AT the end of a truly epic contest, the Denbigh players must have trudged off the pitch feeling as sick as the proverbial parrot given that they had deservedly thrashed Port 4-1 in the initial first round tie before the weather intervened to save Porthmadog`s bacon, writes Treflyn Jones.

Yes, it was rotten luck on this thoroughly impressive side from the Vale of Clwyd but, equally, the home side deserve much credit for a battling performance, and, in contrast to Saturday`s debacle, Port were in no mood at all to just watch and admire their more illustrious opponents from a higher league.

No……tonight they got stuck in and every single player put in a shift.

Denbigh were quickly out of the blocks and after only two minutes Port`s keeper Josh Cooke had to make a very good stop with his outstretched leg to prevent Gwion Dafydd from giving his team an early lead.

At the other end, Sam Reynolds missed a great chance when he failed to convert an excellent low cross from Shaun Cavanagh on the right flank.

Rhys Alun also came close for the hosts but his quick foray into the box was foiled by a timely intervention and the same player was supplied by a very well worked free kick by Cavanagh before forcing Elijah Beattie into a fine stop low to his right.

Port were knocking on the door but Denbigh were a constant danger with the frightening pace of Nathan Doforo, Ben Lockley and others.

The clock showed 45+1 minutes when disaster struck for Port.

A corner kick was driven hard by Nathan Brown for Denbigh and its flight deceived everyone before the ball nestled in the far corner of the net.

It was a bad time to concede and the manner of it was even more disappointing from the hosts` point of view.

Moreover, this was the last real action of a pulsating first half. 1-0 to the visitors who might have thought that the floodgates would now open for them as they did a few days earlier.

Straight into the action for the second half came 19 year old Port lad Zac Pike who was soon presented with a half chance at the end of a good move but he rather delayed his shot and the chance was gone.

Two minutes later, Port were level when Pike beat a defender before putting in a low cross from the left wing.

Cai Jones` initial close range effort was blocked but the determined Shaun Cavanagh was on hand to slam home the rebound. 1-1 and everything to play for.

The game became a frantic affair and the Port rearguard had to be super-alert to foil many a Denbigh attack with a combination of well-judged tackles and some old-fashioned big-boot clearances.

The game went very deep into injury time when it seemed that Gwion Dafydd had broken Port hearts as he clearly won a foot race with a couple of Port defenders before gliding his low shot past Cooke into the corner of the net.

With the clock displaying 90+7 minutes played, it was surely all over, wasn`t it?

No!...........In the very same minute Port raced up the pitch from the re-start.

Cai Jones turned well to beat a close marker before passing to Gruff John who somehow, in that crowded penalty area, managed to squeeze the ball past Beattie to send the young supporters in the Town End stand into a state of unbridled ecstacy.

Then it was the dreaded penalties. Suffice to say that we saw some very good penalty kicks indeed.

Also, Denbigh keeper Elijah Beattie pulled off four tremendous saves but they were all disallowed as he was adjudged to have jumped the gun.

Incredible! ....and, yes, the re-takes were duly converted.

We were well into `sudden death` and it was all down to the two goalkeepers in the end.

Beattie scored his penalty but Cooke at last pulled off a save as he held on to Beattie`s shot which was driven straight at him.

Against all the odds, Port had won.

By the way, the score in that shoot-out was 11-10 (ELEVEN_TEN!!!).

Commiserations galore to Denbigh and heartiest congratulations to Porthmadog as they go into the hat for the second round draw.

This coming Saturday, Portwill entertain Trearddur Bay at Y Traeth in a first round league cup tie with a 2pm kick-off.