By David Parsons
It took 18 penalties before Flint Town United were able to clinch their place in the fourth round of the JD Welsh Cup as they eventually won 8-7 in the shoot-out after their game at Bangor 1876 ended 1-1 in regulation time.
But it took 67 minutes before the first goal of the game came along, Elliott Reeves firing the Silkmen ahead.
As the clocked ticked over into 95 minutes it looked as though the visitors had done enough to see the game out.
But then came a hotly disputed corner for Bangor, and one last chance to draw level. An excellent delivery into a crowded six-yard box forced the clearance by home goalkeeper Rhys Williams to drop down into the goalmouth area.
After an almighty goalmouth scramble, Williams’ opposite number, Carl Jones somehow managed to force the ball over the line to send the game to penalties.
Full Time at the Nantporth Stadium and @FlintTownFC go through to the next round after penalties 1-1 at full against @CPDBangor. Some shots from the game below, lots more photographs coming soon on our Flickr page, here’s the link for later.https://t.co/ILEA78hMld… pic.twitter.com/WN5FCmoRFr
— All Sports Photos (@AllSportsPhoto4) November 11, 2023
Jones was then thrust into equally dramatic action in the shoot-out, saving one before Cai Powell Roberts stepped up to miss the 18th attempt to enable Flint to go through.
It also went to penalties at Stebonheath, where there was no happy return to one of his former stomping grounds for Penybont manager Rhys Griffiths.
The game ended all-square at 3-3 after 90 minutes before heading to penalties.
Ethan Cann gave the home side – sitting proudly on top of the JD Cymru South table – the lead, but within six minutes the visitors were ahead.
Keyon Reffell fired home the equaliser before Chris Venables made it 2-1 a few minutes later.
Cann scored again six minutes into the second half with a worldie, before Jamie Baker gave the Reds the lead for the second time in the game in the 77th minute.
Don't forget to checkout the Flickr link in the below post tomorrow to access all the photos of today's match ⬇️ https://t.co/ORt7mS9R8z
— Flint Town United FC (@FlintTownFC) November 11, 2023
Penybont kept pushing forward and Lewis Harling got them back on level terms in the 90th minute.
Llanelli boss Lee John brought on Calum Bateman, David Lyon and Josh Allen before the full-time whistle, and two of them went on to hit the back of the net.
The shoot-out began with failures from Ryan Bevan and Venables, followed by a further miss from Penybont’s Henry Jones and then Bateman.
When Lyon made it 4-3, Reffell stepped up to level things up, but Scot Coughlan dived to his left to save, making Penybont the first casualty of the round from the JD Cymru Premier.
“What an achievement and I hope this shows the good times are coming back to Llanelli. I’m just so proud of the boys,” said Llanelli boss, John.
“At 90 minutes I was just hoping we could hold onto our lead but, unfortunately, we conceded. Then it was a lottery, although we still had a chance.
https://twitter.com/LlanelliReds/status/1723115659549188373?s=20
“Penybont were such a threat, but tactically I thought we did well.”
There were no problems for Connah’s Quay Nomads, who thumped Prestatyn Town 8-0. Jordan Davies helped himself to a hat-trick to make it six cup goals this season to go with his 11 in the league.
It was a similar story for the holders, The New Saints, who extended their unbeaten run this season to 20 games with a 7-0 home triumph over Trethomas Bluebirds from the Ardal South-East league two tiers below them.
The Bluebirds headed to Park Hall with a perfect 14 out of 14 winning record this season but were no match for the top team in the country.
Gwion Dafydd scored a hat-trick, Luke Brennan got a double and the other goals came from Ashley Baker and Rory Holden.
https://twitter.com/sgorio/status/1724151766076293573?s=20
Porthmadog ended Cardiff Airport’s long run in the tournament as they sent the South Wales Alliance club tumbling out of the cup on the back of a 5-1 defeat.
Canton FC also came up short as their adventure came to an end at Flint Mountain, who were 2-1 winners, where Rob Hughes and Aaron Simpson were the home heroes after 16-year-old Thierry Out had given the visitors an early lead.
Cymru Premier sides Cardiff Met, Haverfordwest County and Barry Town United all progressed at home against lower league sides, Colwyn Bay won 5-3 in their penalty shoot-out at Newtown after their game at Latham Park ended 1-1.
Iwan Roberts sent last season’s runners-up, Bala Town, into the hat for Round 4 with an 80th minute goal at Aberystwyth Town.
That didn’t stop Bala’s assistant manager Stephen Fisher from picking up a post-match red card.
Carmarthen Town were convincing 4-2 home winners over Abertillery Bluebirds, who had Leigh Sharp sent-off in the 50th minute for two yellow cards.
https://twitter.com/sgorio/status/1724140373847552074?s=20
