Abertillery 4 Llanidloes Town 3

LLANIDLOES Town played their part in a seven goal thriller before their Welsh Cup dreams were dashed by Abertillery Bluebirds.

The Daffodils endured a testing start to the day with their team coach snowed in on the morning of the match meaning players and supporters had to make their own way to Gwent.

With manager Hugh Clarke suspended it had been expected reserve team manager Jordan Jones would take charge of the team only for a bout of flu to mean the latter also unable to make the trip.

The South Wales League Two side broke the deadlock with a seventh minute penalty with Christopher Penny slotting past goalkeeper Kris Williams.

Llanidloes were back on terms almost immediately with Connor Bird maintaining his rich goal scoring form.

The Bluebirds regained their lead just before the half hour mark with Owen Goodenough on target.

Once again Llanidloes mustered a response and restored parity by half-time with Ashley Owen netting.

The tie remained evenly contested with no further score until the final stages of the second-half.

Llanidloes were undone twice in as many minutes with Iestyn Gwilliam coming off the bench to restore Abertillery's lead with 10 minutes remaining.

With Llanidloes still reeling the hosts added a fourth with Goodenough completing his brace.

However the Daffodils refused to wilt and continued to press for a route back into the tie.

Llanidloes were awarded a last minute penalty with Bird completing his brace from the spot but it was too late to prevent Abertillery celebrating their cup progress.

LLANIDLOES: Williams, Coleridge (R Biggs 75), G Owen, Worton, Reynolds, Allen (Evans 77), A Owen, J Biggs, Bird, Hartrick (G Clarke 65), E Clarke. Sub: Brown