Ardal Northern League Cup Final: 90th minute Summers-Jones clincher seals Hotspur glory

ARDAL NORTHERN LEAGUE CUP FINAL – MAY 30, 2024

Flint Mountain 1 (Ellams pen 85)
Holyhead Hotspur 2 (T Owen 45+4, Summers-Jones 90)

Dylan Summers-Jones’ 90th minute winner on the eve of his 22nd birthday made for a perfect ending to Holyhead Hotspur’s season.

The striker’s 23rd goal of the campaign clinched a memorable Ardal Northern League Cup success for the Holy Islanders at Maes Tegid, Bala.

For losers Flint Mountain, it meant missing out on an amazing treble, but they can be more than content with having been crowned Tier 3 Ardal North West champions this term to secure promotion to the Cymru North, as well as lifting the NEWFA Challenge Cup.

Mountain also made it to the Welsh Cup quarter-finals in what has overall been a magnificent season for Aden Shannon’s side.

As for Darren Garmey’s Hotspur, tonight brought a first major honour to the club since they scooped the tier 3 Welsh Alliance League title in 2019-20.

Their name becomes the third to be etched on the Ardal Northern League Cup, following Caersws in 2021-22 and Denbigh Town 2022-23.

Tonight’s final saw Hotspur take a deserved lead four minutes into added time at the end of the first half, Tomos Owen’s fabulous side-footed looping volley finding the back of the net.

For a long while, it looked like that goal might be enough to win the cup, but in the 84th minute, Tom Ruffer was brought down in the box and the referee pointed to the spot.

Lloyd Ellams stepped up and despite keeper Guto Hughes getting a hand to the ball, it went into the goal level it.

However, the drama was not over as in the 90th minute, Summers-Jones got in behind the defence and calmly slotted past the on rushing keeper to win the final.

It was no more than Hotspur deserved after a dynamic end to the season which saw them lose just once in 19 games, 14 of those matches producing wins.

HOLYHEAD HOTSPUR

Guto Hughes
James Phillips
Kyle Murphy
Tomos Owen
Alex Jones (c)
Jamie Pick
Mitchell Jones
Jack Walsh
Kane Roberts
Dylan Summers-Jones
Cory Williams
SUBS USED
Aron Hughes-Jones, Harry Lewis, Shay Murphy, Kenleigh Owen

FLINT MOUNTAIN

John Danby
Ieuan Hewitt (c)
Rowan Brooks
Jack Sconce
Andy Brown
Mike Hayes
Calyn Spencer
Joe Holt
Lloyd Ellams
Aaron Simpson
Chris Li
SUBS USED
Sam Henry, Tom Ruffer, Sam Molyneux, Corey Smart