FLASHBACK – 10 YEARS AGO: Porthmadog travel to Mold in the Huws Gray Alliance
HUWS GRAY ALLIANCE – DECEMBER 19, 2015
Mold Alexandra 1 (Drazdauskas 76)
Porthmadog 2 (Rogers 43, Davies 71)
Report: Gareth Williams – http://www.porthmadogfc.com
On this weekend 10 years ago Porthmadog picked up their third 2-1 league victory on the bounce, Mold becoming their latest victims at Alyn Park.
The Eifionydd team’s two previous league games in December, against Rhayader and Caersws, had both been postponed due to the weather. It was third time lucky on December 19, 2015, at Mold.
In a tight game played in difficult conditions, the goal which separated the two sides at the end came from the best move of the game with Josh Davies finishing in great style.
Early sparring saw both sides create an opportunity each with Rob Evans, for Port, racing on to a quickly taken free kick and testing home keeper Kris Lee at his near post.
Alex responded with a break which provided Ross McDowell with a good shooting chance which he lifted over the bar.
In the middle part of the half the home side created opportunities, but nearer to the interval, pressure started to build on the Alex defence.
Julian Williams let fly a blaster from 15 yards which keeper Lee did well to hold.
Josh Davies was then extremely unfortunate not to put Port ahead. He lobbed a good ball played from the back by Gruff Williams over the advancing keeper only to see it strike the crossbar and bounce behind for a goal kick.
With the break approaching, Port ended the deadlock. Rob Evans broke down the right and his cross found Steve Rogers whose excellent glancing header nestled in the corner of the net.
HALF-TIME: MOLD ALEX 0 PORTHMADOG 1
The second half began with a good early break from Julian Williams cutting along the byline to exert keeper Lee at his near post.
Then it was the Alex who were the threat. as Richard Harvey had to race 20 yards out of his goal to thwart Dan Drazdauskas. Harvey was soon in action again, going down well to save a well-struck Jack Laird free kick.
On the hour mark there was a huge scramble in the Port box with Laird’s close range shot going narrowly wide.
Having weathered the pressure, Port produced the best action of the match on 71 minutes.
A Mold free kick was cleared as far as Eilir Edwards, still deep in his own half. The winger raced forward over the halfway line before putting Julian Williams away down the left.
Williams outpaced his marker, cut inside and pulled the ball back for Josh Davies who still had some work to do. The striker found space in the box and fired low from 15 yards past Lee in the home goal to double the Port advantage.
As happened so often that season, Port failed to consolidate as Mold struck back only five minutes later.
McDowell committed defenders with a good run and then put Drazdauskas clear on goal. The forward finished clinically from 18 yards.
A tricky final quarter of an hour faced Port but on this occasion it was they who created the best chances in the final phase.
Rogers raced past two defenders into the Mold box and forced Lee into a good save. Close to the end Eilir Edwards fired a powerful shot narrowly over the angle of the post and crossbar.
The visitors held on to their narrow lead in worsening conditions with Iddon Price marshalling his defence to close out the home team’s final efforts.
PORTHMADOG
Richard Harvey, Rob Evans (Gwydion Ifan 50), Josh Banks, Gruff Williams, Iddon Price, Ceri James (Cai Jones 59), Iwan Lewis, Stuart Rogers, Eilir Edwards, Julian Williams (Jack Davies 90), Josh Davies. Unused sub: Luke Jones.
MOLD ALEX
Kris Lee, Michael Wendon, Joe Culshaw, Daniel Dalton, Darren Torpey, Alex Ahmed (Haydn Cooper 56), Tom Murray, John McAuliffe (Jake Eyre 80), Jack Laird (Paul Lindfield 80), Ross McDowell, Dan Drazdauskas. Unused subs: Dale Davies, Mark Fell.
WHAT HAPPENED AT THE END OF THIS SEASON?
- Porthmadog finished 10th in the Tier 2 Huws Gray Alliance, while Mold ended up in 13th spot.
- Port triumphed in both league battles, also defeating Alex 3-2 at Y Traeth back in August 2015.