A COLD and well-attended Cae Bob Parry bore witness to a battle royal between Eifionydd stalwarts Porthmadog and Ynys Môn ambassadors Llangefni, writes Treflyn Jones.

It was a thriller in which two late substitutions turned the tide massively in favour of the visitors in what had hitherto been a very close contest indeed.

Port forced four corners in the opening 10 minutes, but it was Cefni who almost drew first blood when Osian Jones was put clean through only to be foiled by Josh Cooke’s good positional sense in the Port goal.

Soon after, Port opened the scoring with a very well-taken goal. Osian Evans picked up the ball on the edge of the centre circle and his strong run into the box culminated in a great shot beyond the diving Oliver Jones to make it 0-1.

Port’s Gruff Ellis came very close when his close-range effort came off the top of the crossbar before Port custodian Cooke was forced into an excellent save from a thumping shot by the marauding Osian Jones.

Port had been warned and Cefni`s first equaliser duly arrived when Dion Jones ran strongly before confidently shooting past the onrushing Cooke.

It remained tantalisingly balanced at 1-1 until the 45th minute when Rhys Alun volleyed home powerfully at the back post from a fine cross by Sam Reynolds. What a time to score! Indeed, the referee whistled for half-time barely seconds after the re-start. 1-2 in Port`s favour at the break.

Port continued to press after the interval and forced three corners in succession with the third of them being well-held by Oliver Jones and the keeper also saved well from another close-range effort by Rhys Alun

Llangefni were far from finished as they proved to be quick and skilful on the counter-attack and they gained their second equalizer shortly after the hour mark during a frenzied period in and around the Port goalmouth during which Cooke was required to save twice with his feet before a dangerous low cross arrived on the right boot of substitute Ifan Mansoor who easily beat the keeper from point-blank range to the delight of the Cefni fans. 2-2 and game on!

With 15 minutes of the 90 remaining, it really was anybody`s game but it was arguably a double substitution in the shape of super-subs Liam Morris and Jonny Bravo that swung the game so startlingly in Port’s favour.

With barely four minutes of the 90 remaining, a good-looking volley by Danny Brookwell was diverted via the cheekiest of flicks into the net by Bravo to make it 2-3.

Then, a minute into added time, Morris ran strongly past a couple of defenders before slamming the ball into the roof of the net. 2-4…and what a goal!

And then…. with time running out, Morris brought another good, low save from Oliver Jones before that man Bravo calmly dispatched the rebound into the net. It ended 2-5.

Yes, the margin of Port’s win was somewhat flattering but the three points were merited for all that at the end of an excellent and truly battling performance.

Port remain rather comfortably in second place in the league 18 points clear of third-placed Prestatyn Town and they are now two points closer to Bangor who have a game in hand.

Next Saturday, attention turns to that eagerly awaited local derby as Port face a re-vitalised Pwllheli (2,30pm ko).