Cymru North: Prestatyn beat Flint to move 16 points clear, vital win for Llangefni

Prestatyn Town 1 (D Davies 60)
Flint Town United 0

Neil Gibson admitted his Prestatyn side are now “firmly in the driving seat” in the Cymru North title race after a single-goal win against nearest rivals Flint put the Seasiders 16 points clear at the summit.

After completing a league double over the Silkmen, Gibson’s men need just 12 more points from their remaining seven matches to seal a third tier-two championship.

In reality, 11 points should be enough given the Motion Finance Stadium club’s vastly superior goal difference to Flint.

Danny Davies’ goal on the hour was enough to settle Saturday’s hotly-awaited tussle between two sides who meet again next weekend in the Welsh Cup quarter-finals at Cae-y-Castell.

Gibson said: “The victory – three points – counts for such a lot at this end of the season.

“We knew the importance of today’s game. If Flint would have beaten us and they’d won their games in hand they could have brought it as close as four points.

“Our victory puts us 16 points clear, I think we need another 11 points from 7 games now to win the league this season.

“We’re very much aware that nothing is won yet, we’ve got to be focused and make sure we get those 11 points as quickly as we possibly can.

“Today puts us firmly in the driving seat. It’s a fantastic result and I’m proud of everyone.”

Prestatyn started with the wind at their backs, and pinned Flint in their own half for long periods.

The best chance of the early stages saw Silkmen keeper John Danby produce a fantastic save to deny Danny Davies.

As the half wore on, the visitors’ defence coped better with the home attacks and Flint began to pose a threat of their own.

Nathan Brown had a good chance when he was in on goal after an attempted back-pass to home keeper Jon Rushton got stuck in the mud.

Rushton had to spread himself well to thwart the Flint man. Richie Foulkes then headed home from a free kick, but the away support’s celebrations were cut short when the net-finder was adjudged offside.

Having finished the half the stronger, and now with the wind at their backs, Flint were expected to push on in the second period, but instead Prestatyn wrested back the initiative.

On the hour, the deadlock was broken when hesitancy in the Silkmen defence proved costly, and Davies rifled into the roof of the net.

Flint pushed for the equaliser but were frustrated until in the 83rd minute Mark Cadwallader chipped Rushton, but covering defender Dan Roberts cleared from close to the goal-line.

From the resulting corner, Foulkes saw his header tipped onto the bar by Rushton, and with that went Flint’s hopes of a point.

Llandudno 1 (Farleigh 88)
Llangefni Town 2 (I Jones 10, S Jones 38)

Two first-half goals secured Llangefni a crucial victory which lifted them out of the bottom four.

It was a first win in six league outings for Chris Roberts’ side, who achieved a double having defeated Llandudno 2-0 at home last October.

Iwan Jones opened the visitors’ account on 10 minutes, then Steven Jones added a second after 38 to put the islanders in command at half time.

Cefni could have boosted their tally after the break, Dan Stephens denying Mel McGinness with a stunning last-ditch tackle as an open net beckoned.

McGinness was also foiled by a fine stop from home keeper Shaun Pearson after a quick counter-attack.

Llandudno did a lot of pressing, but the Town defence was rock solid.

Tudno finally pulled a goal back in the 88th minute through Jacob Farleigh’s stunning curler, but it was too late to save their skins.