TREFNANT 2
CEFN 1
YET again, the North Wales Times Shield has shown that you can throw away the form guide when July rears its head.
On paper, champions Cefn were due to sweep aside Summer League basement side Trefnant on their way through to the final, but nobody shared the script with Pete Featham’s impressive charges.
It was a worthy victory at Rhewl for Trefnant, but they had to endure a nervy last few minutes as Gwyndaf Pritchard’s double chasers pressed forward.
The opening exchanges belonged to Trefnant and they could have taken the lead as early as the ninth minute.
Phil Evans met the ball with a bullet header from six yards, but Cefn keeper Paul Davies made a great diving save.
The Reds completely controlled the first quarter-of-an-hour, as the likes of Owain Roberts and Edward Davies were denied glimpses of the ball, and on 14 minutes Trefnant deservedly took the lead.
Ben Musgrave - more from him later - was fouled in the area and man in black Eifion Roberts had no hesitation in awarding a penalty, which was put away with some aplomb by Phil Evans.
That lead lasted only six minutes, however, as Cefn provided a champion response.
Their first real moment of promise saw top scorer Edward Davies embarking on a great run which ended with his snap shot forcing Trefnant keeper Stu Roberts to scramble across to cover it.
Gareth Jones couldn’t force a free header on target from Jake Walker’s corner, but on 20 minutes it was level again.
Great work wide right from Dilwyn Roberts resulted in him posing a devilish cross and, under pressure, Trefnant’s Russ Vaughan diverted the ball into his own goal at full stretch.
Vaughan was obviously disappointed with the outcome, but he should be proud of his fantastic individual performance over the 90 minutes.
Neither side was able to gain control for the rest of the half, although Paul Davies made a fine save to deny Phil Evans, while Stu Roberts did likewise to keep out Jake Walker’s strike at the other end.
Trefnant were just inches from claiming a half-time advantage, though, when a long throw caused mayhem in the Cefn defence and Francis Roberts was just fractions away from scoring.
Second-half latecomers will have missed the tie’s vital goal.
Less than two minutes after the restart, more awful Cefn defending gave Ben Musgrave the chance to score with ease.
Musgrave put a header wide when well placed two minutes later, while Cefn’s response came via Dilwyn Roberts’ excellent cross to the far post where Edward Davies’ header at goal was blocked by Jamie Jelleyman.
Trefnant kept talisman Owain Roberts under constant surveillance, but he started to make his mark as the second half wore on, including one run that saw him glide past a couple of challenges.
The Reds almost had some breathing space, though, when Jelleyman’s great strike from the edge of the box brought the best out of Paul Davies and at the other end intelligent play from Edward Davies saw him pick out Steve Hicklin in space, but the midfielder dragged his shot from 16 yards wide.
Cefn visibly began pushing a yard or two further up the pitch and the last 20 minutes was all about how well Trefnant could defend.
Trefnant keeper Stu Roberts made his only mistake when he dropped Owain Roberts’ cross, but there was no-one there to pick up the pieces, but number one Roberts made amends to pull off a cracking save when Cefn dangerman Edward Davies threatened.
It was almost game over when Paul Davies’ attempted clearance struck Ben Musgrave and only just cleared the bar at the opposite end.
That apart, it was Cefn who were pressing and their final chance came and went when Owain Roberts headed against the post from a dangerous Jake Walker corner.
Trefnant: S Roberts, Bell, Wynne, M Musgrave, Vaughan, Williams (S Jones), Evans, B Musgrave, F Roberts (Edwards), Jelleyman, J Owen
Cefn: P Davies, A Owen (Pritchard), Benbow, G Jones, Hicklin, D Roberts, Walker, E Davies, D Evans, C Evans, O Roberts