Colwyn Bay came from behind to maintain their perfect home record in the Novira Cymru Premier with a 2-1 win over Connah’s Quay Nomads at the Blue Turtle Arena on Saturday.
Connah’s Quay opened the scoring after just eight minutes played on the North Wales coast as Ethan Roberts’ foul on Callum West inside the area resulted in a penalty, which West calmly converted into the bottom corner to bag his fifth goal of the season.
Darren Stephenson, who was making his first competitive start for the Nomads, had the ball in the back of the net shortly after West’s opener, but the goal was quickly ruled out as Mark Halstead was deemed to have two hands on the ball when the Colwyn Bay goalkeeper was dispossessed by the Jamaican forward.
The Nomads defended well for the remainder of the first half, but Bay were back on level terms just eight minutes after the restart thanks to Jordan Davies’ powerful strike into the roof of the net from an extremely tight angle, which brought a loud cheer from most of the 1,102 fans in attendance.
Michael Wilde’s side completed the turnaround with 66 minutes on the clock as Nathan Peate knocked Josh Williams’ corner down for Sol Forde, who slammed into the net from close range to score his first goal since November.
Bay saw out the fiery closing stages to secure their fourth straight home win and end Connah’s Quay’s six-match unbeaten run. The Seagulls also now climb into the top half of the table.
Haverfordwest County also staged a magnificent second half comeback to continue their resurgence with a 3-1 victory over Briton Ferry Llansawel at the Dynamite Bridge Meadow.
Rhys Abbruzzese was denied by the post from a tight angle in the only major opportunity in the first half, but it was Ferry who took the lead on 59 minutes as Ollie Anderson flicked the ball on to Corey Hurford, who was allowed time and space to slot beneath Ifan Knott and score his first senior goal in over 10 months.
Ferry were ahead for just 11 minutes as Jack Walker’s long throw was fully cleared by Alex Gammond, allowing Dan Hawkins to race in and volley the Bluebirds level from close range.
Corey Shephard completed the turnaround six minutes after Hawkins’ equaliser as the midfielder received the ball on the halfway line, drifted into the final third and clinically found the bottom corner for his first goal of the season.
Abbruzzese put the game to bed with six minutes of normal time remaining by tapping in from Ben Ahmun’s square ball. Tony Pennock’s side have now claimed seven points from their last three matches and are up to 11th in the table, leapfrogging Ferry, who suffered their fourth straight defeat.
Caernarfon Town continued their perfect record away from home after storming to a 5-0 win over Ammanford at the Ammanford Recreation Ground.
Sion Bradley nearly put Caernarfon ahead when his curling effort bounced onto the post, but Richard Davies’ side did not have to wait much longer for the breakthrough as Phil Mooney met Chris Marriott’s corner and powered his header past Oliver Williams.
Bradley was not to be denied at the second time of asking as his low drive crept into the bottom corner via the post to make it 2-0 shortly before half time. Ammanford’s woes increased when Lucas Davies’ foul on Offrande Zanzala inside the six-yard box resulted in a straight red card for the Ammanford defender and a Caernarfon penalty. Bradley stepped up to take the spot kick and he made no mistake, clipping the ball down the middle of the net to give the visitors comfort.
Mooney also bagged a brace for the evening as he guided his header into the bottom corner from Matty Jones’ cross before 17-year-old Harri Wyn scored his first senior goal for Caernarfon by curling beyond Williams from the edge of the area to give the Cofis their joint-biggest away win ever in the top-flight.
Second-place Barry Town United returned to winning ways with a 4-1 victory over Llandudno at Jenner Park.
Barry were awarded a penalty inside just three minutes as Elliott Dugan chased down George Ratcliffe’s long ball before being brought down by Llandudno goalkeeper Joel Torrance in the area. Dugan himself stepped up to take the resulting spot kick and he calmly slotted the ball into the bottom corner, sending Torrance the wrong way in the process.
Barry were immediately two goals to the good in fortunate circumstances as the ball ricocheted off Noah Daley near the byline before also deflecting off Llandudno Iwan Cartwright, who could not prevent the ball from rolling into the net.
Dan Barton produced a moment of brilliance to extend Barry’s lead early in the second half as he picked out the top corner from the edge of the area.
Llandudno gave themselves a glimmer of hope when VAR awarded the Seasiders penalty after checking Will Richards’ challenge inside the area, which allowed Mark Cadwallader to score his third goal of the season.
Kieran Smith made a goal-line clearance to deny Daley, but the Llandudno captain was sent off following a VAR check in stoppage time after he brought down Daley, who would have been through on goal. Barry rounded off a chaotic victory in the 98th minute as Ellis Williams slotted home from a tight angle after neat work from Jack Shaw. Steve Jenkins’ side have now already equalled their amount of wins gained from the entirety of Phase One last season.
The New Saints maintained their one-point lead at the top of the Novira Cymru Premier table with a 2-0 win over Airbus UK Broughton at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium.
Saints took the lead with 31 minutes on the clock as Captain Jack Bodenham met Dominic Corness’ corner at the back post and headed the ball down for Dan Williams, who steered home beyond Louis Fallon for his second goal of the season.
Rory Holden had a goal disallowed for offside when he tapped in from Josh Lock’s cross, but the Irish forward was not to be denied a second time as he simply tucked away the rebound from Danny Davies’ saved effort.
TNS manager Craig Harrison was shown a straight red card four minutes into the second half, but his side were able to see out the remainder of the match to secure their seventh straight win.
Liam Eason scored twice as Cambrian United beat Holywell Town 2-1 at the M&P Group 3G to continue their bright form.
Alex John forced a spectacular fingertip save from Alex Swindell, while Caleb Hughes was denied by the post from just a few yards out as Cambrian pushed for the opening goal. Their pressure eventually paid off though, as Josh Beecher’s shot deflected into the path of Eason, whose effort from close range found the net via the underside of the crossbar.
Eason doubled his and Cambrian’s tally three minutes into the second half as Frazer Thomas’ low cross was cut out by Jack Tierney, but only as far as Eason, who slammed home the loose ball for his sixth goal of the campaign.
Florian Yonsian thought he had halved the deficit for Holywell when he tapped in the rebound from Caio Hughes’ saved shot from distance, but the striker was offside when running onto the loose ball.
Yonsian did eventually pull a certain goal back for the visitors late on when he received Dominic McGiveron’s through ball and fired past Kelland Absalom, but the Wellmen were unable to find another late goal to rescue a point. Cambrian are unbeaten in six out of their last seven league games, while Holywell remain bottom of the table on just one point.
Penybont kept their unbeaten record intact as Tyler Walker scored the only goal in a narrow 1-0 win over Trefelin at Ynys Park.
Walker came extremely close to putting Penybont ahead after just four minutes played as his header was cleared off the line at the last second by Louis Gerrard.
Trefelin goalkeeper Scott Coughlin made important diving saves to keep the scoreline level, but the hosts’ resistance was eventually broken by Bont in the 70th minute as Chris Venables headed the ball back across goal and straight into the path of Walker, who finished from a yard out to score his first goal for the club and secure back-to-back wins and clean sheets for Rhys Griffiths’ side.
Flint Town United’s wait for a first win of the Novira Cymru Premier season goes on as Cardiff Met fought back to salvage a 1-1 draw at the Essity Stadium.
Flint made the perfect start to the contest as Isaac Modi opened the scoring after just three minutes with a fierce strike into the bottom corner from the edge of the area.
However, Met were awarded a penalty on the hour mark as Fumpa Mwandwe was fouled in the six-yard box by Ben Woollam, who was also shown a straight red card for his challenge. Jack Veale took the resulting penalty and clinically found the bottom corner to make it one apiece.
The Archers almost completed the turnaround in the 78th minute as Sam Snaith escaped his marker to meet Sam Jones’ teasing cross, but agonisingly saw his header bounce back off the post.
Both teams would finish the match with 10 men as Met captain CJ Craven was sent off for a second bookable offence following a high challenge on Lee Jonas. Met extend their unbeaten run to four matches, while Flint remain in 13th-place after claiming just their second point.
Novira Cymru Premier results in full:
Flint Town United 1-1 Cardiff Met
Ammanford 0-5 Caernarfon Town
Cambrian United 2-1 Holywell Town
Trefelin 0-1 Penybont
Airbus UK Broughton 0-2 The New Saints
Barry Town United 4-1 Llandudno
Haverfordwest County 3-1 Briton Ferry Llansawel
Colwyn Bay 2-1 Connah’s Quay Nomads
