North Wales Coast League West
Premier Division
Wednesday 29th July 2026
Kick Off 18.30 Actual 18.31
Gaerwen 5 Nantlle Vale 3, attendance 112
7’ 1-0
12’ 2-0
18’ 3-0
23’ 3-1
35’ 4-1
41’ 5-1
70’ 5-2
90’ + 2, 5-3
@ Cae Rhosfain
Lon Groes
Gaerwen
LL60 6DD
£3 Admission
No Programme.
It was a trip to Ynys Mon tonight, for one of the opening round of matches of the new season in this league. The village of Gaerwen is just a few miles from the mainland, just south of the A55 that runs to the ferry port of Holyhead. The Cae Rhosfain ground is fully railed and has hard standing on three sides, with the far goal end just grassed. The changing rooms/toilets/tea bar (hot drinks and burgers/chips available) are to the right as you enter off Lon Groes, whilst a pair of dugouts and three small sections of cover are on the far side, although only one of the three had a fully intact roof, with a backdrop of Snowdonia beyond, although low cloud meant it looked far less impressive than it would on a clear day.
Gaerwen got off to a great start, when a corner from the right was headed down and swept in from six yards after seven minutes. Five minutes later they added a second, when a diagonal cross saw a mix up between ‘keeper and defender, leaving a tap in from a few yards out. Six minutes later it was 3-0, when a long punt forward saw a first time shot fly into the bottom corner. We’d still only played twenty three minutes when the fourth goal arrived, this time going the way of the visitors, when a cross from the right was headed in at the far post. We had a lull of twelve minutes before Gaerwen restored their three goal lead, when a cross from the right was cut out by a defender, only to fall perfectly for an easy tap in to make it 4-1. It got even worse for the visitors when their right back played a ball back to his ‘keeper, who somehow totally missed the ball and it was walked into an empty net to give Gaerwen a 5-1 lead at the break. With twenty minutes left a far post header from a corner saw Nantlle Vale pull it back to 5-2, just as the heavens opened. Thankfully, I was right next to the only fully covered stand and just managed to squeeze in. Those not so lucky headed for home, with around half the crowd dispersing at this point. The visitors hit the crossbar a minute into stoppage time, before getting another goal in the dying second to make it 5-3, forcing the ball over the line after a couple of blocked shots following a corner on the right.
An overnight stop in Bangor, followed by a leisurely drive home on Thursday morning. All good, until reaching the M25/M3 junction, hitting the slow crawl of traffic until exiting at J8.
