DENBIGH TOWN 1

PORTHMADOG 0

A SINGLE goal triumph in midweek appears rather straight-forward for Denbigh Town.

However, their Huws Gray Alliance success at home to Porthmadog was anything but routine and it was a thrilling contest at Central Park.

There were chances at both ends, with the woodwork foiling the sides on SIX occasions and the decisive strike came from Craig Pritchard with a quarter-of-an-hour remaining.

Home boss Eddie Maurice-Jones opted to play with two up-front, with Andrew Swarbrick and Matthew Worrall leading the attack.

As early as the third minute, Matty Cook found Worrall in space and he fed Pritchard, only for his shot to rattle the crossbar and bounce out to safety.

Porthmadog almost made the most of a loose kick by Denbigh keeper Keighan Jones.

This was intercepted by Sion Bradley, who crossed to Julian Williams, only for his header to hit a Denbigh defender and bounce off the crossbar at the expense of a corner.

Denbigh had an excellent chance to go one-up when they were awarded a penalty in the 12th minute, with Rakim Newton being fouled in the area.

However, Matthew Worrall's weak spot kick was saved by Port keeper Richard Harvey.

Worrall almost made amends immediately when he met a great cross from Newton, only for his header to be tipped over the bar in acrobatic style by Harvey.

The visiting keeper was having a busy spell as he dived low to his left to save well from a Joe Culshaw free kick.

Porthmadog responded with an excellent shot from Rob Evans hitting the Denbigh crossbar and going over for a goal kick.

On 35 minutes, Denbigh thought they had the lead when Dan Sullivan headed home from Culshaw's cross, but this was chalked off for offside.

It was Port who came out of the blocks the stronger in the second half and Keighan Jones was forced into several fine stops.

Defenders Liam Smith and Ben Nash were forced to work overtime in stopping the visiting attack and this was Port’s best period of the game.

Town boss Maurice-Jones knew he had to change something and he made a double substitution with Kristian Pierce and Warren Duckett replacing strikers Swarbrick and Worrall.

Both replacements were immediately in the action and Pierce was unlucky to see a low cross of his fly across the six-yard box with no Denbigh player able to get on the end of it.

On 75 minutes Pierce was involved in the deciding goal.

He worked well down the right wing, cut inside and played a great ball to the tireless Craig Pritchard, who was able to guide the ball past the outstretched arms of keeper Harvey.

As the game moved into its final stages, both teams had further chances.

For Denbigh, Joe Culshaw's fierce drive hit the crossbar and bounced away to safety.

At the other end, the impressive Sion Bradley had a great chance to equalise but his effort went over the bar.

Seconds later, Bradley had another shot and Jones had to pull off a stunning save to keep Denbigh’s lead intact.