RHYL bowed out of the Huws Gray Cup with a 2-1 defeat at home to rivals Denbigh Town.

The Lilywhites got off to the worst possible start and fell behind after just two minutes when a Sam Downey slotted home from close range after a Sam Jones effort came back off the post.

This provoked a strong response from the hosts, who almost levelled soon after when midfielder James Stead fired over, but they got their reward for some improved play on 17 minutes when the lively Mike Pritchard finished well after being put through by James Murphy.

Pritchard almost notched his second of the contest soon after but his strike was diverted by Gwydion Owen, with forward Jake Walker forcing a smart stop from Jonathan Hill-Dunt at the other end.

One again Pritchard looked the most likely to carve up an opening when his chance on the turn was again saved by Owen, and James Murphy stuck the bottom of the post during a frantic spell in the tie.

Former Lilies’ boss Matthew Jones saw his Town side got into the interval a goal to the good when Tony Davies presented a chance to Jones, who deftly nicked the ball over Hill-Dunt before putting the ball into the net from a tight angle.

After the break saw the tempo of a pulsating cup tie lower during the opening exchanges, with Davies almost doubling the visitors’ advantage when his header from a corner came back off the crossbar with 69 minutes on the clock.

The home side continued to enjoy a great deal of possession in the hope of getting back into the tie, with Owen keeping out Murphy drive following some neat approach play.

Town were looking dangerous on the break and nearly wrapped up the tie when a Curtis Langford effort sailed past the post, with the Lilies going straight up the other end which resulted in Barry Torrence spurning a half chance.

Stead blazed a chance over on 88 minutes for the hosts, and Pritchard was sent off in stoppage time to pile further misery on Eddie Maurice-Jones and his management team.