COLWYN BAY 2

CORWEN 0

TWO first half goals accounted for Corwen's hopes of achieving a notable weekend triumph.

Friday night saw the War Memorial Park lads heading north to tackle Colwyn Bay in their return to JD Cymru North action.

In the end, two first half goals from Toby Jones gave the Seagulls a 2-0 victory that temporarily moved them up into second place in the standings.

Both goals arrived in a 20-minute spell before the interval and Jones went close to bagging a hat-trick, with another effort being cleared off the line.

This result made it five league wins in a row for the Bay, although it was not one of their best performances against a Corwen side that had skipper Dale Davies red carded early in the second half and had three other players booked.

Corwen were first to threaten with Bay keeper Andy Coughlin being forced to make a good diving save to turn a strong shot from distance around the post for a corner.

Mitch Bryant then had a good chance to give the hosts the lead as he broke free inside the area, but saw his shot blocked away for a corner by keeper Keighan Jones, who also held on to a strong angled shot from Sion Edwards.

However, Colwyn Bay would take the lead on 22 minutes.

Toby Jones broke into the area and fired past the keeper.

With five minutes of the first half remaining, Colwyn Bay doubled their advantage.

Mitch Bryant's pass set Toby up for his second, which he finished with a cool finish into the bottom corner of the net.

Jones was unlucky not to get his hat-trick when a well-struck shot from a corner was blocked on the line by a Corwen defender.

Corwen's hopes of a second half fightback were ended when they were reduced to 10 men in the 53rd minute.

Dale Davies was handed his marching orders after a challenge on Will Bell.

Colwyn Bay couldn't take advantage of their numerical supremacy and Andy Coughlin had to make a good save to prevent Corwen pulling a goal back after Bay played themselves into trouble at the back.

The visitors had another shot from Sam Henry that went narrowly wide as the 10 men dictated play for a spell.

The Bay came strong again towards the end as Cai Owen had an effort deflected over the bar for a corner.

Cai Owen and Callum Parry were both narrowly off target, before Sion Edwards broke from half-way in added time and got himself into a good shooting position, only to also fire wide of the target.