RHYL missed a huge chance to close the gap at the Huws Gray Alliance summit as they collapsed to a dramatic 5-4 home defeat to Porthmadog.

The Lilywhites were unable to hold on to a 4-2 advantage in the second period, and they now turn their attentions to Saturday’s clash at leaders Caernarfon Town, who needed a last-gasp Nathan Craig penalty to rescue a point at Denbigh Town.

Manager Matthew Jones, said: “It was a real end-to-end game and great for the neutral, but to score four at home you should always be winning the game.

“After we went 4-2 up I felt we had done enough to win but as a group we didn’t manage the game properly and that is bitterly disappointing.

“There are a huge amount of positives, going forward I thought we were electric and caused problems with our movement and passing, but we need to work on and focus on the other side of the game and it is down to me and the management team to work on that.

“I said during the week that we are going to have ups and downs. We are trying to embed an entirely new philosophy which is bringing goals, but we need to refine the defensive side and how we react to losing the ball and how hard we work without it.

“We have to learn from this as it’s the second time in three home games we have conceded five at home, so there is plenty to work to do but we have a good base to build on if we continue to work hard.”

The visitors missed a penalty early on when Julian Williams’ spot kick was superbly saved by Rory Crowther, but they finally went ahead soon after when Sion Bradley’s looping effort found the net.

This provoked the home side into life and two quick-fire goals from Alun Webb put them in-front, but Port levelled matters again when striker Joe Chaplin rounded Crowther to net.

Their joy proved to be short lived as Alex Tichiner put the Lilies ahead once again just before the break, and after the break saw Tom Taylor’s own goal extend their advantage.

The impressive Chaplin conjured up two moments of magic to seal his hat-trick and level matters, and the visitors claimed an unlikely victory when Sion Edwards drilled a sensational 40-yard effort into the net to round off the scoring.