JD Cymru North leaders Airbus UK Broughton scored a stoppage time penalty to snatch a 3-2 home win over Buckley Town on Boxing Day.
The Wingmakers found the breakthrough in the 19th minute as Kaiden Cooke finished off a well-worked team move from the edge of the box, but Buckley levelled just before half-time when Danny Holland’s penalty was saved by Keighan Jones but Max Moore was on hand to score on the rebound.
Another strike from range, this time from Nathan Williams, saw Airbus retake the lead on the hour mark, but the in-form Bucks refused to back down and they equalised again with 88 minutes on the clock as Moore finished past Jones.
That looked to have earned the visitors a point, but Airbus substitute Jake Eyre was fouled inside the box in the 91st minute and he stepped up himself to fire in from 12 yards to secure his side’s 12th consecutive victory in all competitions.
Airbus will head into 2025 with a seven-point lead over Colwyn Bay, who won 3-1 away at Bangor 1876 on Boxing Day – with 1,005 fans in attendance.
Caernarfon native Gwion Dafydd opened the scoring six minutes before half time when he fired in for his fourth goal in three games after being teed up by Lewis Sirrell.
Bangor found an equaliser just four minutes into the second half through Liam Morris from close range, but Sol Forde restored Bay’s lead shortly after the hour mark as he smartly flicked the ball home from Sirrell’s cross.
Bangor’s task was made harder on 70 minutes when captain Tom Clarke received a straight red card for a rash challenge on Seagulls teenager Will McKinley and the visitors wrapped up victory five minutes from time as substitute Lloyd Marsh-Hughes drove past numerous challenges and fired a low drive into the bottom corner.
There was also a four figure crowd at Central Park where 1,046 fans watched Ruthin Town score a stoppage time equaliser to earn a 2-2 draw against Denbigh Town.
The best chance of a goalless first half fell to Denbigh’s Alfie Vaughan, whose header from Nathan Brown’s corner rattled the crossbar.
The hosts would eventually find the opener three minutes after the break as another Brown corner fell to Sam Duffy, who volleyed home for his third goal in three games. Duffy then returned the favour 15 minutes later as his low cross was turned in by Brown.
That seemed to put Denbigh in control, but there was to be a late fightback from Ruthin as Llyr Morris tapped home from close range to half the deficit in the 77th minute before a cross-turned shot from substitute Josh Evans crept in to earn a point.
It was a result which halted Ruthin’s run of five consecutive defeats, but they would slip into the relegation zone after Gresford Athletic’s 1-0 victory away at Caersws on Saturday.
The decisive moment arrived just after the hour mark courtesy of Charley Edge, who fired home from substitute Toby Gallagher-Keenan’s cross to earn Gresford back-to-back league wins for the first time this season.
Holywell Town climbed up to third in the table with a 2-0 home win over Llay Miners Welfare on Boxing Day.
The Wellmen were frustrated by their opponents for almost an hour, with Jamie Breese seeing an effort cleared off the line by Max Peate. However, they eventually found the breakthrough in the 58th minute as Brady McGilloway met Danny Sullivan’s cross and headed home for his first league goal since August 2023.
Victory was secured with six minutes left on the clock by Morgan Murray, who controlled a pass from Breese and fired beyond Mike Platt.
Jamie Hyne scored a hat-trick as Guilsfield made it three wins from their last four league games with a 4-2 home triumph over Penrhyncoch.
Hyne scored his first of the afternoon in first half stoppage time, before Penrhyncoch equalised early in the second period through Niall Coleridge’s first goal of the season.
However, the visitors were only level for four minutes as Callum Bromley’s looping header restored the Guils’ lead and Hyne made it 3-1 to the hosts with a tidy finish three minutes after that.
Penrhyncoch forward Dan Owen got a goal back to set up a potentially nervy final 20 minutes, but Hyne clinched victory and his treble with another clinical effort to send Guils up to ninth.
Prestatyn Town’s woes continued as Gareth Thomas’ side were heavily beaten 4-1 by Llandudno at Bastion Gardens on Boxing Day.
Alex Boss and Adam Stephens scored within a minute of each other early on as Llandudno raced into the lead, before Stephens made it 3-0 on 40 minutes with a sensational overhead kick at the back post.
James Stead offered Prestatyn a way back into the game with a superb free-kick just before half-time, but Harvey Bennett restored the visitors’ three-goal cushion two minutes after the restart with a well-taken header.
Victory takes Jordan Hadaway’s side up to seventh in the table, while bottom-of-the-table Prestatyn are now 11 points adrift of safety after an 11th consecutive loss.
Mold Alexandra finish 2024 in fifth place as they leapfrogged Flint Mountain with a 2-1 home win over Aden Shannon’s side on Saturday.
Matty Lewis gave Mold the lead in first half stoppage time after receiving a pass from Dafydd Griffith and volleying brilliantly into the top corner, before he returned the favour in the 70th minute by delivering a long throw for Griffith to head home.
A composed finish from Mike Hayes gave Mountain a lifeline with 11 minutes remaining, but Mold held on to clinch a first league win in over two months.
Festive results in full:
Bangor 1876 1-3 Colwyn Bay
Denbigh Town 2-2 Ruthin Town
Airbus UK Broughton 3-2 Buckley Town
Holywell Town 2-0 Llay Miners Welfare
Prestatyn Town 1-4 Llandudno
Caersws 0-1 Gresford Athletic
Guilsfield 4-2 Penrhyncoch
Mold Alexandra 2-1 Flint Mountain
