BARM’TH & DYFFRYN UTD 1
DENBIGH TOWN 2
IT was all elemental for Denbigh Town at Barmouth!
John James’ gang made full use of the elements to build-up a two-goal lead on their lengthy Saturday trek to Gwynedd and they held on to their lead throughout the second period.
Denbigh really are one of the Welsh Alliance’s form teams at present and the latest win means that it’s six wins from their last eight matches in league and cup.
With the strong wind blowing directly down the pitch, it was Town which had the vast amount of possession and territorial advantage in the opening period, however Barmouth did manage to break from time to time.
These were mainly instigated by Paul Lewis, who set up a few counter attacks, without really troubling Denbigh number one Gareth Roberts.
The visitors should have been in front inside the opening five minutes.
Duncan Midgley found himself in the clear, but he only succeeded in hitting his effort wide.
However, Town took the lead soon after when United keeper Darren Andrews was left flummoxed by Mark Roberts’ mishit strike.
One became two on 20 minutes as Tom Sharples maintained his goal-den period to head home.
Sharples, who struck twice in the brilliant Welsh Trophy win at Holywell seven days earlier, nearly added another goal within a minute, but this time Andrews reacted quickly to divert his shot against the woodwork.
Eilir Edwards and Midgley also had opportunities to stretch the lead, but Denbigh had to be satisfied with a two-goal interval advantage.
To their credit, it was a fired-up Barmouth who came out for the second half.
However, Town’s defence performed so well that goalkeeper Gareth Roberts only had two stops to make.
United battled until the end and they grabbed a deserved goal in the last minute via Shane Jones’ curling free kick.
Meanwhile, four nights earlier and Denbigh were just three minutes away from making progress in this season’s NWCFA Challenge Cup.
Travelling to Welsh Premier League Prestatyn Town on Tuesday night, Denbigh led 2-1 after 87 minutes, only for Neil Gibson’s hosts to find an equaliser.
Prestatyn struck again in extra time through defender Adam France to seal a slender 3-2 win.
Former Prestatyn frontman Ian Griffiths gave Denbigh the lead after a quarter-of-an-hour, but parity was restored when Dan Evans rifled home a superb strike five minutes before half-time.
Denbigh regained the lead through Eilir Edwards midway through the second period before Michael Parker threw Prestatyn a lifeline with three minutes remaining.