A POTENTIAL banana skin was dodged by Ruthin Town on Saturday.

Chris Williams’ Huws Gray Alliance side were faced with a tricky trip to Wrexham Area League Premier Division title wannabes Brickfield Rangers in the second round of this season’s JD Welsh Cup.

Extra time was required to settle the tie, but in the end Ruthin did enough to secure a tasty third round meeting next month with Welsh Premier League Prestatyn Town.

Last Saturday’s tie started with Ruthin on top in the first 10 minutes.

Garmon Hafal and Gwion Owen both saw plenty of the ball in threatening areas of the pitch.

Brickfield came more into the contest after this and it was the lower league side who managed to take the lead.

Striker Dale Davies beat visiting keeper Dylan Jones and defender Mike Sharples to the ball, with his cross being tapped into the net by Connor Harwood after 17 minutes.

Brickfield were now on top and Davies went close to stretching his side’s lead when he hit the post.

Another Davies effort was blazed over the bar when he should have maybe made it 2-0.

Half-time came at a good time for Ruthin and they came out firing in the second half.

They made the most of this purple patch and five minutes after the restart, good play by Osian Davies and Garmon Hafal found striker Llyr Morris and as he was going in on goal, he was brought down for a penalty.

Morris picked himself up to coolly convert the spot kick and make it one-apiece.

By this time, strikers Morris and Jordan MacCarter were giving the Brickfield back four a torrid time.

A 57th minute shot by MacCarter from edge of the Brickfield box forced the keeper into a good save, but Hafal was there to tap in the rebound and put Town in front for the first time.

Brickfield were always a threat from set pieces, but Mike Sharples and Kevin Evans dealt with most of these aerial threats well.

Keeper Dylan Jones pulled off two good saves as the 90-minute mark edged nearer and at this stage, it looked like Ruthin would see things out.

That is until the 93rd minute when an error inside their box by substitute Will Ashley left Joe Sullivan with an easy chance to make it 2-2 and send the tie into extra time.

Brickfield striker Davies had to be taken off before the start of extra time through injury and as the hosts had made their three substitutions, they had to play extra time with 10 men.

Ruthin’s domination of possession paid off when Tom Roberts’ cross found Osian Davies and although he didn’t make the cleanest of connections, his scuffed shot found the back of the net after 100 minutes.

It was all Ruthin for the rest of the tie and they scored their fourth goal right on the final whistle.

Substitute Ed Jones played in Llyr Morris, who evaded two strong challenges to finish well from 12 yards out.

CHIRK AAA RESERVES 2, RUTHIN TOWN RESERVES 2

THEY say that all good things must come to an end.

That was the case as far as Ruthin Town Reserves were concerned over the weekend, as their 100 per cent winning record this season came to a halt.

Despite this, Ruthin crucially remain unbeaten and their aims of claiming the Wrexham Area League Reserves’ Division crown were boosted over the weekend.

Title rivals FC Nomads Reserves lost their own 100 per cent winning record with a 3-1 loss at Flint.

Turning back to Ruthin’s trip to Chirk and Rhys Rowlands bagged both of the goals for the visiting side.

Cameron Roberts and Jordan Owen were both on the scoresheet for Chirk.

Ruthin’s lead at the top is now down to seven points, but they do have two games in hand on second-placed Flint Town United Reserves.

Turning to the Reserves and Colts Division, and Alfie Mathias hit back for Ruthin Town Development in their 2-1 defeat against Rhos Aelwyd Reserves.