Adran North: Felinheli see off NFA and rise to second after fifth straight victory

GENERO ADRAN NORTH – FEBRUARY 4, 2024

CPDM Y Felinheli 4 (Ffion Williams 19 & 90; Tugwell-Allsup 32 & 65)
NFA 1 (Peake 12)

Two goals apiece from Ffion Williams and Jenna Tugwell-Allsup made it five straight wins for Felinheli who are up to second in Genero Adran North.

The latest victory over NFA finished off a busy schedule of three games within a week for Aaron Jones-Evans’ side from which they collected a maximum nine points.

NFA were coming off a morale-boosting 4-0 win at Bangor, so Sunday’s clash at Cae Seilo promised to be a good one.

It was the Rhyl travellers who snatched the lead early on. There was a scrappy start to the half from both sides who struggled to get control of the ball.

The pitch wasn’t at its best after some bad weather over the last few weeks took its toll on Seilo and it was the away side that capitalised first.

Shannon Jones’ wayward pass across the back four was not helped by a bobble which enabled Lois Roberts to feed Mel Peake, who was through on goal and made no mistake to deliver an unexpected lead for the visitors.

This seemed to wake Felin up, as they began to play some good football through the midfield on a difficult pitch.

They started utilising the pace of Ffion Williams, who was playing up front for the home side. Soon the chances came, but unfortunately for the hosts they found NFA goalkeeper Katie Spruce in fine form, making countless saves to keep Felin at bay.

The pressure and speed finally told on the 20-minute mark with Catrin Evans releasing Ffion Williams, who skilfully rounded the keeper to make it 1-1.

Ten minutes later it was 2-1, scorer Williams this time with the assist through to Tugwell-Allsup who made a driving run and lashed home left-footed Geoff Hurst 1966 World Cup final hat-trick goal style in rifling Felin ahead.

Felinheli kept knocking on the door but again Spruce produced some important stops for the away side as the half finished 2-1.

The second half started with Felinheli very much on top with NFA not offering much the other way, even though their midfield kept the tie competitive.

The hosts made a change, bringing Hana Wellings on and taking Lois Williams off. It solidified the central area for Felinheli but again Spruce concocted a handful of saves to keep NFA in the contest.

On 65 minutes, Ffion Williams, at the heart of the home side’s play all afternoon, played a lovely ball through to Tugwell-Allsup, who was making runs in beyond the striker all game.

Spruce was quick off her line to challenge and it looked like the Felin player had taken too firm a touch, but Tugwell-Allsup’s strength in the tackle helped the ball run her way and she walked it into the net.

Catrin Evans struck a wonderful free kick from 25 yards out but Spruce was equal to it.

Fflur Williams went through on goal twice, again Spruce thwarted the attempts, and it looked like that was the end of the scoring.

However, Felinheli with some great work down the right found Ffion Williams in the corner. She then danced past a couple of players and rifled home a left footed shot, beating Spruce at her near post to make it 4-1.

Felinheli rang the changes with Nel Huws, Shannon Jones, Catrin Evans and Kelly Jones all making way for Erin Gwilym, Kyla Cain, Chiara Nocivelli and new signing Sara Baines coming on for her debut.

A couple more chances fell Felinheli’s way but the score remained the same.

Winning manager Aaron Jones-Evans said: “It’s been a tough week for our squad having played 3 games within a week. It’s a big ask for our players but they all stood up to the challenges and got all 9 points which is great at this stage of the season.

“Some tired legs towards the end of that game but this team just doesn’t give up, the squad have been great this last week, all of them playing their part and playing for the team and we got maximum points from it. I’m very pleased with the attitude of this team. We will have a bit of a rest now but it’s back to work midweek as we have a big game Sunday versus Rhyl.

“I’d like to welcome Sara Baines to the club, who has signed from Merched Tref Caernarfon. At such a young age to come in and play your part against a strong side is wonderful to see. We go again.”

TEAMS

CPDM Y FELINHELI
Catrin Beech
Jody Cain
Shannon Jade Jones
Kelly Jones (c)
N/A
Jordanne Greenough
Jenna Tugwell-Allsup
Ffion Williams
Fflur Williams
Nel Huws
Catrin Evans
SUBS USED
Hana Wellings
Erin Gwilym
Kyla Cain
Chiara Nocivelli
Sara Baines

NFA
Katie Spruce
Jess Mills
Grace Bamber
N/A
Kayla Hargreaves
Georgia Williams (c)
Mel Peake
Jade Scott
Rebekah Hansen
Libby McClelland
Lois Roberts
SUBS USED
Courtney Ingram
SUBS
Megan Pursell
Amy Webster