Prospect of drawing a big club in Welsh Cup R2 will revive these fond memories for Llanrug fans

Welsh Cup giant-killers Llanrug United will be hoping to land one of the ‘big boys’ when the second round draw is made this week.

Eifion Williams’ Tier 4 side caused a major upset on Saturday when they knocked Cymru North visitors Ruthin Town out of Wales’ premier national knockout tournament.

They now enter the last 64, where the Cymru Premier clubs and higher ranked Cymru North teams get involved.

For many loyal Llanrug fans the days leading up to the second round draw will no doubt evoke memories of years gone by, when the Eithin Duon club drew three Welsh Premier sides in a four-season span.

On each occasion, ‘Rug were campaigning in the Tier 3 Welsh Alliance. And while they lost all three ties, they pushed their Tier 1 opponents hard in each one.

Here’s a look back to when Llanrug clashed with Llanelli, Bangor City and Bala Town between 2006-07 and 2009-10.

2006-07

September 30, 2006 – Round Two
LLANRUG UNITED 0
BANGOR CITY 2 (O’Neill, Roberts)

Welsh Premier Bangor were made to fight hard for their place in the third round against a spirited Llanrug side.
City established an early grip on the game, with Ricky Evans and Paul Roberts going close.
Terry Williams was working overtime in the Llanrug midfield but he could only stand and admire a superb save from Dave Ball off Clayton Blackmore’s low piledriver.
Ten minutes before the interval Paul O’Neill’s goal bound header appeared to be handled on the line by Aaron Bayley, who volleyed clear – play on said referee Howie Farrell.
On 35 minutes City finally had the all-important first goal. Substitute Mike Walsh lobbed to Paul Roberts whose first time flick fell invitingly for captain Paul O’Neill to calmly run the ball into the back of the net from five yards.
After the break Llanrug forged their first clear chance when Owain Morris dragged his shot wide. Morris then headed wide from a cross which dropped just behind him. Llanrug gained momentum when Martin Beattie was clattered on halfway to allow Carl Griffiths a run on goal.
His low drive was heading into the bottom left hand corner but a brilliant one handed fingertip save from Ian Havard just deflected the ball onto the post.
At the other end, a long ball down the right flank by Blackmore found Marc Lloyd Williams but his turn and shot ended over the bar.
With 20 minutes to go Bangor secured the win when Lloyd Williams crossed low into the goalmouth for Paul Roberts to slide in from two yards.
As the match entered the final quarter hour, referee Farrell dismissed Llanrug’s combative Terry Williams.

Llanrug United: Dave Ball, Rheon Parry, Ceirion Williams, Eifion Williams, Aaron Bayley, David Noel Williams, Carl Griffiths, Terry Williams, Gareth Griffiths, Owain Morris, Jonathan Sadler. SUBS: Gareth D Griffiths, Andrew Williams, Carl Taylor.
Bangor City: Ian Havard, Clayton Blackmore, Martin Beattie, Kieran Killackey, Adam Docker, Paul O’Neill. Marc Lloyd Williams, Ashley Stott. Paul Roberts. Ricky Evans. Kyle Jacobs. SUBS: Mike Walsh, Sion Edwards, Jon Newell.

Report: Mike Smith, Citizens Choice website

2007-08

November 3, 2007 – Round Three
LLANRUG UNITED 3 (Evans 20 & 75, T Williams 69)
LLANELLI 5 (Thomas 17, 70 & 88, Pritchard 39, Griffiths 90)

Welsh Alliance underdogs Llanrug produced a fantastic performance to hold mighty Llanelli at 3-3 before the South Wales Reds netted twice in the last two minutes to edge this Welsh Cup classic at Eithin Duon.
Aled Owen’s home team gave a visiting side on their way to winning the Welsh Premier League that season a real fright in this David versus Goliath third round encounter.
Rank outsiders United came from behind three times to draw level, Richard Evans netting twice and Terry Williams once.
Wyn Thomas (2) and Mark Pritchard made it all-square entering the 88th minute.
However, Peter Nicholas’s Reds scrambled over the line with late strikes from Thomas and Rhys Griffiths.
Manager Aled Owen said: “At 3-3 with 82 minutes played, we believed we were in with a chance of winning. After all, we had scored three brilliant goals and were playing so well.
“But we paid for some bad defending because Llanelli had all their goals from corners or long throws.
“It was a good day but it could have been a lot better – and we were so close to getting the result that we wanted.”
Llanrug fell behind on 17 minutes when Thomas steered a close-range header past ‘keeper Dave Ball, but the home side’s Richard Evans burst through to fire the equaliser soon after.
Another header by Mark Pritchard restored the full-timers’ advantage on 39 minutes – and it stayed the same until Terry Williams’ reply on 69.
Llanelli took just 60 seconds to regain the lead through Thomas again, but ‘Rug would not lay down and a second for Evans made it 3-3.
Extra time was beckoning before hat-trick star Thomas and WPL top marksman Griffiths grabbed the late goals which prevented what could have been one of the Welsh Cup’s most romantic giant-killing stories being written.
Llanelli made it all the way to the final, where they were defeated 4-2 in extra time by Bangor City.

2009-10

October 31, 2009 – Round three
Bala Town 1 (Harris 72)
Llanrug United 0

In their first season as a Welsh Premier side, Bala Town found Aled Owen’s Llanrug a tough nut to crack at Maes Tegid.
United had already negotiated three rounds of the national knockout with wins over Holywell Town (5-0 away), Nefyn United (4-3) and Gresford Athletic (3-2 away).
Anyone expecting Bala to repeat their 8-1 caning of Borras Park Albion in the previous round were in for a shock.
Despite playing two levels below, Llanrug pushed the Lakesiders all the way, Colin Caton’s side being happy to get through thanks to a Mark Harris 72nd-minute decider.

SINCE 2009-10…..

Llanrug United have continued to have a good relationship with the Welsh Cup since their clashes with the big guns.
Regularly getting through 2 or 3 rounds, in 2012-13 Rug eliminated Bethel, Four Crosses and Llanrhaeadr-ym-Mochnant before losing to South Wales club West End in the last 32.
And in 2015-16, they progressed to round one, where they lost narrowly 3-2 in extra time to Caernarfon Town, who were Cymru Alliance champions that season.
Here’s hoping for an attractive second round draw for Eifion Williams’ men this week.