Pre-season Friendly -Saturday, August 2nd
CPD Porthmadog ... 3 Ruthin Town ... 1
Having played four games on the road Port returned to play on a splendid
looking Traeth surface following the close season reseeding. Congratulations
to Phil and his ground staff for all their hard work. There were several
occasions in the second half when the team showed their appreciation of the
excellent surface with some slick inter-passing to open up the Ruthin
defence. As at Bethesda in midweek, Port left it to the second half to score
three goals and kill off the opposition after a goalless opening half.
Ruthin had the wind on their backs in the opening half and matched Port in
both possession and in chances created. Port should however have been one up
after only six minutes when Marcus Orlik was brought down in full flight on
goal but, Orlik himself, failed to convert from the spot with the keeper
saving comfortably. Apart from this Gareth Parry came close with a header
and Orlik should have done better when he found himself with only the keeper
to beat and again just before half time Orlik put Chris Jones through with a
fine pass but once again the keeper kept his goal intact.
From the start of the second period Port looked livelier and after 4 minutes
Carl Jones came close and a minute later Rhys Roberts put the home side in
front when poor marking allowed Rhys Roberts a simple far post tap in off
Marcus Orlik's flighted corner. Port were now dominant and set up some
excellent moves with Gareth Parry and Carl Jones again coming close and Chris
Jones struck the post. Ruthin were still dangerous on the break however and a
couple of times threatened with quick counter attacks. Matthew Hughes only four
minutes after coming onthe pitch doubled the lead in the 72nd minute when he
ran on to Gareth Parry's excellent through ball and finished clinically. Ruthin
were notready to throw in the towel and a minute later they reduced the lead
with aspeedy attack down the right which caught the home defence all at sea. Port
added a third in the 79th minute when Marcus Orlik took full advantage of a
ball which broke kindly for him in the box.
With Richard Harvey injured new keeper Dave Vickers had the opportunity for
a full 90 minutes in goal. This game was billed as a friendly but Mike
Foster might well beg to differ as he ended the game minus two front teeth
thanks to an elbow in the mouth.
Dave Vickers, Mike Foster, Ryan Davies, Rhys Roberts, Ben Ogilivy: Jonathan
Peris Jones (Matthew Hughes 68'), Gareth Parry, Richard Hughes (Iwan Thomas
69'), Carl Jones: Chris Jones, Marcus Orlik.
Gareth Williams
Pre-season Friendly -Thursday, July 31st
Bethesda Athletic ...0 CPD Porthmadog ...3
Chris Jones '58
Mark Thomas (pen) '78
Iwan Thomas '87
Between the torrential rain that poured down nearly all match, and the
biting midges, this friendly was hardly an advert for summer football!
Port had Marcus Orlik, Mike Foster and John Rowley missing for this encounter
with least season's Welsh Alliance champions. Two new faces featured in the
shape of Caernarfon central defender Eifion Jones, and keeper Dave Vickers
who has previously been with Rhyl, Buckley, Llangefni, Llandudno and Holyhead.
Port failed to take the game by the horns up the slope in the first half and
didn't create that many scoring opportunities. Indeed, the home side looked
just as threatening in some spells. Port's best chances before the interval
fell to Chris Jones, who impressed again, and Carl Jones.
Playing down the slope in the second half, Port instantly looked more
threatening. Chris Jones netted Port's first on 58 minutes from a Mark Bridge
cross - Bridge looked quite dangerous after coming on and put a number of good
balls into the box. After a foul on Chris Jones on 78 minutes, Mark Thomas
made no mistake from the resultant penalty. A good preparation for his wedding
to girlfriend, Meinir on Saturday!
Bethesda had a good spell mid-way through the second half, however keeper Dave
Vickers stood up well to the test, making one or two good saves. With just 3
minutes left Iwan Thomas netted to make it three for Port.
Porthmadog: R. Harvey (Dave Vickers), S. Kehoe, Eifion Jones, R. Davies,
R. Roberts, R. Owen (M. Thomas), G. Parry (J. P. Jones), Carl Jones (I. Thomas),
A. Rowlands (R. Hughes), Chris Jones, M. Hughes (Mark Bridge).
Iwan Gareth.
Pre-season Friendly Saturday, July 19th.
Llandudno ... 4 CPD Porthmadog ... 0
Though it is often difficult to reach firm conclusions on the back of
pre-season results this defeat and the performance can only be described as
very disappointing and suggests that new manager Paul Whelan has much to do
to turn things around before a very testing opening game of the WPL season.
Once again Port enjoyed plenty of possession but created hardly any
worthwhile chances for themselves. However, once they conceded possession
they were too easily caught on the counterattack and severely punished.
Three of Llandudno's four goals came from counterattacks and to rub salt
into the wounds former Port player Jason Sadler completed a well taken hat
trick.
The opening half was fairly even but in the 25th minute a forward run by
Mike Foster was not covered and when Llandudno countered quickly the defence
was caught out with Jason Sadler racing on into the box and after rounding
Richard Harvey slotted home confidently. Port should have drawn level three
minutes later when John Rowley broke behind the Llandudno defence and
rounded the keeper but proceeded to waste his own good work with a tame
finish which struck the foot of the upright. The score stood at 1-0 at the
interval.
In the second period, now with the wind at their backs, Port dominated the
possession but with a much changed line-up failed to trouble the home keeper
at hardly any stage. Llandudno continued to defend well and still troubled
Port on the break. A 67th minute attack down the left and a low cross into
the box led to the home side's second goal with the Port defence guilty of
giving the attacker far too much room. Two more attacks, one down the right
flank after 73 minutes and another along the left just before the end, gave
Jason Sadler the opportunity to complete his hat-trick.
Port: Richard Harvey, Jon Peris Jones (Richard Hughes), Ryan Davies, Rhys
Roberts (Sion Parry), Mike Foster (Aled Rowlands), Chris Jones (Iwan
Thomas), Gareth Parry (Ywain Gwynedd), Steve Kehoe (Mark Thomas), Richie
Owen, John Rowley (Chris Saxon), Carl Jones (Matthew Hughes).
Gareth Williams
Pre-season Friendly -Saturday, July 12th
Nefyn ....2 Porthmadog ....2
Pre-season friendlies are notoriously difficult to make any assessment of
team performance with all the changes in personnel that take place during
the 90 minutes. Port had a large squad of 20 players on view and players
found themselves switched from dugout to pitch at regular intervals. This
meant that there was little pattern to the game and certainly little flowing
football.
It was however an opportunity to have look at individuals at an early stage
in pre-season. Newcomers John Rowley and Chris Jones were both lively and
look likely to make a valuable contribution to Port's season. It is fair to
say that Port always looked more menacing during the times that Chris Jones
was on the pitch. Other players who turned in good individual performances
included Rhys Roberts and Gareth Parry with Carl Jones using his pace and
trickery to test the home defence. Mike Foster looked sharp and fit and
ready for yet another season in a Port shirt.
Port enjoyed the greater share of possession while Nefyn competed strongly
throughout and were a threat on the break. Three of the goals came in the
space of about ten minutes in the first half. Former Nefyn player manager
Jason Jones put the home side ahead following a corner. Port hit back
immediately when Paul Roberts controlled on his chest before firing into the
net from 12 yards. Within 10 minutes Port were ahead with Gareth Parry
firing low from 20 yards when a corner was only partially cleared. The
equaliser came close to the final whistle when the Port defence stood
appealing for what looked like a clear case of offside. The referee and
linesman disagreed and Nefyn drew level.
Amongst the other players on view were Steve Kehoe (ex-Llangefni), John
Peris Jones and Richie Owen, two players who have previously played for
Port, Richard Harvey, who saved a penalty in the second half, Mark Thomas,
Barry Evans, Aled Rowlands, Matthew Hughes, Iwan Thomas and several other
trialists.
Gareth Williams
