PICTURE by Wynne Evans.
AS ALWAYS, the Kon-X Anglesey League teams brought plenty of action to their fixtures this weekend.
For the first time in a number of weeks, none of the fixtures were cancelled due to the weather.
Plenty of goals to talk about, so let’s begin ….
In AFEFootballNews’ match of the weekend, Valley Athletic continued their march towards the title with a 5-3 win over Caergybi in the league.
Due to Caergybi’s home ground at Millbank failing an early morning pitch inspection, the game was played at Valley’s Parc Mwd ground instead.
Valley were with out the suspended Jordie Lees and Ryan hall as well as centre back Ashley Hughes for this one, but did welcome back Mark Hamblin who returned after a lengthy injury.
Early on, the game was evenly balanced with no clear chances for either side. However, some good build up play saw Konner Druce play a great pass through to Mike Williams who unselfishly squared the ball to Justin Williams who opened the scoring.
Not long after, he was at it again as he doubled Valley’s advantage and made it 2-0.
However, the Caergybi heads did not drop. A long ball was pounced onto by ex-Valley striker Gary Jo Owen, who chipped the ball over goalkeeper Jamie Owen for 2-1.
On 40 minutes, left back Justin Hughes pulled up with a back injury and was unable to continue. Mark Hamblin came on to replace the injured man, making his first appearance since last November.
In the second half, Danny Roberts made it 3-1 to Valley soon after as he rose high to head home, before he scored again moments later with a very well taken finish to put Valley in control of the match.
In the second half, Caergybi’s Scott Pettersen was sent off by the referee after he was deemed to have hacked down Justin Williams who was running through on goal.
At 4-1 up and playing against 10 men, you would have though that Valley had sealed the points. However, the game was still far from over.
With around 15 minutes left, Valley defender Sam Morris was deemed to have pushed a Caergybi player in the box and a penalty was given. Captain Dewi Thomas took the resulting spot kick and converted, despite keeper Owen getting a hand to it.
Valley then had a penalty after Justin Williams was fouled and it was he who stepped up to convert Valley’s fifth goal of the match and complete his hat-trick, netting his 23rd goal of the campaign.
Caergybi went down to nine men before the end as Glenn North received a second yellow card for dissent. The final goal came of the tie came when Kurt Harris, who has a habit of scoring against Valley, made it 5-3.
Valley will surely be fancying their chances of going on to lift the title now following this result. Caergybi on the other hand, look increasingly likely to miss out on promotion, however, I have no doubts that they will continue to push to the very end.
Elsewhere in the league, Arriva Bangor enjoyed a fine 7-2 win over Llandegfan FC in a unusually late 8.15pm kick off at Bangor’s 3G pitch.
Striker Andy Clarke hit a hat-trick for the home side and Matthew Jones and Sammy Williams hit a brace each. Llandegfan attacker Ryan Hughes made the difference for them when he came on from the bench and bagged both of their goals.
The result means that Arriva continue to keep the pressure on the division’s “top four” and keep their great run of form going. Llandegfan on the other hand, look certain to finish bottom of the pile this year after a tough season. They will be hoping for a better start to their campaign during 2018/19.
In the Bwlch Car Boot Trophy, Bodorgan beat Pentraeth Reserves 5-1 in their Group B fixtures.
The front two of Danny Connolly and Luke Allaway worked hard once again to ensure victory for the home side.
Connolly took his tally to 17 goals as he hit a hat-trick, whilst Allaway hit a brace to take his total to 19. Youngster Danny Roberts scored for Pentraeth Reserves from a Gwyn Thornton assist.
After the match, Reserves manager Justin Gallagher said: “You have to give credit to Bodorgan who were brilliant on the day. Credit should also go to their coaching team as they have improved their side a lot since the beginning of the season.
“It was nice to see two youngsters get the goal and assist for us today as well.”
In the Megan Cup first round tie, Richard Owen’s Bryngwran Bulls side beat Llangoed Reserves 3-1 in a closely fought match.
Having not played a fixture since before Christmas, it was always going to be hard for the Bulls to bounce back to winning ways, but they did just that.
Bulls top scorer James Ryan ended his goal drought and added two more goals to his collection to take his tally for the season to 24. Veteran Andrew Bailey added the other for the home side as the likes of Nathan Jones and Owain Roberts were given their debuts.
Kieran Owen scored for the Reserves on his return to the club after a two year absence. Speaking on the importance of his re-introduction to the side, Owen’s manager Dewi Williams said: “Kieran can play a key role in this squad now that he’s back.
“He was with us two seasons ago, but work commitments have kept him away since then. We are glad to have him back.”
Next week, the following fixtures will take place in the Bwlch Car Boot Trophy:
Group A:
Bryngwran Bulls v Arriva Bangor
Llandegfan v Mynydd Tigers
Group B:
Valley Athletic v Bodorgan
Pentraeth Reserves v Llangoed Reserves POSTPONED due to Pentraeth’s first team being given home fixture.
Be sure to keep reading AFEFootballNews for all the latest scores and updates from the Kon-X Anglesey League and beyond!
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