Seldom have Port supporters seen such a one-sided match where the dominant side left the pitch with such a relatively paltry margin of victory, writes Treflyn Jones.

Porthmadog 3 Glantraeth 0, JD Welsh Cup

The hosts bossed this game from start to finish and it must be emphasised that their approach play was admirable. Yet, on many occasions, they were found lacking in the opponents’ box thanks to a combination of poor finishing, dogged defending and rotten luck.

Port started very much on the front foot with patient and accurate passing. In the fourth minute Rhys Alun should have at least hit the target with a close range header and soon after, Shaun Cavanagh was guilty of an even worse miss when he mis-controlled the ball with the goal at his mercy.

Then after 18 minutes a long range effort by Ifan Emlyn flew off the crossbar and Tom Mahoney was inches wide with a header.

There were 25 minutes on the clock when Glan forced their first corner from which a visiting attacker headed well but straight into Matt Wallace’s arms.

Then at the end of a great move by Port, Mahoney sent the keeper the wrong way only to see Gwyndaf Owen saving the day with his legs.

Finally, shortly after the half-hour mark, Port took the lead. Again, it was a sweeping move at the end of which a lovely lay-off by Danny Brookwell put Cavanagh clean through on goal and this time he made no mistake as he swept the ball past Owen to make it 1-0 to Port.

There was still time for Port to create one more chance. At the end of a splendid jinking run into the box, Danny Brookwell let fly with a low left footer which produced a superb one-handed save to his left by the busy Gwyndaf Owen.

After defending so well in the first half, Glantraeth were beginning to grow into the game and five minutes into the second half, a Port defender had to time his tackle to perfection to prevent the impressive Tomos Hughes from testing Matt Wallace in the Port goal.

There followed attack after attack by the hosts, all of which came to nothing thanks to Glan’s excellent last-ditch defending and some more questionable finishing by Port.

The swashbuckling winger Telor Williams was a constant thorn in Glantraeth’s side down the left and it was from one of his many marauding runs that Port gained a richly deserved cushion, as he brushed past a couple of defenders to find the unmarked (for once!) Cai Jones who swivelled before placing the ball well wide of Owen’s despairing dive.

During the final 10 minutes, a great shot by Morgan Owen went inches over the bar before another long range effort, this time by Rhys Alun, hit the bar but flew over to safety.

It was deep into injury time when Rhys Alun worked himself into space some 21 yards out before giving Owen no chance with a great shot into the corner of the net. This proved to be the last kick of the match and Port were into the hat for the second round of the Welsh Cup. Well done to both sides for producing an entertaining tussle.

Port travel to Oswestry to face the mighty TNS this evening (19 September) in the second round of the Nathaniel MG Cup. Then, on Friday, they travel to Y Morfa at Conwy to face Llandudno in a league encounter. Both games will kick off at 7.30 pm.