CHE sera sera. If you truly fear that something awful is about to happen, then, very often, it does, writes TREFLYN JONES.

Porthmadog 0 Llanidloes 1, JD Cymru North

The worst possible outcome befell CPD Porthmadog on Saturday as they slumped to a home defeat at the hands of second-from-bottom club Llanidloes thus condemning Port to a heartbreaking eighth consecutive league defeat and the likelihood of spending next season back in tier three where they frankly do not belong.

After a cagey opening few minutes, Port came very close to opening the scoring on the 10th minute mark when the effervescent Danny Brookwell broke clear of the visitors’ defence and unleashed a strong shot which was saved by keeper Luke Evans’ trailing leg as he was sent the wrong way.

Barely a minute later, Port’s custodian Oliver Farebrother did very well to hold on to a firm close range shot by a Llan attacker.

Midway through the first half, Port were beginning to exert territorial dominance and came close to scoring on three occasions.

From a Brookwell free kick, Telor Williams turned well in the box but his shot was saved by the keeper’s knees. There then followed a strong run by Gethin Thomas but his worthy effort from distance went straight at Evans again and a corner kick was headed narrowly wide by Telor.

Then it was Llani’s turn again as Farebrother had to scramble to his right to make a diving save on his line from a somewhat scuffed effort.

Early on in the second half, Rhys Alun was presented with arguably the most clear-cut scoring chance of the match as he latched on to a super cross-field pass. With only Evans to beat, he rather surprisingly tried to round the keeper and in the process was shepherded into too wide a position to score and a glorious opener was spurned.

The reporter may well be criticized for the next observation but this time it’s “print and be damned”………..We simply must be putting chances like this one away!

Port thereafter continued to attack with commendable patience and discipline but were reduced to half-chances at best with the visitors defending strongly especially in the aerial battles.

The almost expected disaster occurred in the 80th minute. Both central defenders had disappeared from the scene in favour of attack-minded substitutes and when a high ball eluded the Port defence, Connor Bird found himself unmarked and slid his shot underneath Farebrother. If we don’t score, the other guys will, I guess.

Port continued to attack and Llani defended with much physicality. (Just ask Danny Brookwell who was frequently man-handled with both arms with no sanction whatsoever by referee. Richard Lee Wright.) But there was no fairy-tale ending.

Believe it or not, there were a few positives to take from the match as it has to be said that all our relatively ‘new boys’ acquitted themselves well. For the uninitiated, here they are: Oliver Farebrother in goal. Jake Jones, Rob Jones, Gethin Thomas, Jacob Barratt (sub), Steffan Gittins (sub). It was also nice to see Josh Banks back in the fold as he came on as a second-half substitute.

Port visit Denbigh this Friday evening (k.o. 8pm).