PICTURE by Wynne Evans.
AFTER a week off last week courtesy of Storm Brian, local footballers and managers all around Anglesey and Gwynedd were itching to return to the pitch this weekend and they did just that.
Three competitions took place, the Elias Cup, the North Wales Coast Junior Cup and of course, the Kon-X Anglesey League.
Here’s how all the teams got on on Saturday afternoon ….
ELIAS CUP
Bryngwran Bulls 5-2 Llangoed and District Reserves
Bulls progressed to the quarter finals of the Elias Cup on Saturday afternoon, but it was not as easy as the scoreline suggests.
Playing into the blustery wind, good chances were hard to come by. In form striker, James Ryan, dragged one shot wide before another was brilliantly cleared off the line by a Llangoed defender.
The breakthrough did come on 35 mins however as captain Andrew Bailey powered in a header.
A mad 10 mins following that goal saw Llangoed turn the game on its head and take a 2-1 lead. A fantastic free kick from Rhys Jones that flew in from 35 yards and a well taken second from Keelan Shiell had caught the Bulls napping.
On the stroke of half time however, the home side found an equaliser after a corner whipped in by Iolo Jones found centre back Hari Jones who headed home his second of the season.
The second half proved to be a different story with the wind as James Ryan got off the mark to make it 3-2 on 50 mins. Chances were still being squandered, including an overhead kick from Matty Roberts, and Llangoed were still in the game.
That was, until the introduction of Barry Edwards, who with what was pretty much his first touch of the game, converted a good finish from around 15 yards that killed off any Llangoed hopes of a revival.
The prolific Ryan finished off the scoring on 87 scoring his 17th of the season after a one on one situation with the Llangoed keeper.
Bulls into the Quarter Finals of the Elias Cup then and they’re on a roll right now as these two meet in the League once again next weekend.
KON-X ANGLESEY LEAGUE
Valley Athletic 2-4 Caergybi
The only Anglesey League fixture this weekend saw Caergybi beat a Valley side who have faced some controversy in recent weeks.
A well taken free-kick by Elliot Patterson put the visitors in front on 17 minutes after other chances from both sides had gone begging.
Ten minutes later, a well-timed flick pass from Gary Jo Owen on his debut for Caergybi left Konner Druce with the chance to score past Valley goalkeeper Justin Hughes and he made no mistake, making it 2-0.
It was not over yet though, as on 28 minutes Valley’s Justin Williams broke through the Caergybi defence to score and keep the home side in the game.
Four minutes later though, Elliot Patterson was at the goals again as he smashed a volley home from distance to give Caergybi a seemingly comfortable two goal lead at half time.
Early in the second half, chances from Gary Jo and Elliot Patterson were stopped brilliantly by the Valley goalkeeper to keep the game alive, before Valley went down to 10 men soon after.
On the hour mark, Konner Druce was brought down in the box just as he was about to shoot and a penalty was awarded. Gary Jo Owen stepped up to convert and made it 4-1 to Caerybi.
Despite this score mid-way through the second half, it was far from a one-sided affair and Valley always looked dangerous in front of goal. Valley continued to press hard and number 6 George Hibbert made it 2-4 with a well taken goal.
A brilliant save by Caergybi’s Kieran Weeks, tipping a shot onto the bar and out for a corner 5 minutes from time, was the final highlight of an exciting game played in good spirit by both teams.
Caergybi have closed the gap on Valley to three points in the league with this win, although the latter do have a game in hand.
NORTH WALES COAST JUNIOR CUP
This Saturday also saw the eagerly-anticipated return of the prestigious NWCJ Cup, which sees teams from all over North Wales take each other on.
That being said, it was a bad day at the office for the majority of the Anglesey League sides in their fixtures.
Jack Diamond’s goal was not enough for Justin Gallagher’s Pentraeth Reserves side to progress to the next round as they fell to a 4-1 loss at home to Talysarn Celts of the Gwynedd League. However, despite the fact that the visiting side play in a higher league, Pentraeth gave a good account of themselves.
Elsewhere, Llandegfan lost 5-1 at home to St. Asaph. Player-manager Jordan Love had swept in an equaliser to pull the home side back into the game at one stage, but they then conceded four goals in around 10 minutes and let their heads drop. After the game, the players all knew that they had blown a good chance of progressing to the next round, where they would have faced Cup holders Bro Goronwy.
Bottom of the table Bodorgan had no better luck either. They made the trip to Rhyl Rovers, where they were heavily beaten 11-1 during another disappointing afternoon for them.
However, there was good news for league leaders Mynydd Tigers, who picked up an impressive 6-1 win at Betws-Y-Coed, despite their four current top scorers being absent from their squad. A brace each from Dafydd Williams, Ciaran O’Brady and Mike Williams handed them a memorable win.
Some teams such as Arriva Bangor and Bryngwran Bulls were given bye’s to the Round Two which now looks like this:
Waunfawr v Menai Bridge Tigers
Talysarn Celts v Rhyl Rovers
Valley Athletic or Machno United v Hope Wanderers
Llanllyfni v Rhyl FC Youth
Llandudno Athletic v Caergybi
Nefyn United v Bryngwran Bulls
Bro Goronwy v St Asaph City
Denbigh Development v Llangoed
Llanfairfechan Town v Holyhead Town
Abergele v Gwalchmai
Beaumaris Town v Bontnewydd
Llansannan v Llanrwst United
Arriva Bangor v Rhuddlan Town
Mynydd Tigers v Llanystumdwy
Henllan v Old Colwyn
Llandyrnog United or Rhos United v Llandudno Amateurs
Next weekend, Valley will play Machno United at home in the North Wales Coast Junior Cup (1.30pm k.o.).
In the Kon-X Anglesey League (all 2pm k.o.), Bodorgan will host fellow strugglers Llandegfan, whilst high-flying Caergybi will take on an ever-improving Arriva Bangor side.
Elsewhere, Llangoed & District Res. will host Bryngwran Bulls in a reverse fixture to what they had played this week and league leaders Mynydd Tigers will face Pentraeth Reserves at home.
Be sure to keep reading AFEFootballNews for all the latest from Anglesey and Gwynedd based teams.
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