PORTHMADOG returned to the FAW Dragon Signs Amateur Trophy on Saturday, a competition where their last appearance saw them fall at the first hurdle in a bruising game against Cefn Albion, writes Rhydian Morgan.
And they suffered the same fate against Holyhead Hotspur on Saturday. Perhaps there were early signs of a bad day at the office when, with less than 10 minutes on the clock, a golden opportunity was missed by Holyhead as Dylan Summers-Jones rounded Port keeper Ollie Farebrother, but his heavy touch took the ball out of play.
At the other end, Port’s first chance came on 13 minutes when John Littlemore raced through one-on-one, but his weak effort was easily saved by Guto Roberts.
The deadlock was broken on 25 minutes, Summers-Jones with a clean strike nestled in the bottom corner.
A nightmare five minutes was completed for Port as they fell further behind. Yet more defensive troubles led to Farebrother having to rush towards the edge of his box and his rash tackle resulted in a penalty and a yellow card. Tomi Llywelyn stepped up and sent the keeper the wrong way to double their lead.
Heading into the break and the Port chances came, as Sion Williams struck the post with a volley, Tom Hilditch’s 25-yard free kick forced the keeper into a fine save and Danny Brookwell missed a header by centimetres.
Before anyone had barely had time to sit down for the second half, strong play by Tomi Llywelyn down the wing led to a speculative low cross which seemed to bamboozle the Port defence and their failure to clear left Summers-Jones with a simple, close range finish.
And with an hour on the clock a misplaced pass presented Summers-Jones with an opportunity to complete his hat-trick, which he did with great aplomb with a sublime strike into the top corner.
With 10 minutes left on the clock, the nightmare was finally complete for Port, as a second penalty was given, once again conceded by Farebrother which led to his second yellow card.
To quote The Smiths – ‘Stop Me If You Think You’ve Heard This One Before’. A poor back pass led to Farebrother’s clearance being charged down by the talented youngster, Tomi Llywelyn, who was hauled down before he could finish the job.
He stepped up against new Port keeper, Iddon Price, who saved low down to his right, but Jacob Godsman-Pilling was first to the rebound and scored on his first start for the visitors. Port created a very rare chance in the final moments of the game as substitute Rhys Alun broke through on goal, but sent his strike towards Clwb Chwaraeon Madog instead of the top corner.
The game finished 5-0 and a thoroughly disappointing day at the office, which saw Port exit the Trophy at the first hurdle once again.
Their focus now turns to next Saturday’s home game and a chance at retribution against Corwen, with a 2:30pm kick off at Y Traeth.