Pre-season Friendly -Saturday, August 1st
Llanfairpwll ... 0 CPD Porthmadog ... 1
Chris Jones
A similar team to the one that faced Llanrug on Tuesday lined-up against
Cymru Alliance side Llanfairpwll today. As with most games between Port and
Anglesey sides, this game had a little bit more 'bite' than most friendly
matches!
The travelling Porthmadog support will have been impressed with the initial
half an hour. Port dominated the play and put the home defence under a
considerable amount of pressure with Marc Evans and Paul Roberts having
chances on goal. Tomi will have been impressed with the performance of Mike
Thompson who looked dangerous down the left, while trialist right back Euron
Roberts certainly didn't look out of his depth at this level. As the half wore
on, however, the Cymru Alliance side got more of the ball and started to
look more dangerous themselves - in fact Richard Morgan in the Port goal was
forced make a fine double save to keep the scores level at half time.
The second half was a scrappier affair, with neither side stamping their
authority on the play. Most of Port's best moves came via the wide players -
Thompson and Chris Jones - however, newcomers Jack Jones and Dan Pyrs looked
competent in central midfield. It was a Chris Jones who, midway through the
half, scored the game's only goal. A great pass from Paul Roberts on the
left found the Port winger unmarked on the edge of the box and he made no
mistake in finding the back of the net. Both teams had numerous half chances
to alter the scoreline, but an useful afternoon's work-out finished with a
win for the visitors. So, not the fully convincing win that Tomi Morgan will
have hoped for, nevertheless, he will be pleased with the performance of
some of the fringe players.
Pre-season Friendly -Tuesday, July 28th
CPD Porthmadog ... 4 Llanrug Utd ... 2
Once again it was the mixture of trialists, re-signed players and three of
the new recruits John Keegan, Mike Thompson and Richard Morgan who started
the game. There was also one new addition -Marc Evans from Holyhead Hotspur.
The young striker took just 10 minutes to get his name on the score sheet
when he took advantage of a Chris Jones interception and though tightly
marked got his shot away and this was deflected into the Llanrug net. The
Welsh Alliance club were not however there to make up the numbers and
threatened on the counter attack and from one of these Ryan Davies had to
clear off the line. Port continued to build from the back but lacked the
final pass. A Keegan header struck the bar and after 36 minutes Port added a
second when Chris Jones got on the end of Mike Thompson's far post cross.
The second half followed a similar pattern to the first but two goals within
a minute just after the hour mark settled the game as a contest. Paul
Roberts who was brought on in the second half fired into the net from 15
yards following a Chris Jones break down the right. A minute later Marc
Evans scored his second of the evening taking advantage of a good Carl Jones
cross. With numerous substitutions in the latter part of the half the game
lost its pattern but the visitors stuck to their task and earned themselves
a couple of consolation goals. The first resulted from a quick counter which
caught out the Port defence and 10 minutes from time a cross from the left
touchline evaded everybody in the home box on its way into the net.
Pre-season Friendly -Saturday, July 25th
Nefyn United ... 0 CPD Porthmadog ... 2
Two goals -one in each half- by Paul Roberts gave Porthmadog a victory which
was more comfortable than the score suggests. A combination of solid
defending, wayward finishing and some narrow shaves kept the score down
to just two. In fact Richard Morgan in the Port goal had very few shots to
deal with throughout the game.
The first goal came in the 29th minute when Paul Roberts volleyed Chris
Jones's deep far post cross via the underside of the crossbar into the back
of the net. Though there were some good constructive passing movements they
failed to add to this in the first period though both Carl Jones and Paul
Roberts came close with good strikes.
New signings Ceri James and John Keegan were brought on in the second period
and their presence, together with the introduction of one or two more
prospective signings, added to the pressure on the home side. To their credit
Nefyn defended manfully and only yielded once when Steve Kehoe, who put in a
hard working performance,broke down the right before cutting inside past two
defenders and played the ball back for Paul Roberts who finished powerfully
from 15 yards.Despite the pressure applied, and some good work down both
wings,Port had to be satisfied with a two goal margin at the end.
