Porthmadog pair secure a vital victory

TWO goals apiece from recalled pair Gareth Parry and Paul Roberts gave strugglers Porthmadog a winning start to the Christmas holiday programme.

And their priceless victory was sweeter coming as it did at the expense of neighbours Caernarfon, who were again left empty-handed and wondering when their woes will end.

Porthmadog’s manager Viv Williams said: “We have won three out of the last five games and when the team wins there is a good feeling in the club.

“What we must do now is to build on this in the New Year and for the rest of the season.

“To the neutral in the crowd, this was a good game to watch, with lots of committed tackles by both sides, but the soft and uneven pitch made playing pure football difficult.

“While I thought we were the better team all through, Caernarfon made a real game of it and yet once we went in front at 2-1, I was convinced we would not be stopped.”

Counterpart Steve O’Shaughnessy said: “We were back to our old bad habits again, missing chances and giving away silly goals.

“I was disappointed because we should have made more of our scoring situations but the pitch was not at its best and that did not help.

“We were without a recognised goalkeeper again, with Vinnie Whelan injured, and had to use striker John Rowley in that role – and that was a bit of a downer before we started.

“Porthmadog struck me as a solid and organised team, but we helped them out by not clearing properly and there were far too many gaps in our defence”.

Porthmadog’s win gave them a 2-1 advantage in the third meeting of the season between the sides and they were quickly off the mark on this occasion.

Gareth Parry opened the Traeth side’s account on three minutes when he slammed home a fine shot from fully 20 yards.

But the visitors were back on terms in the 24th minute with Bobby Jones supplying a deft touch for the equaliser.

Parry doubled his tally for the home side 10 minutes later, heading into the net from close range after a couple of earlier attempts had gone close.

Experienced goal ace Roberts, left on the bench for a couple of games, showed what Porthmadog had been missing on 69 minutes when he turned in Kyle Jacobs’ right-wing centre.

And, although Caernarfon defender Phil Doran blasted the goal of the match from 30 yards on 83 minutes, Porthmadog wrapped up the match thanks to a second from Roberts in the final minute.