Flashback – 20 years ago: Porthmadog face a tough battle before beating Brymbo

Porthmadog 2 (Caughter 37, Hughes 85)
Brymbo Broughton 0
Huws Gray Fitlock Cymru Alliance League – April 28, 2001

Port completed a quickfire double over Brymbo Broughton 20 years ago this week.

Having won just 2-1 at their lowly Wrexham-area opponents seven days earlier, Viv Williams’ men expected a tough return – and so it was.

Brymbo controlled long periods of the game, especially in the second half when Port seemed content to sit on their one-goal interval lead.

Port had a host of chances in the first half, but in the absence of top marksman Carl Owen most were squandered.

In the ninth minute Dafydd Evans chipped a great ball into the box, but Gareth Caughter missed the target after initially turning well.

Port clearly missed the creative influence of Steven Pugh, injured at Buckley in midweek.

Chances went begging before in the 37th minute, Port finally took the lead after Caughter had been fouled on the right of the box.
Caughter himself netted after being the first to reach Mike Foster’s quickly taken free kick.

Scorer Caughter, Richard Hughes and Emyr Jones all went close to a second, but it might have been all-square when two minutes from the break.

Martin Plant beat his man and with custodian Tony Roberts failing to get a grip on his shot, the ball went straight to Andy Wynne, whose follow-up effort Roberts could not control. The ball was finally cleared to safety following a goalmouth scramble.

Half-time: Porthmadog 1 Brymbo Broughton 0

Port seemed content to sit back in the second half and made little impact in the opening 20 minutes.

Foster was the home side’s saviour at the back a couple of times before BB’s Dion Jones hit the ball just over the crossbar when he only had keeper Roberts to beat.

The hosts suffered another blow to add to their growing number of players unavailable due to a mixture of injuries and suspensions when Richard Hughes limped off in the 65th minute.

It was not until the last 15 minutes that Port started to apply any real pressure on the Brymbo defence.

Finally the clinching goal came.

Port coach Osian Roberts, making a rare appearance, concocted a telling pass inside toward Danny Hughes on the side of the box.

Hughes left his marker standing before unleashing a shot that left Simon Clemence with no chance.

Emyr Jones was unlucky not to make it three when his header was stopped on the line.

Porthmadog: Tony Roberts, Martin Jones, Neil Roberts, Warren Gibbs, Mike Foster, Dafydd Evans, Danny Hughes, Richard Hughes (Osian Roberts) Emyr Jones, Kevin Roberts, Gareth Caughter. Subs not used: Owain Jones, Steve Smith.

Brymbo Broughton: Simon Clemence, P Jones, K Wynne, G Wynne, G Williams, S Edwards, Martin Plant, Andy Wynne, Kevin Breeze, Dave Bloor, Dion Jones. Subs: Darren Jones, A Billington, K Smith.

Many thanks to Iwan Gareth of the CPD Porthmadog website for the match report