Llandudno suffered their first JD Cymru North defeat of the season as Rhyl 1879 staged a stunning late comeback to earn a 3-1 victory over the Seasiders at the Hops and Barley Community Stadium on New Year’s Day.
Llandudno took the lead just before half-time thanks to Adam Stephens’ sweetly struck free-kick, before Kieran Smith almost doubled the lead in the 67th minute when his effort hit the crossbar.
Damase Kiwanda and Ben Lawrence had both been brought off the Rhyl bench at half-time and they combined for their side’s equaliser on 74 minutes, as Lawrence found Kiwanda in space and the forward fired home.
In-form duo Archie Jones and Jack Parry completed the turnaround with a pair of composed finishes in stoppage time, as the Lilywhites claimed a memorable victory and their third win in their last four league matches.
Defeat for Llandudno meant that second-place Holywell Town closed the gap on the league leaders to just four points following their 4-1 home win against Holyhead Hotspur.
Jack Sconce scored directly from a corner to put Holywell ahead on 20 minutes, before Holyhead were reduced to 10 men in the 39th minute when captain Tomos Owen was shown a second yellow card. Nonetheless, the visitors equalised just before half-time as Connor Owen scored from the penalty spot.
Holywell made their man advantage count in the second half though, with Jamie Breese restoring his side’s side two minutes after the break by scoring the rebound from Jake Cooke’s saved effort. Breese then won his side a penalty on 76 minutes as he was fouled inside the area, with Craig Lindfield slotting home the spot-kick.
Breese was again involved in the Wellmen’s fourth goal in the closing stages as he set up substitute Joe Sullivan to score on only his second appearance for the club.
JD Cymru North
Gresford Athletic earned their first win in 11 league matches as captain Paul Johnson struck in stoppage time to secure a 3-2 victory over Denbigh Town at Central Park.
It was an entertaining start to the contest as the Colliers took the lead through Toby Gallagher-Keenan’s curling strike from outside the box in the 10th minute, before Gwion Dafydd received Scott McHarrie’s through ball and slotted home to equalise five minutes later.
Gresford forward Jake Roberts netted his third goal in four league games by curling a free-kick into the far corner to restore his side’s lead early in the second half, but Dafydd equalised for Denbigh once again, this time finishing from Nathan Doforo’s low cross in the 81st minute.
Late drama arrived in the 92nd minute when Johnson tapped in from a wide free-kick to earn Gresford their first win away from home in the JD Cymru North since March.
It was also enough to keep the Colliers off the bottom of the table, after their relegation rivals Penrhyncoch and Ruthin Town had played out a 1-1 draw at Cae Baker on New Year’s Eve.
Ruthin midfielder Danny Holland, who opened the scoring in August’s reverse fixture between the two sides, fired his team ahead in the 24th minute by finishing from Joel Giblin’s cross.
However, Penrhyncoch salvaged a point with just two minutes left on the clock thanks to Dan Owen’s fifth goal in four games. The Roosters, who are now unbeaten in their last four league games, are two points adrift of safety but still have games in hand over the teams above them.
Caersws claimed their third consecutive league win with a memorable 1-0 victory over Newtown in the mid-Wales derby.
1,300 fans were in attendance for the first derby between the two sides at the Caersws Recreation Ground for over 15 years, with the decisive moment coming just after the hour mark as Tommy Rowlands headed home from Jake Humphreys’ corner. The three points saw the Bluebirds climb up to 11th in the table.
Defeat for Newtown means that the Robins are now six points adrift of the promotion places after third-place Airbus UK Broughton triumphed 3-1 over Flint Mountain at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium.
The Wingmakers were kept at bay for the majority of the first half, but the breakthrough eventually arrived in the 43rd minute when the ball ricocheted off Sam Rickett and into the net after Mountain failed to clear Jordan Evans’ cross.
Oli Lanceley built on his hat-trick against Newtown on Boxing Day with another goal, as he produced a neat flick to turn home Kaiden Cooke’s low cross just before the hour mark. George Peers then bagged his 14thleague goal of the season soon after with a looping header from another pinpoint Evans delivery.
Mountain substitute Kieran Owens pulled a goal back with a low driven free-kick on 71 minutes, but there was to be no comeback from the visitors as Airbus made it back-to-back wins for the first time since October.
Nothing could separate Buckley Town and Mold Alexandra in another Flintshire derby as the two sides played out a 2-2 draw at The Globe.
Aled Bellis nodded home from a long throw to put the Bucks ahead inside just four minutes, which remained the difference in the game for over 70 minutes until Mold equalised through Owen Cordiner’s clinical finish inside the area.
Ben Guest’s sublime free-kick past Joe Smith restored Buckley’s lead just five minutes later, but Mold then found a swift response of their own as substitute Eddie Servuts controlled Manny Lawal’s low cross and finished from close range to make it two apiece.
The Alex nearly snatched all three points late in the day, but saw a goal disallowed for a foul in the build-up. Buckley remain sixth in the table, while Mold sit 12th and without a win from their last six games.
Results in full:
Penrhyncoch 1-1 Ruthin Town
Airbus UK Broughton 3-1 Flint Mountain
Buckley Town 2-2 Mold Alexandra
Caersws 1-0 Newtown
Denbigh Town 2-3 Gresford Athletic
Holywell Town 4-1 Holyhead Hotspur
Rhyl 1879 3-1 Llandudno
Brickfield Rangers P-P Guilsfield
