BARMOUTH & DYFFRYN UNITED              1        BODEDERN                         1

 BARMOUTH & DYFFRYN UNITED           1          BODEDERN                         1   Desperately in need of three points to drag themselves away from the bottom two, this fixture was earmarked as a home banker, especially as the opposition languished just above the Magpies in the table having played three more matches. Therefore this result was a huge disappointment to the home faithful as two vital home points were dropped but credit to Bodedern who battled and fully deserved their draw when the final whistle was blown. Barmouth's performance in the opening 45 minutes was poor and disjointed and although things looked promising at the start, they were stung by Bodedern's opening attack down the left after only 5 minutes and when the home defence failed to clear the initial threat by Taylor, the ball ran kindly to midfielder Casey Boylan whose 25 yard right foot shot had home keeper Darren Andrews beaten when diving down to his right hand side. Barmouth responded when Andy Papirnyk broke up the play in midfield and fed Ieuan Brookes whose shot just went inches wide of the upright. But this proved to be the only real threat of the half as the Bodedern quartet in the middle of the park dominated proceedings with Barmouth, in contrast, seeing their poor passing easily being picked up. In fact, the visitors should have been three up at the break but poor finishing by Ryan Taylor and Calvin Owen ensured that the deficit was kept down to the solitary goal. The second period saw Barmouth being more purposeful and the passing slightly improved but were always guilty of giving the ball away when the situation looked promising. The Anglesey side, for most of this period were camped in their own half and resorted to any potential counter-attack and could and should have done better with one or two chances that did come along. Tried as they might, Barmouth attacked both flanks frequently with ease but found both Bodedern's centre half Alun Roberts and Barry Jones in solid form and gave very little away as the lead remained intact. But with 10 minutes left, Barmouth's persistent play and pressure paid off. From a Shane Jones corner on the right, the ball was flicked on by Craig Papirnyk and found Brookes (pictured) unmarked who toe poked home beyond Declan Jones to bring Barmouth level. Within 4 minutes, an excellent through ball found Shane Jones and just when he was about to shoot, Roberts produced an excellent last gasp block to deny the Barmouth marksman. Next Saturday, 21st January, Denbigh Town are the visitors to the Wern Mynach, kick off 2:00pm with the Magpies eagerly looking to quickly avenge their heavy defeat to Town a fortnight ago.

             DENBIGH TOWN                 5           BARMOUTH & DYFFRYN UNITED      1  

Barmouth's dreadful away record continued last Saturday when they were thumped by a mediocre Denbigh side who took full advantage of their chances when they along to punish an overall poor defensive performance by the Magpies. These poor away performances are obviously a big worry for Manager Iolo Owen and his troops and one cannot rely too much on the home form salvaging the Sea siders as they continue to remain in the bottom two, albeit, they do have games in hand that they must win to have any hope in avoiding the drop. The early exchanges, however, was pretty even with both sides testing each other's defences and keepers with both Shane Jones and Iwan Lewis going close for Barmouth until the home side opened the scoring on 11 minutes when striker Duncan Midgeley easily converted a Christian Pierce cross giving keeper Darren Andrews no chance. Barmouth continued to battle away but lacked that cutting edge and confidence to drag themselves back into the game and Denbigh went further ahead on 27 minutes when captain Russ Jones scored from the edge of the box and nine minutes later the hosts were three up when Ian Griffiths drilled home from close range. After the break, any hope of a recovery were dashed when Denbigh were five up to the good inside the opening three minutes. Firstly, Griffiths netted his second and Denbigh's fourth when he was unchallenged from six yards and Barmouth's defender Daniel Gwynne was unlucky to see his attempt his divert a cross take a wicked deflection that left Andrews helpless. Barmouth then rallied and threw caution to the wind in an attempt to restore some pride in the scoreline and substitute Ieuan Brookes went close after the hour mark when he saw his shot hit the side netting and then saw another effort bounce back off the post. Craig Papirnyk then saw his effort disallowed for offside before Brookes eventually grab a consolation with twelve minutes remaining latching on to a Shane Jones flick on. All this pressure naturally left massive gaps in the heart of the midfield and defence and Denbigh were guilty of wasting a hatful of opportunities to extend the margin of victory with Shane Jones also guilty of wasting another excellent chance in injury time and it now remains to see whether the Magpies have enough resolve and determination when they are next on their travels. This Saturday sees a crucial League encounter at the Wern Mynach against Anglesey side, Bodedern, who hover just above Barmouth in the table in what is billed as a six pointer. Kick off is at 2:00pm.