LLANGEFNI TOWN 0

RUTHIN TOWN 1

IN conditions that were not great for a game of football, Ruthin Town came home from their JD Cymru North trip to Llangefni with a big three points.

It was a tough contest for Ruthin, who took on to the field without the suspended trio of Garmon Hafal, Osian Davies and Llyr Morris.

In the windy conditions, this was always going to be a battle more than a game of football and the Ruthin lads rolled up their sleeves to battle for everything from the first whistle.

There were few clearcut chances during the first quarter of the contests, but Ruthin's midfield trio of Alex Webster, Craig Wilkinson and captain Gwion Owen were definitely getting the better of their opponents.

Dafydd Evans was seeing plenty of the ball on the right and youngster Wil Owen up front was battling hard against the two Llangefni centre halves.

Gwion Owen was excelling in his role as captain and he was a constant threat with his direct running, turning defence into attack at every opportunity.

The first real chance came after half-an-hour when from a corner, centre half Les Brophy forced a good save from Llangefni’s goalkeeper from eight yards out.

Ruthin took the lead on the stroke of half time.

Craig Wilkinson hooked the ball back into the box and when it struck a defender's arm, the referee awarded a penalty.

Josh Jones stepped up to take the spot kick and he left the keeper with no chance as he fired it in to the bottom right hand corner.

The second half started with Llangefni seeing a lot of the ball, but Ruthin’s back four of Dan Cox, Kevin Evans, Brophy and Tom Roberts did great job to make sure keeper Ryan Goldston didn’t have a save to make during the opening hour.

Then came a controversial moment.

With a Llangefni player running out with the ball, it looked like Gwion Owen fouled him on the halfway line.

However, the referee saw it as a dive and sent the Llangefni player off for a second booking.

Understandably, this incensed the hosts and they definitely steeped up their efforts after this incident.

Ruthin were now playing on the counter attack and they had a good chance when Dan Cox found himself free on the right, but his low angled drive was well saved by the keeper.

Gwion Owen also found himself free on the right, but he just couldn’t sort out his feet to muster a powerful shot and it was easily saved.

Llangefni went close to equalising in the 90th minute.

From a free kick, Mel McGinness' super strike forced an excellent save from Goldston, who tipped the ball against the bar.

The pressure remained from the ensuing corner and after a scramble, Ruthin somehow kept the ball out, with Cox clearing off the line to furious Llangefni claims that he had handled.

Full time came with a big relief from Ruthin, who picked up their first points of 2020.