Flashback – 10 years ago: Porthmadog edge narrow win at Mold

Mold Alex 1 (Dan Drazdauskas 76)
CPD Porthmadog 2 (Stuart Rogers 43, Josh Davies 71)
Huws Gray Alliance – December 19, 2015

Five years ago this weekend Porthmadog recorded their third consecutive 2-1 victory, completing the double over Alex and continuing their climb up the table.

In the early sparring both sides created an opportunity. Rob Evans, for Port, raced on to a quickly-taken free kick and tested home keeper Kris Lee at his near post.

Alex responded with a break which provided Ross McDowell with a good shooting chance which he lifted over the bar.

After 20 minutes Mold front man Dan Drazdauskas broke well down the left, crossing for John McAuliffe, whose powerful shot was deflected for a corner.

Towards the end of the half pressure started to build on the home defence. Julian Williams let fly a blaster from 15 yards which keeper Lee did well to hold.

Josh Davies was then extremely unfortunate not to put Port ahead. He lobbed a good ball played from the back by Gruff Williams over the advancing keeper only to see it strike the crossbar and bounce behind for a goal kick.

Port continued to up the tempo and two minutes before the interval broke the deadlock.

Evans broke down the right and his cross found Stuart Rogers, whose excellent glancing header nestled in the corner of the net.

Half-time: 0-1

The second half began with a good early break from Julian Williams cutting along the byline to test keeper Lee at his near post.

Then it was Alex who were the threat, Richard Harvey having to race 20 yards out of his goal to thwart Drazdauskas.

Harvey was soon in action again, going down well to save a well-struck Jack Laird free kick.

On the hour there was a huge scramble in the Port box which ended with Laird’s close range shot going narrowly wide.

Having weathered the pressure Port produced the best move of the match. A Mold free kick was cleared as far as Eilir Edwards still deep in his own half.

The winger raced forward over the halfway line before putting Julian Williams away down the left. Williams outpaced his marker, cut inside and pulled the ball back for Josh Davies, who still had some work to do.

Davies found space in the box and fired low from 15 yards past Lee in the home goal to double the Port advantage.

As had happened so often this season, Port failed to hold on as Mold struck back only five minutes later, Drazdauskas finishing clinically from 18 yards.

A tricky final quarter of an hour faced the travellers, but on this occasion it was they who created the best chances in the final phase.

A mazy run from Rogers took him past two defenders into the Mold box and he forced Lee into a good save.

Close to the end Edwards fired a powerful shot narrowly over the angle of post and crossbar.

Porthmadog: Richard Harvey, Rob Evans (Gwydion Ifan 50), Josh Banks, Gruff Williams, Iddon Price, Ceri James (Cai Jones 59), Iwan Lewis, Stuart Rogers, Eilir Edwards, Julian Williams (Jack Davies 90), Josh Davies.

Mold Alex: Kris Lee, Michael Wendon, Joe Culshaw, Daniel Dalton, Darren Torpey, Alex Ahmed (Haydn Cooper 56), Tom Murray, John McAuliffe (Jake Eyre 80), Jack Laird (Paul Lindfield 80), Ross McDowell, Dan Drazdauskas.

Many thanks to Gareth Williams for match information and Emyr Gareth for photos