Gavin Lee Redfern-Jones reports on our latest match

Despite a late goal from Mason Blackwell-Jones giving Bangor 1876 hope late on in the game, strikes from Danny Sullivan and league top scorer Jamie Breese meant the Flintshire side earned a well-fought victory.

A week on from their victory against Caersws in the first round of the Welsh Blood Service League Cup, Bangor 1876’s attention returned to the JD Cymru North League. This time, they visited the Bartons North Wales Stadium to face off against fellow high-flyers Holywell Town. Both sides were equal on 12 points in the league standings, with the Wellmen edging ahead in second place on goal difference. Michael Johnston’s were looking to make it 3 wins in-a-row in the league campaign whilst Haseldin’s title holders hoped to go one better after victories in the three previous league fixtures.

Holywell Town took the lead on the quarter-hour mark when Jake Roberts dispossessed Bangor’s Tom Mahoney as he attempted to attack the edge of the box and cleared the ball towards the halfway line, where forward Jamie Breese was able to chase and bring the ball to his control behind Bangor’s last line of defence. Attacking the right channel and nearing the edge of the box, Breese placed his low shot just inside the left post to give Holywell the lead with his eighth league goal of the season.

Brady McGilloway came close to doubling Holywell’s lead just minutes later when he cut inside from the right wing and as he approached the penalty arc, unleashed a left-footed shot which cannoned off the right-post.

Moments later, Mason Blackwell-Jones won the ball high up the pitch on the right side. His rolled diagonal looked to find Corrig McGonigle in the penalty box, who was marked closely by Holywell’s Michael Pearson. McGonigle opted to leave the ball to run across into the path of his team-mate James Barry. After taking a touch to steady the ball, Barry’s curling shot was saved by Wellmen goalie Shaun Pearson, who reacted well to deny Barry a second opportunity on the rebound.

On the 33rd-minute mark, Corrig McGonigle's curving free-kick from just inside the attacking half found Tom Mahoney on the right-hand side of the box, who volleyed the ball back across the face of goal. With both Jake Ellison and Dion Jones queuing up at the far-post, the latter’s short-range header was kept out with a fantastic reflex save by Pearson.

Pearson’s good afternoon between the sticks for Holywell was brought to a premature end in the 38th minute - the stopper was unable to continue after an injury sustained from a clash with James Barry minutes prior. Ryan Woods, a summer signing from CPD Y Rhyl was brought on as his replacement.

The referee blew the whistle for half-time and Holywell Town went into the break with a one-goal lead following a closely-contested first half.

HALF-TIME: HOLYWELL TOWN 1 - 0 BANGOR 1876

Holywell Town were keen to add to their lead straight after the restart. A flat cross from near the left corner flag by Breese found Jake Roberts near the penalty spot with his back towards goal. He rolled the ball into the path of his captain Daniel Andrews, whose shot towards the left-post drew out a wonderful diving save by Bradley Farrar, palming the effort away for a Holywell corner. The resulting left-corner was taken by Breese, which floated towards the head of McGilloway in the middle of the box. Bangor centre-back Jake Ellison came off the goal-line to head clear McGillloway’s goal-bound effort out for another corner.

It was Bangor’s turn to threaten from a corner 10 minutes after the restart when a left corner-kick from Joe Culshaw was directed just beyond the far-post towards Bangor defender Tomos Clarke. His standing header looked to be heading into the top-right corner before Holywell’s susbtitute keeper Woods swiped the ball away for another corner.

In the 58th minute, Holywell’s Jake Cooke was unable to make further progress up the left wing and opted to reset the possession by playing the ball back to Danny Sulllivan who had broken just inside the final third of the pitch. With Bangor unable to close him down in time, Sullivan fired a 35-yard shot which crept through underneath Farrar’s torso and into the net for Holywell’s second of the afternoon.

Sulllivan came close to heading in a third goal for Holywell with 20 minutes remaining, when a right corner kick taken by captain Danny Andrews managed to clear over the heads of a cluster of players in the centre of the box and fell to Danny Sullivan attacking the far-post. Rather miraculously, he was unable to keep his header down from the six-yard box and the ball went out for a goal kick.

With two minutes remaining of regular time, right-back Cai Powell-Roberts received the ball on the right wing during the second phase of a Bangor attack. He rolled the ball into the path of Joe Sulllivan operating outside of the box on the right channel. Sullivan hit a first-time curling cross towards the far-post, and it almost picked out Craig Whelan but it was cleared by the Holywell defence. However, their clearance was tame and fell kindy for Mason Blackwell-Jones on the edge of the box. His shot through a crowd of bodies found the back of the net. Bangor 1876 hoped that Blackwell-Jones’ fourth goal in his last 4 league games would be the catalyst for a spirited comeback.

Holywell almost put the result beyond reasonable doubt as the game headed into injury time when Ryan Edwards' cross-field ball high up the pitch picked out Mark Winslade on the right-corner of the penalty box, but his powerful shot was palmed away for a corner by Farrar.

The full-time whistle was blown and Holywell Town had done enough to emerge victorious and claim all three points.

FULL TIME: HOLYWELL TOWN 2 - 1 BANGOR 1876

The defeat for Bangor means they drop two places in the standings into 5th place, whilst the win for Johnny Haseldins' men means they retain their six-point deficit to league leaders Airbus Broughton and the Wellmen remain in 2nd place.

We return to league action on Friday 13 September when we welcome Flint Mountain to the Bangor City Stadium for a JD Cymru North league match which kicks off at 7.45pm.