Scott Hughes hits five as Bethesda pile up magnificent seven
NORTH WALES COAST WEST PREMIER DIVISION
Bethesda Athletic 7 (S Hughes 38, 51, 54, 57 & 60; W Janes 21; Redmond 42)
Amlwch Town 0
Saturday, January 7, 2023
Report and photograph: Jonathan Ervine
Scott Hughes found top form in front of goal by netting five times as Bethesda stormed eight points clear at the Premier summit.
Hughes, a prolific marksman over many seasons who joined Pesda last term and netted 20 goals, bagged his quintet in the space of 22 destructive minutes on Saturday afternoon.
Bethesda had been due to host the match at Parc Meurig, but their home pitch was unplayable due to heavy rain and the game was moved to the 3G at Nantporth in Bangor.
Athletic made a lively start with Dean Redmond and Scott Hughes posing plenty of problems for the Anglesey side’s defence.
Redmond looked to have opened the scoring in the second minute, but his effort was disallowed for offside.
The opening goal did finally arrive as the midway point of the opening period approached when Wisdom Janes headed in a corner from Noa Hughes.
Although Amlwch had a lot of defending to do in the first 45, they came close to equalising after 28 minutes following a corner kick. An initial header was blocked before the follow-up shot was cleared off the line.
That near miss seemed to spur Bethesda into action and they soon doubled their advantage. Tomos Eames played a long pass forward for Scott Hughes to chase and the attacker managed to lob the ball over Amlwch goalkeeper Callum Truchuon and then roll it into the net.
Redmond made it three on 42 minutes following a good team-move where Dan Hughes played the decisive pass.
Janes struck the top of the bar just before the break after a free-kick was played into the Amlwch box.
HALF-TIME: Bethesda Athletic 3-0 Amlwch Town
If the outcome of the game perhaps wasn’t beyond doubt at half-time, it certainly was not long into the second period.
After Redmond, Cian Williams and Dan Hughes all went close in the first five minutes, Scott Hughes added four more goals in a devastating spell between the 51st and 60th.
Hughes put Bethesda four goals in front when Redmond played the ball into the box following a short corner on the left. Hughes took one touch to control before firing in a low shot from just inside the area.
Two minutes later, Hughes completed his hat-trick when he got on the end of a long kick-out from Bethesda goalkeeper David Clarke and lobbed the ball over Truchuon. As well as being Bethesda’s fifth of the afternoon, it was their 50th in the league this season.
Hughes soon added his fourth and Pesda’s sixth with a neat finish following a precise reverse pass from Dan Hughes. On the hour mark, Hughes completed his nap-hand to put Bethesda 7-0 up after Noa Hughes found him in space just inside the penalty area.
The game then went into something of a lull following a series of substitutions but came alive again in the final 10 when Bethesda went close several times but could not add to their tally.
Bethesda Athletic
David Clarke
Wisdom Janes
Steffan Davies
Osian Hughes
Tomos Eames
Cian Williams
Noa Hughes
N/A
Dan Hughes
Dean Redmond
Scott Hughes
SUBS
Kyle Hartleb
Adrian Roberts
Benn Lundstram
Mark Thomas