Y Felinheli 2-2 Denbigh Town: Point apiece at Cae Seilo
Third placed Denbigh Town travelled to face Y Felinheli on Saturday afternoon as they looked to keep pace with joint league leaders Porthmadog and Mold Alexandra.
The visitors began quite well and had two clear cut opportunities in the first five minutes of play. Jake Walker was the first to test when he fired across the face of goal after a break down the left hand side prior to Sean James had a go from range which fizzed past the left hand post.
Felinheli rode out the early pressure by the visitors and came into the game. Excellent play down the right hand saw Iwan Edwards drive into the area but was penalised for a foul on Denbigh shotstopper Aaron Jones.
William Holmes pulled a low shot wide of the upright down the other end after 12 minutes.
Euron Davies’ men were finding plenty of success through the channels thanks to Ryan Cain’s throughballs into the path of Carwyn Dafydd as they looked lively on the counter-attack.
Felin’s Iwan Owen beat the offside trap and lobbed Jones but his chance flew over the crossbar as the hosts’ attacks continued.
A let off for Denbigh saw Dafydd nick the ball of Jones who was comfortably outside of his goalmouth but he rattled the angle of the crossbar from 30 yards out in a chance that should’ve seen the home side take the lead.
Guto Hughes pulled off a solid reaction save to deny Craig Rogers after a Denbigh corner kick that wasn’t cleared initially by the Felin defence.
Two golden opportunities fell to the home side just before the interval that saw both chances hitting the woodwork.
A superb half volley by Iwan Owen from the edge of the box that came from Rhys Parry’s left hand side delivery was spectacularly tipped onto the bar by Jones to go out for a corner. The resulting kick saw Owen then smash the base of the left upright before the referee blew for halftime.
Felin picked up where the left off in the second half with their high tempo and for the third time of the afternoon hit the post again when Parry danced through the middle of the park and let rip from 20 yards out.
On the hour, Denbigh had a penalty shout waved away when Jacob Barratt was tumbled in the area.
The deadlock was broken in the 67th minute when the home side broke the deadlock. Brilliant play between Dafydd and Parry picked out Iwan Edwards on the edge of the eighteen who powerfully struck the ball against the crossbar for the ball to bounce down over the goalline.
The lead didn’t last long however as Denbigh were soon level. A teasing corner by Barratt was headed home unmarked by Sam Jones from 6 yards out in a blow for Felin who had dominated until then.
Four minutes later, Denbigh took the lead. Sam Jones did well to release William Holmes who dribbled into the area and setting up Jake Walker for him to shoot on the turn and make it 1-2.
Now trailing, it was wave after wave of pressure from Felinheli as they looked to claw back a point in the closing minutes. They almost got their levelled in the 89th minute when a superb 25 yard strike from Rhodri Dafydd hit the crossbar for the 5th time of the afternoon with time running out.
Their perserverance paid off and their excellent team display got their reward in the 96th minute when Denbigh failed to clear the danger with the ball eventually reached Rhys Parry 3 yards out who tucked the ball in to earn them a point much to Denbigh’s dismay.
An outstanding afternoon in a fiercely competitive Ardal North West fixture at Cae Seilo where Felinheli will be disappointed to have not walked away with all three points.
Y Felinheli: 1. Guto Hughes, 2. Jack Cain, 3. Ryan Cain, 4. Rhodri Dafydd, 5. Dylan Jones, 6. Connor Japeth (12. Adam Hughes 84′), 7. Carwyn Dafydd, 8. Gruff John, 9. Iwan Owen (14. Aled Emyr 86′), 10. Iwan Edwards, 11. Rhys Parry.
Subs not used: 15. Gavin Lloyd-Jones, 16. Matthew Hughes, 17. Euron Davies.
Goals: 10. Iwan Edwards 67′, 11. Rhys Parry 90+5′.
Yellow: 11. Rhys Parry 67′.
Denbigh Town: 1. Aaron Jones, 2. Sion Jones, 3. Williams Holmes, 4. Craig Rogers, 5. Sean James, 6. Paul Fleming, 7. Samuel Tate, 8. Keiron Roberts, 9. Sam Jones, 10. Jake Walker, 11. Jacob Barratt.
Subs not used: 15. Mark Roberts, 16. Joshua Davies, 17. Michael Sharples.
Goals: 9. Sam Jones 69′, 10. Jake Walker 78′.
Yellow: 3. William Holmes 63′.
