage was already done as Denbigh claimed just their third away win this calendar year.
Newtown were the only team in the Novira Cymru North to keep a clean sheet on the opening weekend as they triumphed 3-0 away at Gresford Athletic on Sunday.
Jamie Hyne bagged 18 league goals last season and he got off the mark for the new campaign with two in the opening half an hour at Clappers Lane. The first was a tap in after good work from Josh Astley and Hanoch Boakye before he doubled his tally with a clinical finish from Boakye’s cross.
Boakye, a Robins academy graduate who returned to the club this summer after a spell at English side Market Drayton, sealed victory with a goal of his own in the 87th minute. The 21-year-old received the ball from Manny Osei, cleverly beat his man and fired into the bottom corner.
The points were shared between Rhyl 1879 and Guilsfield in a 1-1 draw at the Hops and Barley Community Stadium on Saturday.
Rhyl captain Reece Fairhurst put his team ahead shortly before half time with a towering header from Ben Lightfoot’s cross.
Fairhurst’s first goal in almost a year remained the difference for the majority of the second half, but Guilsfield were able to rescue a point through teenager Alistair Williams, who guided his header into the far corner. The Guils are now unbeaten in three visits to Rhyl within the space of just under seven months, while they are also the only team, along with Airbus UK Broughton, to take points off Rhyl on their own turf in 2026.
Jamie Jones scored a late winner to give Holyhead Hotspur a dramatic 2-1 victory over Ruthin Town at the Memorial Playing Fields on Friday night.
Holyhead opened the scoring midway through the first half as Corey Jones rose highest to head home from Tomos Owen’s cross.
Ruthin improved in the second half and found their equaliser thanks to Luke Edwards’ stunning strike. However, the visitors hit back and following close chances for Connor Owen and Sam Jones, they made their pressure count as the ball broke free to Jamie Jones, who fired in from a tight angle to seal a hard-fought win.
Novira Cymru North
There was also late drama at Alyn Park as Rhys Hesden’s stoppage-time strike salvaged a 2-2 draw for Caersws away to Mold Alexandra on Saturday.
Caersws took the lead in style as Jake Humphreys beautifully curled his free-kick into the top corner in the fifth minute of first half stoppage-time. Mold hit back immediately after the restart as the ball bundled over the line despite the best efforts of Max Williams to try and push the ball to safety.
Owen Cordiner completed a quick turnaround for the Alex and put his side ahead with 20 minutes remaining. It seemed an uphill task for Caersws to claim anything from the game after Tommy Rowlands was sent off for a second bookable offence, but Hesden popped up in stoppage-time to rescue the Bluebirds against the odds.
GRESFORD
Weekend results in full:
Ruthin Town 1-2 Holyhead Hotspur
Bangor City 1876 1-2 Bala Town
Buckley Town 2-4 Denbigh Town
Rhyl 1879 1-1 Guilsfield
Brickfield Rangers 5-1 Llanuwchllyn
Mold Alexandra 2-2 Caersws
Penrhyncoch 1-3 Porthmadog
Gresford Athletic 0-3 Newtown
