Callum Thomas scored a dramatic stoppage time penalty at Jenner Park as Ammanford came from two goals down to rescue a 2-2 draw against Barry Town United in the Novira Cymru Premier on Tuesday.
Elliott Dugan thought he had given Barry an early seventh minute lead he neatly finished from close range, but the goal was ruled out as Mikey George was offside when squaring the ball to Dugan. Barry were not to be denied 10 minutes later though, as Noah Daley held off his marker and curled into the far corner.
Ammanford defender Babucar Sauane cleared James Lester’s header off the line, but Barry eventually found their second goal early after the restart as substitute Dan Smith latched onto Ellis Williams’ long ball upfield and lobbed the outrushing Oliver Williams. Ammanford immediately halved the deficit as Thomas raced through on goal and slotted past George Ratcliffe.
It seemed Barry would claim all three points, but Ammanford were gifted the chance to equalise in the dying seconds as Callum Sainty’s foul on Euros Griffiths inside the area resulted in a penalty awarded following a VAR check. Thomas stepped up and showed nerves of steel to slot into the bottom corner to salvage a hard-fought point and lift Ammanford out of the bottom three.
Dropped points for Barry on home turf for the first time season allowed The New Saints to extend their lead at the top of the table with a comfortable 5-0 victory over winless Flint Town United at Park Hall.
Flint had a glorious chance to stun the champions with an early goal when Akeel Francis fired onto the crossbar from Namory Kane’s low cross from close range. Saints put that early scare behind them though, as Brad Young volleyed home from Danny Redmond’s cross at the back post to score his first goal of the season.
Francis had another gilt-edge opportunity to get Flint on the scoresheet as he dispossessed Nathan Shepperd following a heavy touch from the Saints goalkeeper and look destined to tap into an empty net, but the hosts tracked back well to distract Francis and keep their clean sheet intact.
Josh Lock slotted past Jack Flint when one-on-one with the Flint goalkeeper to double the advantage before the forward extended Saints’ lead late in the first half by tucking away the rebound from Jordan Williams’ saved effort.
Clinical late finishes from substitutes Isaac Jefferies and Ben Wilson wrapped up an eighth straight victory for Craig Harrison’s side, who have also now kept three consecutive clean sheets.
Colwyn Bay secured their first away win of the season in style as the Seagulls beat Holywell Town 5-0 at Barton’s North Wales Stadium.
Michael Wilde’s side took just eight minutes to find the breakthrough as Jordan Davies ran onto Declan Poole’s long pass and tapped the ball across to Matty Hill, who was left with a simple finish into the net from close range to bag his second goal of the season.
Davies doubled Bay’s lead with a fierce effort through the legs of Holywell goalkeeper Alex Swindell before Lewis Sirrell controlled Sam Hart’s header into the area and volleyed home to make it three.
Hart was provider again, this time for Jack Kenny as the Bay captain delivered a cross from the left and onto Kenny, who headed in his first goal for the Seagulls.
Bay’s five-star first half was complete shortly before the break as Hart’s diagonal ball found Davies, who headed back across goal and into the bottom corner for his third goal in as many days. The result marked Bay’s biggest ever victory in the top-flight.
Penybont produced a gutsy display to survive an early red card and triumph 3-2 against Briton Ferry Llansawel at the Dragonbet Stadium for their third consecutive win.
Penybont defender Max Melbourne was shown a straight red card after just eight minutes played as VAR replays showed his violent conduct on Ferry captain Alex Gammond inside the area, meaning the visitors were also awarded a penalty. Tom Walters calmly dispatched the spot kick into the bottom corner, sending Dan Higgs the wrong way to find an early breakthrough.
Melbourne’s dismissal would have seemed to leave Penybont with an uphill task to find anything from the game, but Rhys Griffiths’ instantly hit back as Tyler Walker met Ethan Vaughan’s cross and bundled the ball into the net for his second goal in as many games.
Bont completed their comeback shortly before half time as the Novira Cymru Premier all-time appearance maker Chris Venables guided his header from Vaughan’s cross into the net via the post to make it 24 consecutive seasons with a goal in the top-flight.
Jonathan Leko rounded off a remarkable first half turnaround for Bont as he prodded home from Walker’s delivery at the back post. Venables nearly added a fourth goal for the hosts midway through the second half as his indirect free-kick crashed off the crossbar.
Ollie Anderson pulled a goal back for Ferry with 15 minutes remaining as he powered his header past Higgs at the back post after meeting Ricky-Lee Owen’s cross. However, Bont defended well in the closing stages to secure a hard-fought win and climb up to third in the table.
Cambrian United continued their bright form with an emphatic 4-0 victory over Trefelin at Elsey Creative Ynys Park.
Cambrian captain Kyle Jones saw his low drive denied by the post inside just three minutes, but the visitors soon found the opening goal as Bayan Aman’s handball inside the area resulted in a penalty. Liam Eason had his spot kick saved by Scott Coughlin, but the loose ball was driven back into the box, where Alex John clinically found the bottom corner to end any frustration.
Eason eventually made amends for his penalty miss on 58 minutes as Josh Beecher drove forward and laid the ball off to the striker, who curled past Coughlin from the edge of the area to put Cambrian in a commanding position.
John added a third goal for Cambrian in the 74th minute with a close range finish into the roof of the net moments before Eason also bagged his brace as he received Jack Karadogan’s pass and curled beautifully over Coughlin from the left hand side for his fifth goal in three games. Liam Williams’ side are now up into the top half, while Trefelin’s wait for a first ever top-flight win goes on.
Connah’s Quay Nomads returned to winning ways with a 3-0 victory over local Flintshire rivals Airbus UK Broughton at the Essity Stadium.
Both sides rued their missed chances in the first half, but it was Connah’s Quay substitute Shane Flynn who was the key to unlocking the Airbus defence on 58 minutes as the Irish defender headed home from Max Woodcock’s corner to mark his Novira Cymru Premier debut with a goal.
Flynn’s header opened the floodgates for the Nomads as striker Jordan Hodkin also bagged his first goal for the club by receiving Callum West’s flick-on and finishing clinicallly past Louis Fallon from a tight angle.
West put the game to bed with 10 minutes remaining as a well-worked attacking move saw the 20-year-old convert the rebound from Hodkin’s saved effort. Airbus nearly grabbed a consolation goal in stoppage time, but Oli Lanceley’s header looped onto the crossbar. The Nomads are now back up to fourth in the table and are yet to concede from open play in their last four home matches.
Nothing could separate Llandudno and Caernarfon Town in a 1-1 draw at the Go Goodwins Stadium.
Noah Edwards put Caernarfon ahead with 18 minutes on the clock as he ran onto Osian Evans’ clipped pass down the right hand side and poked home into the bottom corner. Current Novira Cymru Premier top scorer Zack Clarke had the ball in the net five minutes before half time when he slotted home when receiving Edwards’ through ball, but the striker was deemed offside and the goal was disallowed.
Llandudno were level just two minutes into the second half as Marc Williams knocked down Niall Flint’s cross into Ben Maher, who turned and fired past Connor Roberts to haunt his former club.
The Seasiders had the better chances for the rest of the second half as Mark Cadwallader headed inches wide from Ross Weaver’s cross before Maher’s free-kick from the edge of the area dipped onto the roof of the net. Llandudno and Caernarfon both maintain their respective unbeaten home and away records.
Novira Cymru Premier results in full:
Barry Town United 2-2 Ammanford
Connah’s Quay Nomads 3-0 Airbus UK Broughton
Holywell Town 0-5 Colwyn Bay
Llandudno 1-1 Caernarfon Town
Penybont 3-2 Briton Ferry Llansawel
The New Saints 5-0 Flint Town United
Trefelin 0-4 Cambrian United
