JULIAN Williams marked his return to the side with two first half goals as Porthmadog moved up to second place in the Huws Gray Cymru Alliance with a well-deserved 4-1 win over Holywell Town at the Traeth.

Williams, making his first start since the start of September, put Port on track, but it remained at 2-1 until the 84th minute - before two late strikes from Shaun Cavanagh and Jay Gibbs secured the win.

“It was great to see Julian back on the scoresheet with two well taken goals,” said manager Craig Papirnyk. “Winning is a really good habit to have right now.

“It was a good all round performance from the lads again today, we showed our character and quality during the game.”

Williams took three minutes to open his account from close in, after Sion Edwards had broke down the byline and provided a low cross for Williams to turn in.

The Wellmen hit back on 14 minutes, however, as experienced striker Steve Lewis was brought down by Ceri James just inside the box on the left, and he himself hammered in an emphatic equaliser.

A run of four straight clean sheets had ended, but Port continued to dominate and Jay Gibbs’ saw a goalbound strike hit a defender’s head to avert a certain goal.

Edwards then put Julian Williams in behind the defence and he squared for Dan Dascalu, but the referee turned down strong appeals for a penalty when a skirmish followed, as he tried to tap home.

Dascalu did find the net, only to be ruled offside, and keeper Mike Platt did well to keep out Ifan Emlyn’s 20 yard effort.

At the other end, Paul Pritchard pulled off a good save to keep out Steve Lewis’ well-struck free kick, but then in added time, Porthmadog reclaimed the lead.

Williams rose well in the centre of the goalmouth to meet Edwards’ powerfully struck corner to make it 2-1 at the interval.

Three times in the early minutes of the second period Edwards opened up the defence, and Williams came close to completing his hat-trick at the near post.

Platt pulled off a good save to keep out Iwan Lewis’ effort, but with the clock ticking away Holywell began to sense there was something in the game for them.

Pritchard was alert to keep out a Lewis free kick, and after defensive slip it needed a great save to deny the big forward.

With six minutes remaining, however, Jay Gibbs put Shaun Cavanagh in behind the home defence and the leading scorer outpaced the defence before cutting inside and held his nerve to beat the advancing Mike Platt with a super finish.

Gibbs still had one huge trick up his sleeve and with two minutes left he burst into space in midfield, saw Platt off his line and his 35 yard chip flew over the keeper’s head and into the net for 4-1.

Holywell, however, were denied an added time consolation when their main threat Steve Lewis struck the crossbar.

PORTHMADOG: P Pritchard, G J Williams, C James, I Price, J Banks, J Gibbs, I Emlyn, I Lewis, J Williams (R Taylor 85’), D Dascalu (R Evans 66’), S Edwards (S Cavanagh 61’) Unused subs: T Emlyn, C Papirnyk.

HOLYWELL TOWN: M Platt, R Jones, T Hartley, Z Edwards, M Harvey, M Hughes, J Maldon, P Williams, A Pomeyie, S Lewis, S Jones. Used subs: J Jones, T Roebuck, J Sheridan. Unused subs: J Carey, R Marshall.