Intermediate Cup – Kinmel Bay, Menai Bridge Tigers, St Asaph City and Meliden reach semi-finals
NWCFA INTERMEDIATE CHALLENGE CUP QUARTER-FINAL REPORTS
Kinmel Bay 2 (Walker 23, A Jones 62)
Nefyn United 0
Seven days after knocking CPD Y Rhyl 1879 out of the FAW Amateur Trophy in a major upset, Nefyn were brought crashing back down to earth in the NWCFA Intermediate Cup quarter-finals by an outstanding Kinmel Bay side.
The North Wales Coast East Premier hosts had lost 4-2 in a disappointing performance at Rhuddlan Town in their last outing, so were out to make amends at the expense of the team which had gloriously beaten their close neighbours the previous weekend.
Back at full strength, Kinmel attacked from the off and a probing ball into the area for Tate Walker saw him connect brilliantly but narrowly clear the bar.
Both sides began to produce some fine football, but it was Bay who drew first blood with Jake Reynolds turning provider with a lovely little touch through to Walker in the area, who made no mistake, firing past keeper Tristan Harrison on 23 minutes.
Nefyn responded with some pressure of their own, Mathew Hardy only able to head over the bar from close range.
Ryan Roberts, Mason Richards and Reynolds for the Bay took control of the midfield for the remaining minutes of the half, working hard putting tackles in.
Bay’s Connor Morris was through on goal, but play was called back for offside – seemingly harshly.
Kinmel’s half time team talk from Andy Thomas and Leon Field was more of the same – keep the work rate up, keep pressing and keep it tight at the back. And that’s what the hosts did in the second half, working hard for each other as a unit.
Nefyn were really fired up, and but for Stuart Roberts, it would have been 1-1, the Bay keeper pulling off a top shelf stop.
Bay pushed for a second and were rewarded in the 62nd minute when Reynolds lined up a shot which struck a Nefyn player before landing perfectly for Anthony Jones to smash into the bottom corner.
With heavy legs starting to show, Bay made three changes in the 66th minute.
Nefyn really started to find some rhythm and forced Roberts into a fantastic double save. Cole Rich was tremendous at the back, winning most of the long balls.
The final whistle blew on a great victory for Kinmel Bay, who will now meet either Meliden, Menai Bridge Tigers or St Asaph City in the semi-finals.
TEAMS
Kinmel Bay
Stuart Roberts
Ethan Evans (Oliver Gray 66)
Anthony Jones
Liam Jones (Tyler Oakley-Evans 66)
Cole Rich
Shaun Davies
Jake Reynolds
Mason Richards
Connor Morris
Ryan Roberts (Ian Dunn 62)
Tate Walker (Matthew Cassidy 66)
Nefyn United
Tristan Harrison
Osian Jones
Carwyn Griffiths
Llyr Pennant Williams
Jack Jones
Steven Jones
Rhys Williams (Guto Roberts 54)
Tomi Evans
Mathew Hardy
Mark Jones
Josh Piper
Llanrug United 2 (S Roberts 30, O Jones 83)
Meliden 5 (L Edwards 10 & 57, Terry 55, J Roberts 75, Ford 88)
An emphatic win for the Miners in tough conditions saw them storm into the semis with a 5-2 triumph at Eithin Duon.
Lucas Edwards put Meliden in front after 10 minutes following a lovely ball across from Liam Astley.
Llanrug equalised on the half-hour through Shaun Roberts which took the tie into the break at 1-1.
The second half is where Deej Hobson’s side turned it on.
Jonathan Terry netted with a header from a set piece and Lucas Edwards minutes later latched on to a ball across the box from James Cairns to make it 3-1.
Joe Roberts did what he does best on 75 minutes, taking control of a ball over the top and slotting into the bottom-right corner.
Llanrug pulled one back in the 83rd minute through Owain Jones, but that man again Dylan Ford was put through on goal, rounded the keeper and tucked away to make it 5-2 to the Miners.
A big shout out to Meliden centre-backs Niall Butler and Jonathan Terry, who were solid throughout and both got MOTM.
TEAMS
Llanrug United
Dion Price-Owen
Robin Thomas (Carl Griffiths 46)
Matthew Roberts
Osian Roberts
Eifion Williams
Dion Roberts (David Noel Williams 43)
Sion Phillips
Shaun Roberts (Morgan Williams 75)
Kevin Lloyd (Owain Jones 70)
Osian Williams
Jonathan Sadler
Meliden
Christian Wright
Tom Fletcher (Dylan Ford 80)
Scott Stewart
Niall Butler (Mathew Coppack 80)
Lewis Thompson
Jonathan Terry
Joe Roberts
Finley Ellam
Lucas Edwards (Matty Griffiths 72)
Liam Astley
James Cairns
CPD Pwllheli 0
Menai Bridge Tigers 3 (Sion Hogan 10, Lewis Clayton 41, Callum Davidson 47)
The Bridge will be the sole flag flyer for the North Wales Coast West League in the semi-finals after seeing off Pwllheli at The Rec on Saturday.
Although it was the goals which won the tie for Aaron Rowlands’ islanders, the heroics of Lee Moore between the posts played a crucial factor in the result.
Moore saved penalties from Steffan Toplis and Carl Jones over the 90 minutes.
The 46-year-old is Menai’s goalkeeping coach, but is registered as a player for emergencies.
He has played three times this season and kept a clean sheet on each occasion.
First-half goals from Sion Hogan and the on-fire Lewis Clayton put the Anglesey team two-up at the interval, then Callum Davidson added a third early in the second period. Both Moore penalty stops were made with the score at 3-0.
St Asaph City 4 (Potts 58, 65, 68, Knight 72)
Mochdre Sports 0
Ryan Potts booked Saints their place in the semi-finals with a 10 minute hat-trick in the second half of Saturday’s last eight clash with Mochdre Sports.
This was expected to be a close tussle, and so it was in the first half which ended goalless.
However, once Potts found his shooting boots, the contest was over, his goals arriving on 58, 65 and 68 minutes.
Ray Knight added a fourth for Saints, who it is now fair to say are favourites to lift the cup given they are top of the North Wales Coast East Premier Division.
Goalkeeper Nic Bould was named Mochdre’s player of the match.
It was a bad weekend for FAW Trophy giant-killers. On top of Nefyn’s loss to Kinmel Bay, Mochdre, who performed marvels to knock tier three high-flyers Llanfair United out of the Trophy seven days earlier, were well beaten by St Asaph in the end.