FAW Trophy giant-killing joy for Llandudno Amateurs

DRAGON SIGNS FAW AMATEUR TROPHY ROUND ONE
Knighton Town 3-3 Llandudno Amateurs
(Amateurs win 4-2 on penalties)

Goalkeeper Kyle King was a penalty shoot-out hero for a Llandudno Amateurs side which knocked highly-fancied Tier 3 Knighton out of the FAW Amateur Trophy on Saturday.

Tier 4 North Wales Coast East Premier Division underdogs the Amateurs produced a fantastic effort to beat opponents currently unbeaten and flying high in fourth spot in Ardal North East.

The Llandudno side overcame a six-hour round trip, a depleted squad and only 13 men available to emerge victorious at the Bryn-y-Castell ground in Powys.

There was a cagey opening to the game and both teams created some half-chances. Amateurs almost took the lead after a cross-shot from Luke Nichols hit the Knighton cross bar.

Amateurs then took the lead when Scott Kearney whipped in a corner which Knighton keeper Ben Davies failed to deal with, the loose ball was met by Sean Sharp who saw his header blocked but there was Azz Rogers following up to smash home on 21 minutes.

Amateurs had their hosts on the back-foot for a good 20 minutes after that, but with half time approaching Declan Beddoes made it 1-1, despite offside claims from the visitors.

Half-time: 1-1

Eight minutes into the second half, a King error enabled Beddoes to make it 2-1 to the hosts. The keeper received a back-pass and attempted to beat the oncoming striker, but was robbed and Beddoes found an empty net.

It was not until the 75th minute that the visitors got back on terms. Rogers scored with an absolute screamer from 30 yards after good link-up play with Joe Jones.

Five minutes later, a mix up at the back between Euan Hince and keeper King left a loose ball to be picked up by Beddoes who finished superbly for his hat-trick into an open net from the corner of the box.

Undeterred, Amateurs piled on the pressure and a few half-chances had Knighton defending for their lives.

Captain Kyle Johnson and two-goal Rogers joined the forward line to have a front four.

Amateurs searched tirelessly for the equaliser but couldn’t get the breakthrough until the 100th minute, which was reached due to a couple of injuries during the game.

Some excellent passing, then a ball into Rogers on the edge of the Knighton area saw him play an exquisite first-time back-heel flick which found Billy Bibby running between two Knighton players.

A great first touch into the area left him one-on-one and Bibby drew the visitors level again with virtually the last kick of the game.

Joyous scenes among the visiting contingent as a penalties contest had been secured.

It was here where King redeemed himself with two saves, while Johnson, Jones, Hince and Nichols put away their penalties to secure a 4-2 shoot-out success.