FOOTBALL leaves you with no time to dwell on past successes, which meant that the 100% start to the league campaign as well as that glorious, sunny afternoon in Rhyl in the middle of May were not to have bearing on Port’s first hurdle in their defence of the Lock Stock Ardal North League Cup against Trearddur Bay, writes Rhydian Morgan.

Albeit a relatively quiet start to the game, it was the holders that made the quicker start with their slick passing and more time spent in the final third.

However, it was often the final ball that let them down, meaning that chances were few and far between in the opening 15 minutes.

The only real true moment of excitement came when some intricate passing in the Port midfield led to Dan Atkins being put through on goal, however the linesman’s flag meant this move was cut short.

There was a familiar face guarding the opposition goal in this game, as Paul Pritchard made another return to the familiar surroundings of Y Traeth and it’s fair to say that the veteran goalkeeper, now 41 years old used every trick in the book in that opening quarter of the game including demanding a new ball from the sideline every time an errant Port cross went harmlessly wide, instead of going to retrieve the ball.

The tide was well and truly turned after 26 minutes however, with Trearddur Bay showing a clinical nature (amongst some very poor Port defensive play in all honesty) to strike twice in quick succession.

The first goal came from an excellent cross that was headed into the six-yard box, where Christoph Aziamale was able to produce an acrobatic finish from close range.

The second goal showcased a defensive lack as a long ball from the back allowed Aziamale to run onto it, brush off his defender and pass it into the box for Josh Stanley to lay it off to Toby Jones to score with an easy finish.

Following the shock of conceding twice in four minutes, first half chances were few and far between for Port, with the only event of real note being an injury to Zak Pike, who was replaced by Jonny Bravo.

On the other side, the excellent Christoph Aziamale was proving to be a real handful for the home defence, with his pace and strength.

There was to be however some drama in stoppage at the end of the first half, with the opposition manager, Campbell Harrison receiving a yellow card and his side being reduced to 10 men for the second half, as Liam Armstrong for sent off for violent conduct.

It all stemmed from Sam Reynolds chasing a hopeful ball down the wing and as Armstrong attempted to shield the ball out of play, the assistant referee, who had the perfect view saw that Reynolds had been caught with a stray elbow to the face and immediately informed the ref.

However, the visitors would go into the break with a two-goal lead.

Against 10 men, there was an even greater need for a fast start by the home side, to ensure the defence of their cup wouldn’t fail straight away and there was an early chance, as a cross was put into the centre of the box and Dan Atkins shot straight at Pritchard.

There was no shortage of crosses thrown into the opposition box, but the majority were way too close to Pritchard in the opposition goal.

With 58 minutes on the clock, Trearddur Bay were down to nine men, as Harri Jones was shown red for foul and abusive language towards the linesman, following an albeit questionable decision on a throw in.

Abuse of the officials however is not tolerated and the young 19-year-old had to leave the pitch.

With the opposition sitting further back and lesser need for many defenders, a raft of attacking changes were made by the home side and this meant that the remaining 30 minutes was played solely in the Trearddur half, with Port going all-out attack and throwing balls into the box and creating several chances, the closest being Gruff John having one cleared off the line.

There was some excitement behind the goal as Port thought they’d scored to set up a grandstand finish, but the referee quickly pointed to a foul on the goalkeeper and their joy was short lived!

The chances continued to come with Shaun Cavanagh firing past the post and several other attempts being blocked by the determined Beach Boys defence.

In a game which saw two red cards, it was a seemingly strange decision by the referee to only give a free kick and not book the excellent Aziamale for practically ripping Sam Carrier’s shirt to stop him from advancing?

Into stoppage time at the end of the game, with six minutes originally noted and Port were throwing everything at the opposition by now, with a wild passage of play leading to a late lifeline for Port in the second minute of stoppage time.

Gruff Ellis saw his long range effort come back off the post, Pritchard saved the rebound, a third effort was blocked before Jonny Bravo finally turned in an attempt from Ryan Williams’ pass.

After lengthy treatment, Josh Stanley was to leave the pitch on a stretcher, which meant that the game time was to cross the 100th minute and Port were given further chances to take this game to penalties.

However, they were dealt a sucker punch in the 102nd minute, when Port having pushed everyone up were undone by the perfect counter-attack, Aziamale once again starring in his role as chief tormentor of the Port backline running through on goal, before placing the ball past the onrushing Josh Cooke and Toby Jones was left with the simple task of tapping it in to send the nine-men into delirium!

Port’s defence of the cup they won had fallen at the first hurdle and attention will now turn back to the league and attempting to continue their perfect start against Llannefydd at Y Traeth on Saturday, 11 October at 2:30pm.