Dolgellau’s good run continued as they played with intent throughout and had to remain patient with many chances not taken thanks to some terrific goalkeeping from Llangollen’s Benjamin Lloyd.
Llangollen Town 1 Dolgellau Athletic 2, Ardal North East
Gerwyn Williams, Ioan Roberts and Dave Edwards were denied by fully-stretched saves but the main talking point in the first half was when Williams found himself one on one in the box and was pushed in the back as he went to pull the trigger.
The ref deemed that to only be a yellow card, but the rules suggest otherwise.
Williams had two bites of the cherry when the first penalty was asked to be retaken after being saved initially, and his second attempt was then pulled wide of the post.
The second half started with Dol playing up the slanted pitch and against the wind which proved to strangle the supply of goalscoring opportunities and a worry that the missed chances would come to haunt them.
They battled tremendously and found another opening when a great ball down the channel from Dennis Bates released Roberts to carry into the box and draw another foul and another penalty.
Williams, with huge pressure on his shoulders, dispatched the penalty and gave Dol a well deserved lead.
Llangollen fought on and a head and hamstring injury to Jon Sutton and Joey Jones unsettled Dol who had to show true grit with Iwan Jones now having to lead through example at the back.
Dion James made a terrific double block at the back with the second clearly hitting him in the face but the referee felt he used his hands even though Dion’s nose and mouth was covered in mud as he showed the ref in protest.
William Cooke converted the spot kick to pull it back to 1-1, and with the extra man, there only looked like one likely winner.
A constant barrage from Llangollen tested Dol to the very end. Williams won a freekick which allowed the team a breather and a small opportunity to swing a ball into the box. Edwards delivered to find Gethin Evans at the back post to head back across into the Llangollen net with 90 minutes on the clock.
Llan, with the extra man, continued to press in injury time and won a number of free icks and corners. And from the final set piece Dol keeper Darren Andrews, surrounded by bodies, grasped the ball high in the air at full stretch and it was celebrated like a goal.