Having covered North Wales football for close on 40 years. I’ve attended and reported on hundreds if not thousands of games across the pyramid.
Here’s another in a series of classics from the archives.
Three star names shared the goals as Penrhyndeidraeth celebrated one of the greatest days in their history 10 years ago.
Nantporth Stadium, Bangor was the venue for the Mawddach Cup final, where a large crowd gathered to see Penhyn troimph 4-1 against the much-decorated Glantraeth,
The Cockles emerged victorious thanks to Sion Bradley (2), Meilir Williams and Paul Roberts.
Barely three minutes in a rasping 10-yard shot from Bradley was diverted away by a defender, but then Penrhyn’s Richard Jones had to make a timely tackle to deny Mike Lundstrom, and he also dealt well with an angled shot from Sean Davies.
At the other end, a Steve Jones header from a corner by Bradley was saved by Glantraeth’s Ben Heald, and Meilir Williams raced clear only to fire off target.
Jack Davis saw a glorious 20-yarder clip Glantraeth’s crossbar and, amid a series of Penrhyn corners, Bradley had a shot blocked, and Jack Jones fired too high.
Half-Time: 0-0
Penrhyn’s reward finally arrived on the hour as a slick exchange of passes set up 18-year-old livewire Bradley for a cool finish from eight yards – and four minutes later, Williams broke down the left and his cross was met by Bradley’s diving header at the near post which made it 2-0.
Penrhyn went for the jugular and Williams’ goal-bound drive was intercepted by Gareth Owen, before sub Ben Jones headed over the bar from barely four yards.
Bradley then unleashed a low strike, which Heald parried at full stretch, but the ball ran kindly out to top scorer Meilir Williams, who fired home into the empty net.
Glantraeth staged a last-gasp raid and finally, a minute ahead of full-time, a long-range punt from Sean Davies went through a mass of players into the net.
Penrhyn, however, had the final say as sub Paul Roberts, the ex-Wrexham, Bangor City, Porthmadog and Wales Under-21 striker fired home from 10 yards at the other end to seal an historic cup triumph.
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