Caernarfon Town climbed up to third in the Novira Cymru Premier with a scintillating 9-1 victory over Cambrian United at The Oval on Friday.
It was Cambrian who opened the scoring through Ashley Evans’ flick from a corner in the 16th minute, but Caernarfon completed a quick turnaround as Zack Clarke tapped home from Matty Jones’ low cross for his 10th goal of the season before Paulo Mendes converted the rebound from Jones’ saved low drive.
Both teams were reduced to 10 men shortly before half time as an altercation between Cambrian defender Josh Beecher and Caernarfon goalkeeper Connor Roberts resulted in straight red cards for both players. The altercation also meant there was a lengthy spell of first half stoppage time, which worked in Caernarfon’s favour as Jake Canavan made it 3-1 by firing home the loose ball from Clarke’s blocked cross.
Things went from bad to worse for Cambrian as they received a second red card nine minutes after the restart. Kyle Jones brought down Clarke inside the area and originally the Cambrian captain was shown a yellow card, but following a VAR check, the card was upgraded to red. The resulting penalty was taken by Sion Bradley, who found the bottom corner, sending Kelland Absalom the wrong way in the process to put the hosts in the driving seat.
Caernarfon used the numerical advantage in the best way possible as Adrian Cieslewicz’s composed effort from inside the area, Ryan Sears’ deflected low strike and Noah Edwards’ simple finish on the rebound Simba Nyamwanza’s saved effort made it seven.
There turned out to be nine different scorers for all of Caernarfon’s goals as Jones and Offrande Zanzala slotted into the net from close range to wrap up a convincing victory for Richard Davies’ side.
George Peers scored a hat-trick as Airbus UK Broughton moved into the top half with a 4-1 victory over Flint Town United at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium.
Airbus wasted no time and took the lead inside just two minutes as Kaiden Cooke’s volley at the back post was saved, but only as far as Peers, who nodded in the rebound to get things rolling for the hosts.
The Wingmakers were gifted their second goal 10 minutes later as Tyler McManus’ cross from the right hand side slipped through the hands of Jack Flint and dipped into the back of the net.
Another defensive error proved costly for Flint at the end of the first half as Ben Hughes’ misplaced back pass presented an opportunity for Jake Roberts, who had his shot saved, but Peers was on hand to pick up the loose ball and curl beautifully into the bottom corner to make it three.
Flint’s woes increased near the hour mark as Lee Jonas was sent off for a second bookable offence following his foul on Sean Moscrop. Peers then put the game to bed by completing his hat-trick with seven minutes of normal time remaining as the striker headed home from Kieran Evans’ pinpoint delivery inside the six-yard box.
Harry Dean got Flint on the scoresheet late on as he brought down Levi Morrison’s long ball and produced a deft finish past Louis Fallon. However, the damage was already done as Airbus returned to winning ways in style.
Rory Holden scored a 96th minute winner as leaders The New Saints beat Llandudno 2-1 in dramatic fashion to earn their ninth consecutive win at Park Hall on Saturday.
Llandudno had the better opportunities in the first half and were rewarded for their bright spell as Ben Maher sent a stunning curling effort beyond Nathan Shepperd into the bottom corner.
The Seasiders remained on course for a shock victory for the majority of the second half, but their resistance was eventually broken in the 78th minute as Dan Williams’ neat work inside the area led to his shot being parried into the path of Rhys Hughes, who fired in the rebound from just two yards out for his sixth goal of the season.
Llandudno tried to hold on for a draw as TNS applied constant pressure deep into stoppage time, but in true champions’ fashion, Saints eventually showed their quality as Danny Redmond played in substitute Rory Holden, who slotted into the bottom corner to secure a dramatic three points. Craig Harrison’s side now extend their lead to four points at the top of the table.
Colwyn Bay produced a stunning second half comeback as they overturned a two-goal deficit to triumph 5-2 against Barry Town United at the Blue Turtle Arena.
Barry established a two-goal lead inside 36 minutes as Noah Daley headed home from Dan Barton’s cross before Mikey George latched onto Jack Shaw’s defence-splitting pass and slotted beneath Mark Halstead when one-on-one with the Colwyn Bay goalkeeper.
Bay gave themselves a lifeline five minutes before half time as Declan Poole scored his first goal for the club by producing a clinical finish from Jordan Davies’ low ball.
The Seagulls needed just three minutes after the restart to level the contest as Nathan Peate headed in at the back post from Sam Hart’s corner. Bay’s comeback was complete in the 57th minute thanks to Davies, who met the loose ball from Poole’s blocked cross and fired past George Ratcliffe.
Davies was involved once again as his free-kick delivery was nodded across by Peate and into the path of Sol Forde, who headed into the bottom corner for consecutive goals on home turf. Matty Hill rounded off a convincing display from Michael Wilde’s side in stoppage time as he applied a simple finish from Aeron Edwards’ square ball. Bay still have their perfect home record intact and have now claimed three consecutive top-flight victories for the first time ever.
A second straight away defeat for Barry allowed Penybont to move up to second in the table with a 5-1 victory away to Ammanford.
Bont took just nine minutes to hit the front as Mael Davies rose higher than Luke Sylvester to meet Ethan Vaughan’s cross and guide his header into the far corner. Tom Mehew doubled the lead in style on 36 minutes as the midfielder brought down Nathan Wood’s long ball, cut inside and drove his shot into the bottom corner.
Tyler Walker continued his red-hot form in front of goal as the forward poked home from Vaughan’s low ball to add a third for the visitors. Mehew returned the favour to Wood on the stroke of half-time, laying the ball off to his teammate, whose low shot crept inside the near post.
Walker had the chance to bag a brace as Lucas Davies’ foul on Vaughan inside the area led to him standing over a penalty, but his spot kick was saved by Ammanford’s teenage goalkeeper Tom Wright. Ammanford were then awarded a penalty of their own on 59 minutes as Marinho Manga fouled Callum Thomas just inside the area. However, Matt Delaney’s low driven spot kick was saved by the legs of Dan Higgs.
Bont’s fifth goal arrived with 88 minutes on the clock as substitute Ethan Cann slid in on Wood’s low cross and scored his first goal for the club since joining in January.
Delaney got Ammanford on the scoresheet in stoppage time as Bont failed to clear Thomas’ corner, allowing Delaney to poke into the far corner. Delaney’s strike was already an obvious consolation though, as Bont’s five-star performance made it four straight wins for Rhys Griffiths’ side, who also maintained their unbeaten record.
Trefelin climbed out of the bottom three after battling back to earn a point in a 1-1 draw with Briton Ferry Llansawel at The Renewable Centre Stadium.
Ferry striker Tom Walters saw his powerful header agonisingly denied by the crossbar, but the Reds made their pressure count to find the opening goal shortly before half time as Alex Gammond was left unmarked from Mitchel Bates’ corner and guided his header into the bottom corner.
However, Ferry also suffered struggles when dealing with deliveries into the box as Trefelin forward Tyler Brock was not picked up inside the six-yard box, allowing him to nod home from Morgan Thomas’ cross to bring the visitors level.
Trefelin almost completed the turnaround to secure their first ever Novira Cymru Premier win as Lewys Ware received the ball on the left hand side, but could only watch his effort across goal fly a whisker wide of the far post.
Connah’s Quay Nomads secured back-to-back wins and clean sheets with a 1-0 victory over Cardiff Met at the Essity Stadium.
Cardiff Met had a glorious chance to take an early lead through Sam Snaith, who retrieved the loose ball when Spencer Dymond-Hall dispossessed Alex Hughes, but was denied by a superb save from Chris Renshaw when he only had the Connah’s Quay goalkeeper to beat.
The Nomads thought they had found the breakthrough shortly before half time as Harry Franklin latched onto Renshaw’s long ball and slotted home at the near post, only for the forward to be deemed offside.
Met goalkeeper Arron Davies pulled off a remarkable save to keep out Callum West’s deflected effort midway through the second half, but the Nomads eventually grabbed the opener five minutes later as Davies parried out Max Woodcock’s strike into the path of Iwan Murray, who slid in to convert the rebound for his third goal of the season.
A resolute defensive display in the closing stages from John Disney’s ensured they held on to claim all three points and maintain fourth-place in the Novira Cymru Premier table.
Haverfordwest County continued their bright form as Ben Ahmun’s penalty sealed a 1-0 win over bottom-of-the-table Holywell Town at the Dynamite Bridge Meadow.
Holywell came extremely close to taking an early lead in South Wales as Dominic McGiveron’s curling shot from distance crashed against the crossbar.
However, a swift counter attack outdone the visitors as Greg Walters played in Rhys Abbruzzese, who was brought down inside the area by Tom Bibby, meaning Haverfordwest were awarded a penalty. Ahmun stepped up and calmly rolled the ball down the middle of the goal to score his first goal of the season.
Ifan Knott made vital diving saves to deny Taner Dogan and Florian Yonsian in the second half to ensure the Bluebirds kept their first clean sheet of the campaign and extended their unbeaten run to four matches.
Novira Cymru Premier results in full:
Haverfordwest County 1-0 Holywell Town
Caernarfon Town 9-1 Cambrian United
Colwyn Bay 5-2 Barry Town United
Connah’s Quay Nomads 1-0 Cardiff Met
Briton Ferry Llansawel 1-1 Trefelin
Ammanford 1-5 Penybont
Airbus UK Broughton 4-1 Flint Town United
The New Saints 2-1 Llandudno
