SHAUN Cavanagh held his nerve to convert a last-gasp penalty as visitors Porthmadog snatched all three points in a match that seemed destined to end in a goalless draw at Gresford Athletic.

With just three minutes left, a huge scramble in the home box resulted in referee Arron Jones pointing to the spot, and up stepped Cavanagh to send goalkeeper Ben Jones the wrong way and secure three unlikely points.

It took his goal tally for the season to seven, and earned Porthmadog the points to stay third in the league table.

The win stretched Port’s unbeaten league run to six games, with five wins and a draw, and the clean sheet was Paul Pritchard’s 10th in league and cup this season.

Porthmadog boss Craig Papirnyk could take heart from a hard-earned win on their travels, having battled right to the end to take the points.

“We got there in the end, and I’m very happy with the three points against a good Gresford side,” he said.

“We didn’t play the best we have done, but I thought that we showed very good character to keep going.

“There was also great support again from the travelling supporters, which is always much appreciated.”

A promising start from Port saw Iwan Lewis put Jay Gibbs into space in a central position 25 yards out, and the midfielder saw his thunderbolt strike the foot of the post before being cleared.

At the other end, Jack Chaloner cut into the box, but keeper Paul Pritchard was able to clear his lines.

The game then settled into a midfield slog, with neither side able to gain the upper hand. Gresford’s Keiran Evans fired wide of the far post, and Jack Jones met Simon Smith’s free kick, but his header flew over the bar.

With half-time looming, Gresford’s Nathan Williams crossed from the left, but Chaloner turned a clear opportunity wide of the post.

At the other end Jay Gibbs’ corner was only cleared to Iddon Price on the edge of the box, but the defender’s shot went narrowly over.

There was a late burst from Sion Edwards, but under pressure he steered wide, and Evans was also wide for Gresford from 25 yards out as the half ended goalless.

The second-half started in more lively fashion and it needed a goal line clearance from Gruff John to keep out an effort from Josh Griffiths.

Things improved for Port after the introduction of Shaun Cavanagh and Julian Williams, as they made life more difficlt for the hosts.

Cavanagh had an early chance, but keeper Ben Jones cut out his goalward flick.

A chance at the far post followed for Iwan Lewis, who lifted his angled shot over, but at the other end Keiran Evans headed over the bar.

As both teams looked for a late winner Cavanagh had a shot deflected for a corner - but it looked like both teams would settle for a point.

From a late Port attack, however, the hosts conceded a penalty, and Cavanagh steered his spot kick past Ben Jones in his second penalty in successive games.

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

GRESFORD: B Jones, B Burrows, N Williams (T Freeman 73’), J Griffiths, J Jones, J Davies, J Newton (J Eyre 73’), J Chaloner, S Molyneux, S Smith K Evans. Unused subs: N Freeman, O Roberts. Referee: Arron Jones. Attendance: 129.

PORTHMADOG Reserves progressed to the semi-finals of the Lock Stock Fireworks Cup as they piled up the goals again in a big 9-1 win against Pwllheli Reserves.

Leading scorer Sion Parry led the way with four goals, which takes his tally for the season to 17 league goals and 6 in the Fireworks Cup.

They got off to a good start as Reece Evans put them ahead after 11 minutes, and Sion Parry added two more to make it 3-0 at the interval.

Jack Davies netted the fourth early in the second half, before Sion Parry completed his hat-trick after 56 minutes and then went on to make 6-0 on 67 minutes.

Jack Davies then netted his second, with a Ben Williams goal making it 8-0, before Toby Foskett completed the Port scoring six minutes from time. Kai Powell netted a late consolation at the end.