Oli Lanceley scored a hat-trick as Airbus UK Broughton earned an impressive 3-0 win away at JD Cymru North promotion rivals Newtown on Boxing Day.
Lanceley headed home Jordan Evans’ corner to open the scoring on 31 minutes, before doubling his side’s advantage in first half stoppage time by tucking away the rebound from George Peers’ saved effort.
The forward completed his hat-trick on the hour mark as he met Tyler McManus’ delivery with a header that just crossed the line despite the best efforts of Newtown goalkeeper Dave Jones to keep the ball out.
It confirmed a first home league defeat of the season for Newtown, whose afternoon got worse late on when Jolyon Harries was sent off for a second bookable offence. Third-place Airbus are now three points ahead of the Robins in fourth.
Llandudno maintained their seven-point lead at the top of the JD Cymru North table with an emphatic 5-0 victory over Buckley Town at the Go Goodwins Stadium.
The Seasiders took the lead inside just four minutes as Aidan Higgins rounded Josh Tibbetts and slotted home his first league goal since October. That remained the difference between the two sides at half-time, but the floodgates opened after Buckley defender Eddie Brown was shown a straight red card early in the second period.
Kieran Smith doubled Llandudno’s lead on 67 minutes with his first league goal for the club, before Harvey Bennett, Joe Carey and Mark Cadwallader all struck late on to add gloss to the scoreline.
Second-place Holywell Town secured their first win in five league games as they triumphed 3-0 against Flint Mountain at Bastion Gardens.
All three of the Wellmen’s goals came inside the opening 14 minutes of the contest, as Craig Lindfield fired home from Jamie Breese’s cross before Breese bagged a brace for himself – sending a powerful effort beyond Don Garner before receiving Ryan Austin’s through ball, rounding the Mountain goalkeeper and slotting into the net.
JD Cymru North
Penrhyncoch climbed out of the relegation zone with a 1-0 win over fifth-place Guilsfield at Clos Mytton on Saturday.
Dan Owen scored the game’s only goal in the 29th minute, producing a moment of brilliance as he beat multiple defenders before firing into the bottom corner.
But the true match-winner was Roosters goalkeeper Leigh Jenkins, who made numerous impressive saves to ensure that his side kept a clean sheet away from home in the league for the first time in 18 months. The result also meant that Guilsfield’s nine-match unbeaten run in the JD Cymru North came to an end.
Victory for Penrhyncoch meant that Gresford Athletic slipped to the bottom of the table following their 1-1 draw against Brickfield Rangers at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium on Saturday.
Haci Ozlu gave the Colliers the breakthrough just after the hour mark, which looked to have earned Dave Evans a first win in charge until Josh Watkin netted a stoppage-time equaliser for Brickfield.
Ruthin Town earned their first win under Colin Caton by triumphing 3-1 over Denbigh Town in the Vale of Clwyd derby at the Memorial Playing Fields.
Over 1,000 fans were in attendance for this fixture for the third consecutive Boxing Day, and they saw a goal inside the first five minutes as Max Cooke headed home Ben Lockley’s flick-on to give Denbigh the lead.
However, Ruthin captain Llyr Morris has a remarkable scoring record in the derby and he single-handedly turned the contest around. The 29-year-old equalised shortly before half-time and then put his side in front on 72 minutes, making it seven goals in six appearances against Denbigh.
Morris turned provider for Joel Giblin to seal the victory soon after, as Ruthin won at home for the first time since August.
Caersws secured their first away win of the season by triumphing 2-0 over Mold Alexandra at Alyn Park on Boxing Day.
Dillon Browne put the Bluebirds ahead in the 25th minute with a stunning strike from distance, before an own goal from Mold defender Morgan Roberts doubled the advantage early in the second half. Caersws are up to 12th in the table, a point behind Mold have picked up just one point from their last five matches.
Holyhead Hotspur earned their fourth consecutive home win with a 3-1 victory over Rhyl 1879 on Boxing Day.
Rhyl took the lead in the 16th minute thanks to Lewis Hodson’s low finish into the bottom corner, but Holyhead staged a comeback in the second half with three goals in the space of just eight minutes.
Connor Owen fired in his eighth goal of the season to equalise on 68 minutes, before Cory Williams bagged twice – tapping home from close range and then sending a looping header over Alex Swindell. Darren Garmey’s side are now up to ninth in the table, three points behind seventh-place Rhyl.
Weekend results in full:
Flint Mountain 0-3 Holywell Town
Holyhead Hotspur 3-1 Rhyl 1879
Llandudno 5-0 Buckley Town
Mold Alexandra 0-2 Caersws
Ruthin Town 3-1 Denbigh Town
Newtown 0-3 Airbus UK Broughton
Gresford Athletic 1-1 Brickfield Rangers
Guilsfield 0-1 Penrhyncoch
