| Gibson hails his Welsh Cup heroes |
| Monday 01 March 2010 |
 PRESTATYN Town boss Neil Gibson hailed his side's self-belief after dumping local rivals Rhyl out of the Welsh Cup on penalties. The Seasiders came back from 3-1 down to claim a semi-final spot for the first time in their history and Gibson told the Daily Post: "At 3-1 down we felt like we’d gifted the game away from ourselves, but there’s a lot of self-belief in the club now that wasn’t there last season and I think we showed every inch of that today to come out on top. "This time last season we’d probably have gone on to lose that game 5 or 6-1, but Gaz Wilson’s goal came at a nice time and we’ve got characters in the dressing room now that believe we can achieve things at this club, and we won’t give up without a fight." Former Rhyl stars Andy Moran and Gareth Wilson were on the scoresheet for Prestatyn, who will next meet Bangor City, whose superb cup run continued with a 2-0 home win over Llanelli. One of the main the talking points now is where the last-four clash will be staged and the smart money is on Rhyl’s Belle Vue, but the Bangor camp will argue that is too close to their opponents’ home and possible alternatives are Porthmadog or Airbus UK Broughton. "It will be a big game wherever it is played, a real local derby with a great deal at stake," enthused City boss Nev Powell. "And it will make our visit to Prestatyn for a league game a week this Friday particularly interesting. "Fair play to Llanelli, they were down to 10 men for most of the time, as we were two years ago in the cup final against them, and they stuck at it but we were worthy winners in the end. "In the first half, I thought Llanelli shaded the play but we changed things around for the second half and had the chances to have killed off the game." Bala are also into the semi-finals for the first time after beating Welsh League Afan Lido in extra-time at Maes Tegid. Subs Osian Jones and Neil Fisher got the goals and manager Colin Caton said: "It’s a fantastic achievement for the whole club. "They made it hard for us, they were very competitive and it was a really tough game but in extra time they started to cramp up and tire." The Lakesiders now play Port Talbot Town, who dumped The New Saints in a penalty shoot-out at Park Hall. Photo: Mike Parker on the ball for Prestatyn [Trinity Mirror North Wales]. |