PICTURE by Richard Gregson shows Bodedern Athletic’s two-goal hero Asa Thomas.
THERE were magical performances all around in tier four tonight as no less than 20 goals were scored in just 3 matches in North Wales Coast West Premier Division.
10-man Bangor 1876 clinched a last-gasp winner against a very brave and battling Pwllheli side in a 3-2 victory at Treborth.
Gethin Thomas scored his third goals in just two matches to give 1876 the lead inside the first four minutes. Stefan Toplis then scored his third goal in two matches to level the score some ten minutes later.
It was then defender Joe Culshaw’s turn to get on the scoresheet for the first time ever for 1876 on 25 mins before Toplis stepped up to convert a penalty just four minutes later to make the score 2-2 on 30mins.
Pwllheli battled throughout against their superiorly experienced opponents but were undone very late on when centre back Tomos Clarke (above) scored the eventual winner in the dying moments of the game to keep 1886’s 100% league record going after going down to 10-men early on in the second half.
In another thrilling encounter which finished 3-2, Pentraeth gave Bodedern Athletic a scare after the visitors had been 3-0 up at the break.
Goal machine Asa Thomas, who surpassed the 500 goal mark for his career in 2019/20, returned to competitive football with a brace and fellow experienced forward Marc Evans also bagged to give Ricky Williams’ aide a commanding lead after just half an hour.
A mostly-youthful Pentraeth side put in a spirited performance in the second half though and will feel they could have had a draw in the end against a side who should be up the top of the tier four table this season.
Young talent Leon Owen, 19, pulled one back for Simon Abbott’s side on 53mins before former Llangoed midfielder Jamie Roberts set up a tense finale by making it 3-2 with 20mins to go.
In the end, Bodedern held on for a vital three points in what was their first match of the 21/22 season. Pentraeth showed massive fighting spirit after a difficult 9-0 defeat to Bangor City 1876 in their season opener on Saturday and showed they could certainly go on to beat anyone in this division on their day.
Finally, Penrhyndeudraeth opened their North Wales Coast West Premier season with an emphatic 10-0 win over Gaerwen.
The club, now managed by former Caernarfon Town and Llandudno manager Iwan Williams, scored five goals in either half to see off the islanders in style.
Liam Watson (3’), Tomos Smith (13’, 45’), Iddon Price (10’) and Richard Jones (22’) put the home side into a commanding lead at the break.
And things only got from bad to worse in the second half for Gaerwen., who had also lost 5-0 to Nefyn on the opening day. Cai Henshaw produced a great finish two minutes after the re-start before Huw Quaeck added a seventh with a fine effort five minutes later.
That was followed by two own goals, one each from Sam Regan and Gaerwen captain Christy Pritchard in the space of eight minutes to make it 9-0 to the home side. Gaerwen goalkeeper Callum Tipton was the sent off with 20 minutes to go and Penrhyn hit double figures 9mins from time when Aaron Griffiths scored.
A dominant performance and a fine victory for Penrhyndeudraeth to kickstart their season in style but a tough one for Gaerwen who had to travel quite some way for this midweek encounter and only had 12 players in the squad on the night.
Three fantastic matches tonight and a sign of things to come in tier four this season I’m sure!
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