1876 through in Welsh Cup

On a chilly Saturday afternoon, Cefn Albion were the visitors to Nantporth in a re-match of last season's Ardal Northern Leagues Play-off Final. This time, the two sides faced each other for a spot in the third round of the JD Welsh Cup.

Bangor dominated the early proceedings and it wasn't long before they took the lead. Craig Whelan got on the end of a Liam Morris cross and provided a delicate finish at the far post to put the hosts ahead in the 14th minute.

Just two minutes later Bangor were awarded a penalty after Mason Blackwell-Jones was adjudged to have been fouled inside the box. Liam Morris stepped up to take the spot kick. Cefn Albion goalkeeper Joshua Roberts reacted well to save the penalty by diving to his right but could only parry the ball back into the path of Liam Morris who made sure of the rebound and doubled Bangor's lead.

Cefn Albion came close to pulling a goal back in the 21st minute when right-back Nathan Williams collected the ball just outside of the box and aimed for the top-left corner with a powerful shot. Bangor stopper Carl Jones could only stand and watch as the ball flew just over the crossbar.

However, Bangor extended their lead 5 minutes later. Hitting Cefn Albion on the counter, Gethin Thomas displayed patience before playing a pass into the path of Sam Jones towards the left byline. Jones played the ball across the face of goal which found Liam Morris at the far post, who tapped the ball into the net for his second goal of the afternoon.

Liam Morris return the favour on the half-hour mark when he played a ball through to Sam Jones on the right side of the box. Working with a difficult angle and with Albion defender Jordan Williams closing in, Jones was able to pick out the bottom-left corner to give Bangor their fourth goal of the match.

Bangor went into the half-time break with a commanding four-goal lead.

HALF-TIME: BANGOR 1876 4-0 CEFN ALBION

Five minutes after the restart, Bangor were awarded a second penalty after winger Gethin Thomas was adjudged to have been brought down unfairly near the by-line. With an opportunity to complete his hat-trick, Liam Morris stepped up to take the spot-kick and duly converted by finishing low to keeper Joshua Roberts' left. Bangor's lead was now extended to five goals.

Cefn Albion came close to pulling a goal back two minutes later when they were awarded a free kick on the left side of the pitch. A delivery by Jordan Williams was met in the air with a free header by fellow defender Nicholas Jones but his effort cannoned off the crossbar.

Bangor added a sixth just a few minutes later. After soaking up a period of pressure from Cefn Albion, Bangor looked to hit them on the break when Cai Powell Roberts regained possession just outside of the Bangor penalty box. Powell Roberts played a great low through ball and found Bangor forward Sam Jones in behind the high Albion defensive line. With the Cefn Albion half of the pitch to himself and only the keeper to beat, Jones kept his composure and finished neatly to the bottom right corner from just inside the box.

Sam Jones was again involved in another goal just past the hour mark. After Cefn Albion had dealt with a Bangor corner, 1876 midfielder Joe Sullivan regained possession high up the pitch and passed to Jones on the right hand side of the box. Looking for options, Jones sent a chipped cross towards the far post where Bangor captain Tomos Clarke was waiting to connect with a header. Albion stopper Joshua Roberts could only parry the effort into his own net and Bangors' lead grew to seven.

With ten minutes remaining, Cefn Albion went in search of a consolation goal.Jordan Johnson came close after winning the ball just inside the Bangor half, evaded a few tackles with a mazy dribble and unleashed an effort at goal from just outside the Bangor penalty box. But his curling effort went just above the crossbar.

A Cefn Albion goal arrived five minutes from the full-time whistle when an in-swinging cross from the left from substitute Ryan Kehoe was met at the far post with a header by Nicholas Jones.

A few minutes later, the referee blew for full-time and a fantastic result for Bangor 1876 means that they go through to the 3rd round of the JD Welsh Cup. They will now have to wait until Wednesday evening to see who they'll face in the next round.

FULL-TIME: BANGOR 1876 7 - 1 CEFN ALBION

Our next match is on Saturday 21 October when we are away to Chirk in the league. The match kicks off at 2.30pm.

Thanks to Gavin Lee Redfern-Jones for writing this match report