Emotional day as Gresford rack up 9-0 win at new home and inflict biggest-ever Welsh Cup defeat on Prestatyn Town

JD Welsh Cup round one – September 21, 2024

Gresford Athletic 9 (Edge 5, 35 & 47, Ozlu 9 & 77, Johnson 67, Ormrod 75, Buley 86, Deacon 91)
Prestatyn Town 0

Prestatyn suffered a club record Welsh Cup defeat on a day where Gresford marked their debut appearance at groundshare venue the Hollingsworth Group Stadium in some style.

Athletic only announced the day before they would play home matches at Airbus UK Broughton’s ground for the rest of the season, but they could surely not have envisaged getting off to such a flyer at their new temporary base.

Ahead of kick off, players, staff, coaches, officials and fans of both teams observed a minute’s applause in memory of Gresford Athletiic junior under-10 player Freddie Pritchard, who unexpectedly passed away last Saturday. Prestatyn Town also very kindly presented the club with a signed ball and flowers in memory of Freddie.

Saturday’s Welsh Cup first round tie between two Cymru North clubs was expected to be relatively close, but from the start the Colliers were in command.

An early lead arrived in the fifth minute as Charley Edge scored a replica of last week’s winner, volleying the ball into the net from the edge of the area.

To make things even better for the Colliers, Haci Ozlu was in the right place at the right time to pick up the ball in the box and slot home to make it 2-0 in the ninth minute.

The Seasiders did have a couple of chances of their own, as Lewis Dutton made an excellent 23rd-minute save to deny a quick attack and retain the two-goal advantage.

Gresford found a third goal in the 34th minute, Edge bagging his brace when tapping into the net on the rebound following a saved Dave Forbes effort.

In the second minute of added time, Edge claimed his hat-trick, firing the ball towards goal directly from a corner, pinging the post and hitting the side of the net to make it 4-0.

The second half saw a continued dominance from Gresford, as substitute Alex Buxton forced a fine save from Town goalkeeper Luke Jones.

Then, Josh Watkin swung in a great corner into the path of Paul Johnson, who guided the ball into the back of the net with a header to add a fifth goal in the 67th minute.

Dutton did superbly again in the 71st minute, tipping the ball onto the crossbar following a good Prestatyn attempt.

Joe Ormrod grabbed his first goal in Gresford colours, with Dominic Deacon doing phenomenally well down the left with pace and crossing the ball into the path of the midfielder to put it away in the 75th minute.

It wasn’t long before it was seven goals for the hosts, as Ozlu completed a double in the 77th minute.

To make matters worse for Prestatyn. Patrick Hamid committed a poor tackle to deny an Athletic attack in the 83rd minute, resulting in a red card and sending off.

In the 86th minute, Ben Buley notched his first goal for Gresford, finding the bottom corner with a fantastic hit.

To finish things off, Dominic Deacon grabbed his first goal since returning from injury in the 89th minute.

This was Prestatyn’s worst-ever result in the Welsh Cup, the defeat more severe than 8-0 losses to Connah’s Quay Nomads last season and Colwyn Bay in 1963-64.