Carl Owen and Emyr Jones score four each as Porthmadog smash 10 past Holywell

Porthmadog 10 (Emyr Jones 9, 29, 68 & 75; Warren Gibbs 22, Danny Hughes 25, Carl Owen 43, 50, 66 & 70)
Holywell Town 0
Huws Gray Fitlock Cymru Alliance League – Saturday, April 14, 2001

Carl Owen and Emyr Jones scored four goals apiece as Porthmadog dished out a double-figure caning to outgunned Holywell at Y Traeth on this date 20 years ago.

It represented a dismal return for Wellmen player-manager Paul Aigbogun to the club where he spent two seasons as coach.

The Holywell team, showing six changes of personnel since the two teams met a couple of months earlier, when Port won just 1-0 at Halkyn Road, started promisingly enough with Carl Lomax and Steve Lester posing problems for the home defence with some speedy movements.

The pattern of the game was completely changed by three right wing corners by Mike Foster.

The first came after nine minutes when Emyr Jones opened the scoring with a header beyond Andy Hughes in the visitors goal.

After 22 minutes defender Warren Gibbs converted another Foster flag kick with a looping header into the top corner.

The third after 25 minutes was, initially, punched out by keeper Hughes but only as far as Danny Hughes who controlled the ball and then drove powerfully into the corner of the net from 18 yards.

Four minutes later Emyr Jones scored his second from close range as the visitors’ defence stood and watched Martin Jones’ long ball into the box from the right.

Jones could have completed a first-half hat-trick when his header from a Steven Pugh cross struck the crossbar before being scrambled to safety.

Holywell’s first half woes were not over for the fifth goal came from the best move of the match after 43 minutes.

Three men combined – a defence-splitting pass from Hughes freed Pugh on the right and his cross was driven low into the net by Carl Owen.

Half-time: Porthmadog 5 Holywell 0

Port came out in the second-half determined not to ease-up.

Five minutes after the restart Owen fastened on to a long ball from the back and lobbed over the keeper to make it 6-0.

Owen completed his hat-trick after 66 minutes when he scored after being put through by Gareth Caughter’s excellent pass.

Three minutes later and Emyr Jones also made it a treble when he converted Owen’s header following another fine Pugh cross.

Owen and Jones helped themselves again before the end to make it four goals apiece for the destructive strike pair.

Owen shot in off the post after 70 minutes and on 75 he supplied Jones with a pass in the box for the tenth and final goal.

Porthmadog: Tony Roberts, Martin Jones (Owain Tudur Jones 14), Warren Gibbs, Mike Foster,Neil Roberts, Steve Pugh, Dafydd Evans (Kevin Roberts 12), Danny Hughes, Gareth Caughter (Lewis Coady 15), Emyr Jones, Carl Owen.

Holywell Town: Andy Hughes, Lee Sinclair, Lee O’Brien, Paul Aigbogun, Sean Giblin, Phil Johnson, Carl Pinkney, Jason Bass, Carl Lomax, Steve Lester, Shane Francis. Sub: James Hampson.

Thanks to Iwan Gareth for report