They played with the elements in the first half, got the goals and defended strongly in the second half, keeping Barmouth at bay until the last minute. With the wind blowing directly down the pitch, it was Denbigh which had the vast amount of possession and territorial advantage although Barmouth did break from time to time with the tricky Paul Lewis setting up a few counter attacks which never troubled Gareth Roberts in the visitors goal.

Within the first five minutes Denbigh should have taken the lead when Duncan Midgley found himself with a one on one against the keeper but he put his effort wide, but soon after Mark Roberts gave the visitors the lead when his miss-hit shot inside the six yard area completely fooled Darren Andrews in the home goal and the ball trickled into the net. Denbigh continued the pressure and after twenty minutes they added a second after keeping possession in midfield full back Tom Povey was allowed to go forward unchecked and his cross into the box was headed home by Tom Sharples deftly over the advancing Andrews.

Sharples almost added another within a minute but Andrews went down quickly and tipped his shot against the post and for another corner. Denbigh were now playing some good football and creating chances, Eilir Edwards broke free into the box but with the keeper floored he somehow shot wide and Midgley having intercepted a back pass dithered on the ball and Andrews smothered the ball. However when half time came Denbigh had not added to their total and it was all down to how they could defend against the elements in the second half.

Barmouth to their credit came out with gusto in the second half, changing their formation and attacking from the start but they found the visitors defence in an uncompromising mood. They defended so well that Gareth Roberts in goal only had two saves to make, one a header from Ieuan Brooks and a shot from Iwan Lewis as the visitors back four of Povey, Russ Jones, Lee Mason and Owain Roberts kept the home team at arms’ length.

They were well protected in midfield by Ceri James and debutant Liam Jones as Denbigh closed out the game but Barmouth did get a deserved goal in the last minute when Shane Jones curled a free kick into the top corner from just outside the left hand side of the box. Had the goal come earlier there could have been a frantic last few minutes but overall Denbigh deserved to win, not for their first half display but for their excellent defending in the second half.