PICTURE by Wynne Evans
TWO Anglesey League fixtures down for all the teams (except Llanfairpwll) and already I’m beginning to lose count of the goals.
In just ten fixtures, there has been no less than 70 shots that have flew, tricked and squirmed their way into the back of the net in what has been an incredibly entertaining opening week of football on the island (and Bangor!)
Here, I take a look at the midweek games that have taken place and as always they were very entertaining …
Tuesday, August 14
Bodorgan 3-6 Valley
Following their impressive opening day win over Cefni on Saturday, Bodorgan were left to rue what could have been in this one as they blew a 3-1 lead against a determined Valley side.
A lively start to the game made it look as though the home side could hammer the visitors. A brace from Danny Connolly on his return to Cae Cob from Gaerwen and a goal from striker Luke Allaway seemed to have put Bodorgan in complete control of the match. However, a spirited Valley side had other ideas.
Dan Jones’ team dug deep to find their way back into the tie and looked dangerous whenever they hit Bod on the break. Eventually three new boys making their debuts – Andrew Bailey, Shane Boylan and Craig Beach all found themselves on the score sheet.
Attacker-turned-central midfielder Mike Williams hit a brace and Ryan Hall bagged one as Valley completed a stunning comeback to grab hold of a vital three points.
Valley, despite having a lot of new players, are looking like they’ve gelled quickly and certainly look as though they have put last season’s misery behind them now. As for Bodorgan, they’ll be gutted to have not got anything out of this one, but I have no doubts they’ll pick their heads up and go again – an encouraging comeback from Connolly was important for them as he’ll no doubt be a focal point in the team.
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Holyhead Hotspur Reserves 3-4 Bryngwran Bulls
After their 12-1 demolition of Llandegfan at the weekend, Bryngwran headed into this one in very high spirits but it certainly wasn’t an easy three points for Richard Owen’s side.
The visitors were ahead after just nine minutes after Craig Moore was fouled in the box and got up to convert the penalty. Just seven minutes later it was two and it was to be Moore who scored again following a fine assist from Matt Reynolds.
The hosts had their chances to get back into the game, but Bulls keeper Lee Heywood pull off some good stops. This in turn, saw the game go to 3-0 on 38mins when the tall figure of Anton Williams made no mistake to nod home a header. 3-0 at half time and it looked well and truly over, but it was anything but that.
Immediately after the break, The Reserves pulled one back after some poor defending from The Bulls allowed Kyle Murphy in to score with a great finish.
A lacklustre 20 minutes went by before five minutes of pure madness ensued. Craig Moore was played in behind the defence by Jerome Sillence, he then beat two defenders before slotting it home for 4-1 and bagging his hat-trick and his ninth goal in just two matches in the Anglesey League.
Straight from that kick-off though, Hotspur pushed on and scored as player-manager Mike Kelly’s shot wrong footed Lee Heywood in the Bulls goal. Two minutes later it was somehow game on as it became 4-3 when a wicked deflected shot from Mike Kelly once again wrong footed Heywood once again giving him no chance.
It was Heywood who got the last laugh though – making an incredible save to deny Hotspur a point in the final few minutes in front of the fans behind the goal who had been goading him.
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Pentraeth Reserves 7-4 Llandegfan
Another Tuesday night thriller here which really could have ended up going either way between two sides who were really up for a fight.
Despite Llandegfan looking like the better team in the opening 20 minutes, they found themselves 1-0 down thanks to a fine goal from Peter Crowe who had a very good game.
Three more goals followed for The Reserves followed before half time courtesy of Kenny Williams, Tom Jones and Jack Halton and it looked as though they were cruising. However, a bonkers two minutes saw Llandeg pull two goals back before the whistle blew. Cerwyn Griffith netted at the back post before Kurt Harris tucked a penalty away after being brought down in the box.
In the second half, The Reserves took control once again and seemed to have put the game to bed when they found two more goals courtesy of Kenny Williams who completed his hat-trick. However, the game still wasn’t quite over as Llandegfan continued to fight.
Two more goals were pulled back via corners as Cerwyn Griffith added his second of the day before an own goal flew in for 6-4. The comeback was quelled eventually though as substitute Gwynfor Owen found space for the seventh and final goal of the evening for Pentraeth. Llandegfan were reduced to ten men late on when Danny Roberts was sent off for using foul language towards the referee.
Pentraeth were deserved winners in the end, but will be wary that they gave away some sloppy goals in this one. As for Llandeg, another loss endured but they certainly showed a lot more passion and fight than they have done in the past and it’s surely only a matter of time before they win a game now.
Wednesday, August 15
Arriva Bangor 9-0 Cefni
Kevin Jones’ Arriva side gave Cefni a footballing lesson in this one and proved that they have what it takes to challenge for the Anglesey league title this season by sweeping the visitors aside.
Lethal forward Scott Hughes bagged six goals, including one in the opening 30 seconds of the match, as his team ran riot in this one. In fairness, Cefni were missing a few players (Nathan Lewis and Lee Lewis both suspended), but they were humbled in this one.
Goals from Mark Williams, Mathew Williams and Kyle Jones completed the rout as Arriva enjoyed a fine home win and kept their 100% win record for the season going in style.
With two wins out of two in the league, Arriva are looking sharp and with Bodorgan visiting this weekend, they’ll certainly fancy their chances of making it three wins in a row. Cefni on the other hand will be looking to bounce back against Caergybi who themselves are still gelling as a team.
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Cemaes Bay 2-3 Caergybi
A spirited Cemaes side proved that they were not going to be the whipping boys of the Anglesey League as they gave Caergybi a bit of a scare in this one.
Dale Moffat’s side had been in cruise control for most of the match and found themselves 3-0 up thanks to a brace from Glenn North and a James Ryan strike. Cybi striker and top scorer of last season Gary Jo Owen was having a very rare off day in front of goal and missed a penalty.
Despite that, it was one way traffic right up until the 80th minute when doubts began to creep in. Cemaes pulled two goals back in the last ten minutes courtesy of Ryan Rowlands to set up a tense finale at School Lane. Caergybi hung on to a vital three points in the end though and maintained their 100% start to the season.
Cemaes showed real fighting spirit and never gave up and I’m sure that that will give them some confidence ahead of their next fixture against Bryngwran Bulls. The visitors made things harder than they should have been for themselves but the main thing is that they left with the three points intact.
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Weekend fixtures (Saturday, August 18 all 2.30pm ko):
Arriva Bangor v Bodorgan
Bryngwran Bulls v Cemaes Bay
Caergybi v Cefni
Llandegfan v Holyhead Hotspur Reserves
Llanfairpwll v Valley
Top scorers as it stands after week 1:
Craig Moore (Bryngwran Bulls) – 9 goals
Scott Hughes (Arriva Bangor) – 6 goals
Jerome Sillence (Bryngwran Bulls) – 4 goals
Kenny Williams (Pentraeth Reserves) – 4 goals
Several other players on two goals at the moment ….
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