| 10-man holders end Rhyl's cup hopes |
| Saturday 31 January 2009 |
 WELSH Cup holders Bangor City progressed to the last eight after beating Welsh Premier leaders Rhyl 4-2 in a penalty shoot-out at Farrar Road. Despite being reduced to 10 men after just 15 minutes, following the dismissal of skipper Marc Limbert, the Citizens took the lead through former Lilywhite Chris Sharp on 66 minutes.Greg Strong levelled four minutes from time and both Neil Roberts and Luke Holden missed spot kicks with Stuart Cook hitting the decider to preserve manager Nev Powell's unbeaten record in cup competitions since arriving at the club. All the Welsh Premier's leading trio are out after The New Saints went down 3-2 at home to Carmarthen, despite taking a 20th-minute lead through Jamie Wood. The Old Gold hit back through a 20-yarder from Sacha Walters, before Craig Hughes added two more, and a Matthew Berkeley effort for the hosts was too little, too late. Aberystwyth safely negotiated a trip to Welsh Leaguers AFC Llwycoed, who finished with 10 men after Doherty's dismissal, thanks to a hat-trick from Graham Evans. But Prestatyn Town were forced to hit back from 2-0 down and needed extra-time before seeing-off Goytre United, Mike Parker hitting a hat-trick. The visitors' Darren Lyons was red-carded five minutes from the end of normal time. There was disappointment for the two remaining Cymru Alliance sides. Holyhead suffered the agony of a penalty shoot-out defeat to last season's giant-killers Newport YMCA in front of a 519 crowd at the New Oval. And Lex XI were no match in south Wales for Bridgend Town, who ran out 4-0 winners with a brace from Carl Jenkins. Bangor's Chris Sharp gets in a shot despite the attentions of George Horan [Mike Taylor]. |