PICTURE BY Liam Owens shows action between Trearddur Bay (Maroon and blue) and Cefni (Red and black).
THE North Wales Coast West Division One is in full swing now and we are beginning to see which sides will be up there competing for glory this season.
Here’s how the six matches played went on Saturday afternoon …
Trearddur Bay 4-2 Cefni
The league favourites avoided a huge scare having been 2-0 down in this one but showed great resolve to fight back and get the three points.
Cefni themselves had won their last two league matches heading into the tie and their confidence will have no doubt been high.
And that showed as two goals from top scorer Jamie Patterson (8’, 36’) put them in command early on.
The 23-year-old just cannot stop scoring at the moment, with that double taking his tally to 9 league goals in just eight appearances so far this season.
And a missed penalty from Trearddur Bay star Asa Thomas on 43mins thanks to a great save from keeper Cian Jones made it look as though it was going to be Cefni’s day.
But, credit to T-Bay, they fought back well in the second half in what was a true mark of champions.
Quick-fire goals from Thomas (64’) and midfielder Myles Jones (67’) soon levelled the scoreline for the home team.
Tom Scott then turned the tie on its head on 75mins before Thomas made it a brace to secure an important win with seconds left on the clock.
A huge statement of intent from Trearddur Bay then and a sign that, when the going gets tough, they can turn it around.
And it was a significant day for prolific forward Thomas too as he notched his 600th career goal. Phenomenal.
Bontnewydd 3-0 Mountain Rangers
Earlier this week on the blog’s Facebook page, I highlighted Bont duo Luke Phillips and Alex Kalafusz as two players to watch this season and also Bont as dark horses themselves. And so it proved again in this one.
Rangers had picked up their first win of the season last week as they picked up an impressive 4-1 win over Bethesda Rovers.
But Bont proved to be a step too far for Alex Philp’s side this weekend as the home team moved up to second in the league with their 6th win out of 9 league matches.
Goals from Morgan Rowlands and captain Luke Phillips (his 9th goal in 6 Divison One appearances this season) made it 2-0 at the break.
Phillips then turned provider for Kalafusz on 66mins as the attacker bagged his 7th league goal of the season.
Simon Jones’ Bont side are in good form right now and I’m fully expecting them to cause problems for many a team this season.
Gaerwen 0-2 Llanfairpwll
Unbeaten Pwll maintained their great start to the 22/23 campaign with a solid 2-0 win away at Gaerwen, who remain bottom of the table.
Rees Roberts put the visitors ahead just 13mins into the tie but they had to wait awhile before the second goal came along.
The decisive goal came on 67mins, with substitute Cian Owen scoring just five minutes after coming on to the pitch.
The 18-year-old midfielder has been in fantastic form this season, hitting five goals in eight matches in all comps so far.
That win sees Pwll move into fourth in the league table, keeping the pressure on at the top.
Arriva Bangor 1-3 Llanystumdwy
The visitors maintained their unbeaten start to the season in what was their sixth league match of 22/23 as they over up to 7th in the table.
After picking up a massive 2-1 win over league-leaders Cemaes Bay last week, Stumdwy impressed again v the Busmen at Nantporth.
Full-back Darren Parry’s goal set them on their way just seven minutes in.
But, a a goal from Portuguese attacker Luis Teles – his 5th in just 3 games for Arriva – equalled proceedings just before half time.
The visitors kept their foot on the gas in the second half however with substitute Morgan Griffiths netting just seconds after coming on (61’).
He then scored again five minutes later via an assist from winger Daniel Rhinds to ensure another three points for Llanystumdwy.
That’s four wins out of a possible six for the Gwynedd side now this season and they are yet to taste defeat in Division One.
Caergybi 4-1 Llangoed
Dale Moffat’s Cybi side bounced back from a 4-4 draw with Bontnewydd and a 3-3 draw with local rivals Holyhead Town with a resounding win over the Puffins at Millbank.
A Tom Hadley penalty (31’) and a Nik Kontodios goal (34’) put them 2-0 up at the break.
Llangoed replied through talented 17-year-old attacker Dan Owen’s second goal of the season before late goals from Hadley again (81’) and sub Craig Moore (82’) secured the three points for Caergybi.
That win sees the home team move on up into fifth place in the league table.
Credit to Llangoed too, whose management team of Dewi Williams, Dêf Parry and Dion Lewis all took to the field due to a lack of players being available for this match.
Y Fali 1-3 Bethesda Rovers
Rovers returned to winning ways in style following their 4-1 defeat to Mountain Rangers last weekend with a great victory at Cae Mwd.
Tristan Walker’s side took the lead just two minutes in through Ryan Jones before Lewis Hall’s goal on 35mins gave them a 2-0 lead at the break.
Forward Tom Davies made it 3-0 on 55mins to give the visitors a resounding lead.
Fali captain Matt Williams was dismissed on 65mins before they pulled a goal back through Dan Owen with 20mins to go.
Tempers flared late on as Marc Wilson and manager Dan Jones were sent off for Fali.
LEAGUE TABLE (Matches played in brackets)
- 1 Cemaes Bay – 23pts (10)
- 2 Bontnewydd – 20pts (9)
- 3 Trearddur Bay – 19pts (7)
- 4 Llanfairpwll – 17pts (7)
- 5 Caergybi – 17pts (9)
- 6 Bethesda Rovers – 15pts (9)
- 7 Llanystumdwy – 14pts (6)
- 8 Cefni – 12pts (8)
- 9 Holyhead Town – 7pts (8)
- 10 Mountain Rangers – 4pts (8)
- 11 Y Fali – 4pts (8)
- 12 Llangoed – 4pts (9)
- 13 Arriva Bangor – 3pts (7)
- 14 Gaerwen – 3pts (9)
TOP SCORERS (League goals only)
- Asa Thomas, Trearddur Bay – 14 goals (7 matches)
- Matt Reynolds, Cemaes Bay – 12 goals (9 matches)
- Jamie Patterson, Cefni – 9 goals (8 matches)
- Luke Phillips, Bontnewydd – 9 goals (6 matches)
- Jay Finter, Llanfairpwll – 7 goals (7 matches)
- Alex Kalafusz, Bontnewydd – 7 goals (9 matches)
- Louis Chapman, Caergybi – 7 goals (7 matches)
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