Llandudno survived a potential banana skin upset as they defeated Denbigh Town 3-0 on penalties after a 3-3 draw at Maesdu Park.
A six-thriller that saw Denbigh score two goals in the last ten minutes of the match took the game to penalties, however, the Northern wildcard were unable to claim a scalp after missing all three of their penalties.
Mark Roberts opened the scoring but his effort was chalked out by Dean Seager, before new signing Max Moore scored a brace. Paul Fleming and Daniel Clarke were on hand though to equalise in the 86th and 95th minute.
The game started with a good tempo and both teams had half chances, Denbigh took a shock lead through skipper Mark Roberts who scored a lovely goal on the edge of the area.
There was more action when Max Moore went down in the penalty area when he came together with Denbigh’s centre half but the referee waved away with Moore was causing Denbigh a lot of problems.
Llandudno equalised with Gareth Evans cross finding Dean Seager who held the defender and put the ball in the back of the net.
The Seasiders found a second wind after the goal and Denbigh were rattled, a few late challenges going in and Denbigh’s Keiron Roberts was booked for a late tackle on Llandudno Danny Hughes.
Denbigh forward Roberts got in behind again as he had a few times in the first half but Mullender did well to get back and shield Roberts away from the goal.
The half-time whistle went at Maesdu Park and the thoughts were the scoreline felt fair reflection.
The second half was underway and Llandudno came out really well pressing from the front.
A few minutes after the restart, Llandudno took the lead by a clever pass from Aaron Jones who put through Moore who slotted past the goalkeeper.
New signing Marc Williams, marking his return to the club that he played European football came on to try and further their lead.
Denbigh also made their double substitution Mark Sharples & William Ashley coming on for Moses Barnett and Jacob Walker.
Lee Thomas played a pass to Marc Williams’ who held it up really well who found Owen and fired over.
After being under the cosh for a majority of the second quarter, Denbigh finally got into Llandudno’s final third and Roberts was in but Llandudno keeper Pearson came rushing out and collided with Roberts but the referee thought Pearson won the ball.
Llandudno had then doubled their lead in the final ten minutes to think that they had cleared their passage into the next round. A long ball from Bennett who found Williams & Williams played a one-two with Evans, who played the ball across goal and Moore was there to turn it in.
But Denbigh had other ideas as they pulled one back on with six minutes remaining. Paul Fleming was on hand to tap home on the second attempt Mark Roberts missed an open goal.
And in dramatic fashion, they levelled deep into five minutes of injury time. Kristian Pierce drilled a pass to Dan Clarke and with one-touch control, he rounded Pearson for the equaliser.
After all their efforts to take the game to spot-kicks, it would prove to be their downfall as they missed every penalty.
Pierce, Roberts, and Clarke, two of the three goal scorers, were unable to convert. Thomas, Cavanagh and then newest addition Guto Williams from Cardiff Met, drilled home a penalty to confirm their name into the hat for the next round.
Llandudno’s Sean Eardley said: “I’m really happy to get through, a very tough game against Denbigh Town who showed great character to get back in it, but big Shaun Pearson set us on our way in the shootout.”
Denbigh Town’s Kristian Pierce said: “Gutted isn’t the word. Tough to lose on penalties. The character shown by the lads was immense.”
Llandudno: Shaun Pearson, Morgan Owen, John Bennett, Guto Williams, Gareth Evans, Daniel Hughes (C), Dean Seager, Aron Hughes-Jones, Matthew Mullender, Max Moore, Lee Thomas.
Denbigh Town: Joseph Griffith, Sion Jones, William Holmes, Moses Barnett, Stuart Jones, Keiron Roberts, Rhys Rowlands, Kristian Pierce, Erhyl Walker, Mark Roberts (C), Paul Fleming
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