ABERYSTWYTH Town slipped into a bottom three position in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League as they succumbed to their 15th league defeat of the season in a pulsating encounter with Llandudno at Park Avenue.

After Sam Hart had given the visitors the lead with a 41st minute penalty, Aber took charge after the break, as goals from Luke Sherbon, Luke Borrelli and a Chris Jones penalty seemed to have won them the game.

A triple salvo from Mike Williams, Danny Hughes and Marc Williams, however, snatched the points for former manager Alan Morgan’s side, and Aber were also cruelly left to rue a penalty miss by captain Sherbon.

The Seasiders now have 13 days to ruminate on a heartbreaking defeat, before heading up to Rhyl for a crucial showdown on Friday, 3 March - and they need to avoid defeat if they are to keep out of the bottom two.

The return of striker Mark Jones to the club from Carmarthen was perhaps the biggest highlight of the day, but boss Matthew Bishop was clearly disappointed at the final whistle.

“I was delighted with the performance that Mark Jones gave us,” reflected Bishop. “The energy he gave us, with his hard work, and the fact that we stopped the ball coming back, gave us the platform to work on.

“I was really pleased with that, and delighted that we scored three goals. But I was disappointed that we conceded four and missed a penalty. I feel we shot ourselves in the foot.”

The game started at a good tempo, with Marc Williams aiming a shot straight at home keeper Chris Mullock, whilst Aber’s Luke Borrelli then sent a shot over from close range.

Mark Jones also headed straight at Dave Roberts from Chris Jones’ cross, but Mullock had to do well to deny Jamie Reed from down the left side.

The ex-Aber front man was denied again by the linesman’s flag for an infringement after he appeared to have opened the scoring with a lob.

Danny Shaw headed wide for Llandudno, but with Aber’s talented Malcolm Melvin starting to shine in midfield the chances started to come.

Mark Jones picked out Kurtis March, whose deft cross was headed just wide by Borrelli, and then Chris Jones was felled on the edge of the area, before sending in a low free kick which Roberts did well to gather.

Danny Hughes volleyed over, but disaster struck for Aber on 41 minutes as an innocuous challenge heading away from goal resulted in a disputed penalty that Hart converted.

A thrilling second half began with Marc Williams heading past the post for Llandudno, but a series of Aber corners saw Mark Jones and Ryan Wollacott go close with headers.

Jamie Crowther had another header cleared off the line, before Sherbon swivelled and pounced from six yards out for the hosts’ equaliser.

Sixty seconds later Mark Jones chased a lost cause down the left wing, won the ball and crossed for Borrelli to claim an improbable lead.

Then, six minutes after that, Danny Shaw upended Borrelli in the box and Chris Jones netted the penalty.

On 69 minutes, however, James Joyce’s corner lead to an almighty scramble, and centre back Mike Williams stabbed home to make it 3-2.

Seven minutes later, Danny Hughes curled in a pearler from the edge of the area to equalise, and then a low volley from Marc Williams made it 4-3 with just over 10 minutes to go.

Aber fought back again and came within a whisker of a draw when Hughes fouled Kurtis March in the box on 84 minutes - but Sherbon’s penalty was well-saved by Roberts.

Sub Geoff Kellaway’s cross was volleyed wide by Mark Jones, who headed agonisingly wide minutes later in another siege of the visitors’ goal, but the visitors held on through six minutes of injury time to secure the win.

ABERYSTWYTH TOWN: C Mullock, D Rees, C Davies, J Crowther, L Sherbon, L Borrelli, R Wollacott, M Melvin, K March (D Jones 85), C Jones (G Kellaway 75), M Jones. Sub not used: J Rimmer.

LLANDUDNO: D Roberts, D Taylor, J Joyce, D Shaw, D Hughes, M Williams (B Jago 90’+4), J Reed (J Chaplin 87), S Hart, J Crawford (L Thomas 69), M Williams, T Dix. Subs not used: T Williams, O Jones, L Riley. Att: 198. Referee: R Harrington.