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| Dolgellau XI (a) |
Barmouth (h) |
Penrhyndeudraeth (h) |
Carno (a) |
Connah's Quay (h) |
Nantlle Vale (a) | | Bangor (a) | Aberystwyth (h) | Friendly -Saturday, 8 August. Porthmadog ...................2 Eilir Edwards Stuart Rogers (p) Aberystwyth ..................0 A Porthmadog side depleted of four players faced Welsh Premier League side Aberystwyth at Y Traeth today. The starting 11 was missing Gruff John, Ceri James and Cai Jones, all of whom started against Bangor City last week. Gwydion Ifan was also absent. The two sides started brightly both trying to pass the ball on the excellent Traeth surface. Former Port star Darren Thomas was prominent with his probing runs. As the game went on Porthmadog got more of a foothold into the game. It was Aber however who nearly opened the scoring on 18 minutes when \Darren Thomas was gifted the ball just outside the box, he beat two defenders and fired on goal only to be denied by Harvey. A moment later and a speedy break by Port found Newell and his shot from a tight angle on the right was well saved by Phil Draper. The game started to loose its intensity as a couple of injuries to Aber players took the sting out of the game. It was not entirely surprising that Porthmadog took the lead on 38 minutes. A corner on the right by Stuart Rogers and a Port player got a shot on goal which was well saved by Draper but Eilir Edwards forced home the rebound from 10 yards. Moments later and Port almost doubled their lead, good work on the right between Newell and Lewis saw the later cross for Stuart Rogers to cut inside his marker and fire but again Draper saved well. And again on the stroke of half time Draper again denied Rogers when he tipped his 35 yard dipping effort over the bar. Aberystwyth dominated possesion in the second half but some determined defending by Porthmadog marshalled expertly by Iddon Price kept any clear cut chances to a minimum. Against the run of play a swift break by Port involving Newell and Lewis set up Eilir Edwards who had three efforts all saved by the keeper. Aber kept probing but Harvey was largely untroubled. On 74 minutes the game took a dramatic turn as Port were awarded a penalty when a shot was adjudged to have been handled by an Aber defender. Stuart Rogers calmly slotted the penalty to double Port's lead. Aber had three glorious chances late on to reduce the arrears. On 77 minutes Venables fired over from 15 yards. On 84 minutes Rob Evans cleared the ball off the line after an effort from Kellaway and on 87 minutes the clearest opportunity of the game as Darren Thomas was put in inside the box but Harvey pulled off an excellent save to deny him. To jubilant scenes at the end Porthmadog held on to retain the Pathfinder Cup and can now look forward to Friday night when the real business begins against Rhayader Town Gerallt Owen Friendly -Saturday, 01 August Bangor City................ 2 Les Davies 65’ Chris Jones 67’ CPD Porthmadog........3 Leon Newell 30’ Cai Jones 50’ Jac Davies 70’ In what was a pleasing all round performance the winning of the game against Gwynedd rivals was a satisfying bonus. There was more than enough quality to the Port performance to please manager Craig Papirnyk and to suggest that pre-season preparations are on course. There were five quality goals for both sets of supporters to enjoy and the fact that three different Port players found the net gives hope that the goals this season will be more equitably shared around the front players. Bangor controlled the early stages of the game but the way in which they were closed down by an energetic Port performance meant that despite the early possession few chances were created. After the first 15 minutes Port came more into the game and created the first real chance when the determined Cai Jones burst through forcing the home keeper into an excellent save at the expense of the corner. The keeper was in action again from the corner pulling off another quality save to keep out a cracking shot from Jac Davies. At the other end Richard Harvey needed to be at his best to keep out Chris Jones who looked certain to score when he met a low cross from Les Davies. Play was now moving end to end and following another Port corner Jac Davies again drew a good save from the home keeper while at the other end Richard Harvey was called on to make a one handed save to keep out Siôn Edwards. But on the half hour mark Port went ahead and it was a quality finish which unlocked the home defence. Leon Newell turned his marker and from 15 yards curled a superb left footer into the top corner of the net. Near the interval Richard Harvey pulled off a point blank save to deny Chris Jones and keep the score at 1-0 to Port. Five minutes into the second period Port doubled the lead when Cai Jones drifted in at the back post to meet a Rob Evans cross and cap another excellent performance with a well deserved goal. But the two goal lead was wiped out by a Bangor response which brought them two goals in the space of two minutes. Port appeared to be caught out by the lengthy break following an injury and Les Davies stole in behind the defence and finished with a trademark lob into the far corner of the net. Almost immediately another former Port player, this time Chris Jones, levelled the scores. But it took Port just three more minutes to restore their lead when Iwan Lewis’s cross from the left broke for Jac Davies who capped an impressive performance by drilling the winner with powerful a low shot. That completed the scoring and the last 15 minutes were played without much in the way of threat at either end. PORTHMADOG: Richard Harvey, Rob Evans, Josh Banks, Ceri James (Ilan Hughes), Iddon Price, Gruffydd John, Stuart Rogers (Steve Jones), Jac Davies, Iwan Lewis, Cai Jones, Leon Newell (Gwydion Ifan) . Gareth Williams Friendly Tuesday 28 July 2015 Nantlle Vale FC.............. .1 CPD Porthmadog.............4 Cai Jones gave Port a good start with a goal after only 11 minutes but the home side responded well and three minutes later they drew level through Tomos Jones. That completed the scoring during the opening half and it was 1-1 at the interval. Six minutes into the second half Gruff John put Port back into the lead but despite enjoying plenty of possession in the attacking half they did not increase their lead until the 70th minute and again it was defender Gruff John who found the net to make it 3-1. Port also found home keeper Ceiron Hall in good form. Port completed the scoring with an 87th minute goal from Iwan Lewis. Friendly -Saturday, 25 July CPD Porthmadog ...... 0 Gap Connah’s Quay ...5 Port found the Welsh Premier club seriously tough opponents today. But after a disastrous start Port did get into the game and played some good football stringing several good passing moves together, giving Connah’s Quay the kind of workout they were looking for today. The visitors were quickly out of the blocks and within a minute of the kick off Port found themselves a goal down when a right wing cross was turned into the net at the back post by a Nomads trialist. Before Port could recover their composure they found themselves two goals down as Miller's low shot found the corner of the net with just two minutes gone. Connah’s Quay continued to show their quality as they stretched the home defence using the whole width of the pitch. Port were grateful that Richard Harvey was in superb form and he pulled off three or four excellent saves giving Port some breathing space. To their credit heads did not go down after the shaky start and soon Port were passing the ball around and testing the visitors defence. Having weathered the early storm Port did create several chances of their own and Eilir Edwards was unlucky to be ruled offside when he raced on to a through ball to find the net. There was plenty of attractive football on show but the score remained 0-2 at the interval. Five minutes into the second half Richard Harvey was beaten by Linwood's 25 yard cracker to make it 0-3. Port responded with some good moves and Cai Jones proved a threat with his strong runs at the defence, forcing Danby into a good save. Richard Harvey on the hour mark produced another superb save to keep out a well struck free kick on the edge of the box. After a 65th minute Rushton volley had made it 0-4. Port should have netted when Danby failed to hold a Cai Jones shot but Steve Jones following up saw his shot deflected for a corner. Four minutes from time Chambers took advantage of a free header from a long cross to complete the scoring. 0-5 Port squad: Richard Harvey, Gruff John, Iddon Price, Ben Vangucci, Josh Banks, Stuart Rogers, Ceri James, Rob Evans, Eilir Edwards, Iwan Lewis, Leon Newell, Aran Pritchard, Gwydion Ifan Cai Jones, Ilan Hughes, Steve Jones, Jack Davies. Gareth Williams Friendly Saturday 18 July 2015 Carno FC................. 0 CPD Porthmadog....3 Stuart Rogers Cai Jones Steve Jones A dominant Port performance secured the victory in today’s pre-season friendly in Carno and that despite missing several squad members who were unavailable this afternoon. An early goal settled Port as Stuart Rogers netted after only 10 minutes.The Jones boys Cai and Steve added the other goals in the second half to make the final score 3-0. Thanks to Carno FC for their welcome and for the good pre-season work out with both teams taking a further step in their build up for the new season. Friendly -Tuesday, 14 July CPD Porthmadog .......... 1 James Papirnyk 30’ CPD Penrhyndeudraeth..3 Tonight’s derby was a competitive match where both sides were set up to play a passing game. Port enjoyed plenty of possession and created numerous chances but were made to pay for their failure to take advantage of these as Penrhyn scored three well taken second half goals to claim the bragging rights. Port opened brightly with Josh Banks and Eilir Edwards prominent down the left but failed to apply the finishing touch to series of excellent moves. They could have paid for this in the 14th minute when Mark Bridge found himself through on goal but Richard Harvey pulled off an excellent save. Port continued to apply the pressure and Josh Banks came close with a downward header and the keeper saved well from Cai Jones. After half an hour Port went ahead when a James Papirnyk cracker went in off the post. Port went in at the interval knowing they should be more than one goal ahead. Ten minutes into the second period and Penrhyn drew level when a cross field ball found Paul Roberts who cut in from the left and finished coolly. Port responded immediately but Leon Newell saw his close range effort strike the bar. But Penrhyn were looking more and more of a threat and Paul Roberts came close again. Port were then denied a second time by the crossbar as Cai Jones’s shot on the turn thumped against it. Minutes later and it was Cai Jones again, this time striking the post as he met Leon Newell’s near post cross. But after 76 minutes Penrhyn went ahead when a long ball behind the defence found Matthew Hughes who finished well. Six minutes from time Penrhyn added a third to run out 3-1 winners. Gareth Williams Friendly -Saturday, 11 July CPD Porthmadog ...... 3 Leon Newell 35’ Cai Jones 36’ Eilir Edwards 53’ Barmouth FC .............1 Paul Lewis 30’ The first home pre-season fixture on an excellent Traeth surface gave both teams valuable game time to build-up their match fitness. The game settled into a clear pattern from the start with Port enjoying plenty of possession pushing their opponents back into their own half while Barmouth were always a threat on the break despite the good work by Arron Pritchard and Iddon Price at the heart of the defence. Iwan Lewis tested the keeper early on with a good low shot while Paul Lewis, for the visitors, was not far off the target with a free kick. A flurry of three goals came within half a dozen minutes after the half hour mark. First Richard Harvey was beaten to a through ball which was then switched inside for Paul Lewis to score unopposed and put Barmouth ahead. Port responded immediately with a couple of good goals. First Rob Evans broke down the left and Leon Newell rose well to meet his excellent cross, placing his header wide of the keeper’s left hand. A moment later Cai Jones took advantage of hesitant defending to break to the byline. He cut along the line and the keeper could only help his well struck shot into the net. The pattern was much the same in the second half but Port failed to turn long periods of pressure into goals. This was in part due to the stubborn defending of the visitors. The only addition to the score came early in the half when Eilir Edwards fired low into the net from 16 yards. Gareth Williams Friendly Saturday 4 July 2015 Dolgellau XI................1 CPD Porthmadog.......1 It was most definitely a game of two halves as Porthmadog took to the field for their first pre season fixture. With familiar faces and new, Port started very brightly and as expected controlled the tempo of the game. Many chances were created due to creativity of the front players, in particular Leon Newell. It was great to see Leon back in a Port shirt and his link up play with Cai Jones was very good considering it was their first game together. Unfortunately Port were unable to make the possession and chances count which gave the home team more belief that they could cause problems. Richard Harvey had to be on his guard on many occasions and made some fantastic saves. It wasn't until mid way through the first half that the deadlock was broken. A corner from the right hand side was delivered by Eilir Edwards direct into the six yard box and unfortunately for the Dolgellau XI the ball struck one of the defenders and over the line. As it was a charity/friendly fixture, many changes were made throughout the game and in the second half Port never really got going. The quality of pass and tempo dipped slightly and the Dolgellau XI took advantage and created problems for Port’s back line. Dolgellau XI equalised ten minutes from the end. It was a great finish and was deserved for the tenacity and effort shown by the Greg Smithies team. A disappointing result but many positives to take from the game. Fitness levels improved, new faces blending in, especially 17 year old James Morgan showing great promise. Thanks to Guy Handscombe for the report |
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