GUILSFIELD staged a second-half comeback to seal their place in the second round of the Nathaniel MG Cup with a 3-1 win at Caersws on Saturday.
The Bluebirds went into the game on the back of their Ardal North East League title winning season and promotion to the second tier with a host of new faces on show in the annual season curtain-raiser.
It was the familiar face of Neil Mitchell who opened the scoring for the Bluebirds with last season’s Ardal North League player of the season slotting home an 11th minute penalty to break the deadlock.
Action from Guilsfield's victory at Caersws. Picture by Darren Hyland.
The remainder of the half was a tight affair with home goalkeeper Jack Perry kept on his toes with several vital saves.
However it was the Guils who hit the ground running after the break with summer signing Andy Evans sweeping home to level three minutes after the re-start.
Just five minutes later Iwan Matthews gave the Guils the lead for the first time.
Action from Guilsfield's victory at Caersws. Picture by Darren Hyland.
Matthews settled the outcome from the penalty spot with five minutes remaining to secure a second round trip to JD Cymru Premier side Newtown as their reward.
Guilsfield manager Nathan Leonard said: “It was certainly a game of two halves to say the least and during the first half we dropped well below our standards and were second best.
“I’ve had a few words with them at half-time and thankfully we turned it round with a strong second-half performance where we were the better team.
Action from Guilsfield's victory at Caersws. Picture by Darren Hyland.
“Credit to the players for turning it around and getting us through to the next round.
“The league campaign starts Saturday and every game this season looks tough.
“There really is no easy games, I think it’s the strongest the Cymru North has looked for a long time and it’s going to be a hard season but one in which we are really looking forward to."
Action from Guilsfield's victory at Caersws. Picture by Darren Hyland.
Llanidloes Town bowed out of the cup at the first hurdle following a 4-2 defeat at Porthmadog.
A lively start saw both sides create chances with new signing Nyasha Mwamuka firing over or the Daffodils while Danny Brookwell and Shaun Cavanagh tested Llanidloes goalkeeper Luke Evans.
Llanidloes survived a torrent of pressure and led on the stroke of the interval as new signing Jamie Smallwood swept home Mwamuka’s pass.
Action from Llanidloes Town’s defeat at Porthmadog. Picture by Stuart Townsend.
The hosts hit back early in the second-half with Cavanagh following up after Brookwell’s shot was only parried by Evans.
Llanidloes threatened just before the hour with George Clarke clipping the post from the edge of the area.
However the hosts sealed progress with two goals in as many minutes as summer signing Cavanagh, signed from homeless Llandudno, struck to leave Llanidloes facing an uphill struggle.
Action from Llanidloes Town’s defeat at Porthmadog. Picture by Stuart Townsend.
Adam Worton was forced to clear Josh Banks’ effort off his own line as Porthmadog continued to turn the screw.
However Llanidloes were back in the tie after 65 minutes with Smallwood netting his second after being played in on goal by Connor Bird.
Port came close to regaining their two goal advantage in the 74th minute when Morgan Owen fired wide from the edge of the penalty area after latching on to a Brookwell pass.
Action from Llanidloes Town’s defeat at Porthmadog. Picture by Stuart Townsend.
Evans was called upon to make a remarkable save to keep out Cai Jones’ 25 yard free-kick in the 79th minute but was unable to prevent Cavanagh netting his fourth with two minutes remaining after good work by Jason Banks.
Llanidloes manager Lawrence Wilson said: “Saturday’s game was a tough game. Porthmadog are a good side and I feel will have a good season. For us it was good to see players in a competitive game, even though we were missing a fair few players.
Action from Llanidloes Town’s defeat at Porthmadog. Picture by Stuart Townsend.
“We played well in patches and scored two very good goals it shows there are plenty of things to work on which for me is great.
Wilson now looked ahead to the league opener saying: “This Saturday we make our longest journey of the season to newly promoted Bangor who will be full of confidence winning the play-offs and beating Holywell last week.
“We would like to start the season in the front foot playing a different brand of football this season.”
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