Aberystwyth Town 3 Llandudno 4

Dafabet Welsh Premier League
Saturday 18th February
Aberystwyth Town 3 Llandudno 4

Llandudno dramatically took all three points at Park Avenue this afternoon after a breathless game which swung one way then the other. Sam Hart gave the visitors the lead with a 41st minute penalty, but back came Aber after the break as goals from Luke Sherbon (53), Luke Borrelli (54) and Chris Jones (penalty, 60) seemed to have won the game for the homesters. However  a triple salvo from Mike Williams (69), Danny Hughes (76) and Marc Williams (78) won the game for Alan Morgan's Seasiders.

On a bright day at Park Avenue striker Mark Jones replaced the injured Sam Rodon, with Chris Jones coming in for Jon Owen who pulled out in the warm up. The visitors started with a good tempo and Marc Williams aimed the first shot of the day straight at Chris Mullock. Luke Borrelli then sent a shot over the bar from close range before Mark Jones, who was already looking to be a huge presence for Aber up front, headed straight at Dave Roberts from Chris Jones’ cross.  Mullock did well to deny Jamie Reed down the left side, and minutes later the ex Aber front man was denied again, this time by the linesman’s flag for an infringement after he appeared to have opened the scoring with a lob.  Danny Shaw headed wide for Llandudno but then with the talented Malcolm Melvin starting to purr in midfield the chances started to come for Aber. Mark Jones picked out Kurtis March whose deft cross was headed just wide by Borrelli, and then Chris Jones was felled on the edge of the area before sending in a low free kick which Roberts did well to gather.  Danny Hughes volleyed over and then disaster struck for Aber just before the break as an innocuous challenge heading away from goal resulted in a contentious penalty which Hart converted. Mark Jones nearly snuck in to equalise but Llandudno ended the half ahead by 1-0.

Few would have predicted the drama of the second 45 which must have been one of the most exciting and dramatic halves of football seen for many a year at Park Avenue. Marc Williams headed past the post for Llandudno but then came a superb twenty minutes of football from the hosts. A series of corners saw Mark Jones and Ryan Wollacott (twice) go close with headers and Jamie Crowther had another header cleared off the line before Sherbon swivelled and pounced from six yards to equalise gleefully. Sixty seconds later Mark Jones chased a lost cause down the left wing, won the ball and crossed for Borrelli to claim an improbable lead, and six minutes after that Danny Shaw upended Borrelli in the box and Chris Jones converted the pen for what was surely an unassailable lead. However Llandudno were still trying, and on 69 minutes James Joyce’s corner lead to an almighty scramble, and centre back Mike Williams stabbed home his sides second. Their third was a superb effort, as Danny Hughes curled in a pearler from the edge of the area, and then a low volley from Marc Williams made it four three and surely killed the game. Credit to Aber though, they fought back again and came within a whisker of a draw. Hughes fouled March in the box on 84 minutes, but Sherbon’s penalty was saved by Roberts, sub Geoff Kellaway’s cross was volleyed wide by Mark Jones, who headed agonisingly wide minutes later in another siege of the visitors goal. But they held on through six minutes of injury time for a win, which was tough on an Aber side who had contributed so much to a thriller of a game.

Aber now have thirteen days to ruminate on a heartbreaking defeat before heading up to Belle Vue, Rhyl for their next Dafabet WPL match on Friday March 3rd (ko 7.45pm).

​Photo courtesy of Jordan Payne