Colwyn Bay 1-2 Conwy Borough: Derby delight for Tangerines as McGonigle and McCaffery strike

Conwy Borough got one over their local rivals Colwyn Bay last night in the JD Cymru North with resilient and clinical performance in a 2-1 victory at the Four Crosses Arena.

Corrig McGonigle put the visitors in front after just a minute, he finished well from the right-hand side to give Borough an early lead.

George Mannion got the equaliser for Colwyn Bay with a powerful back-post header from a Cai Owen cros.

Sean McCaffery put the visitors back in front with ten of the first half still to play, he stroked the ball home wonderfully from outside the area.

The Tangerines move up to sixth in the table on seven points while opponents Colwyn Bay drop down to 11th place with four points on the board.

This was Colwyn Bay’s second consecutive loss at home, something they will seek to put right in their next home game against Llanidloes.

Conwy Borough started the game on the front foot. It didn’t take long to find the opener as Corrig McGonigle was put through on goal and finished with aplomb.

The home side soon started to dominate the ball despite Conwy Borough’s early goal. Looking lively in the first half was Sam Jones who used his pace well to cause the Borough defence problems.

The Bay were back in it after 22 minutes thanks to a wonderful header from George Mannion. Cai Owen put it on a plate for Mannion who made no mistake with the finish.

Despite the home side having much of the ball, the visitors looked dangerous on the counter, their defensive resilience paid off in the 37th minute thanks to a beautifully struck goal from Sean McCaffery to put Borough back in front going into halftime.

The second half saw much of the same with the home side dominant in possession.

Owain Morris was a threat for the Borough defence receiving a lot of the ball. He was slid through with 20 minutes gone of the second half but was unable to make the most of the situation.

Within seconds the situation was reversed with Meilir Williams bearing down on the Colwyn Bay goal. The outcome the same as Andy Coughlin made himself big and saved Williams’s shot.

With time running out for the Seagulls everything was being thrown at the away side, captain Tom McCready hit the post with a few minutes to play followed by three crossbar hits in the space of 20 seconds! A frantic end to a superb half of football.

The ball just wouldn’t go in the net for Colwyn Bay in the second half despite their efforts.

Colwyn Bay will take positives from the game despite coming away empty-handed, a much-improved performance compared to the last home game against Ruthin.

Conwy Borough will be over the moon with the three points having been under the cosh for much of the game. The Tangerines battled well and took their chances clinically to fend off the Seagulls.

Colwyn Bay: Andy Coughlin, Joseph Williams, George Mannion (67’), Cai Owen, Lewis Sirrell, Sam Downey, Sam Jones, Tom McCready, Owain Morris, Robert Parry (73), James Ellison.

Subs: Patrick Rutter, Morgan Ashworth, Danny Edwards(67’), Jack Higgins(73’)

Goal scorer: G.Mannion (23’)

Yellow cards: L.Sirrel(56’)

Conwy Borough: Rory Crowther, Ben Lockley, Iolo Hughes, Nathan Williams, Sean McCaffery, Conor Davies, Craig Whelan, Meilir Williams (79), Corrig McGonigle, Kai Owen, Robert Jones.

Subs:

Harry Lockley, Alexander Roberts, Sam Earl-Jones, Cory Williams(79), Tomas Cardias-Williams

Goals: C.McGonigle(2’), S. Mccaffery(38’)

Yellow Cards: R.Jones(19’), C.Davies(59’), Kai Owen(81’)