Radnor Valley denied precious away victory by late penalty

RADNOR VALLEY conceded a late equaliser as Penycae rescued a 2-2 draw from their Lock Stock Ardal North East fixture at The Riverside.

Following a relatively uneventful start to their meeting, it was the highly-flying hosts who broke the deadlock in the ninth minute when Jack Orbell's cross from the right flank was only partially cleared and captain Zak Davies pounced to fire home the loose ball from close-range.

The Wrexham-based club came close to doubling their lead within a minute of the restart but Davies saw his low drive from the edge of the penalty area kept out comfortably by Otto Jones.

The New Radnor men responded and former Rhayader Town midfielder Jack Clarke saw his header come back off the crossbar.

The Goats levelled the scores after 24 minutes when Tom Edwards took advantage of an error in the home defence before driving into the penalty area and firing the ball past goalkeeper Gabriel Pebeyre.

The Radnorshire club turned the match around five minutes before the interval when Joey Price pressurised Pebeyre before finding the back of the net from a tight angle to hand the Goats a 2-1 half-time advantage.

Harry Bowen headed narrowly over the crossbar from a 55th minute corner prior to substitute Tomos Hughes being played through on goal two minutes later, to lift the ball over the advancing Jones but saw his effort come back off the crossbar.

Penycae were increasing the pressure and defender Jac Scott's header struck the crossbar from a 65th minute corner before Davies was denied by Jones at his near post two minutes later.

Radnor looked to be heading for a memorable win, but referee Luke Wynne deemed the ball was handled by a visiting player during a goal mouth melee with seven minutes of normal time remaining.

Thomas Edwards successfully converted the spot-kick past Jones to level the tie.

The Goats custodian then made a fine double save three minutes later to deny Davies and substitute Sam Giles.

The visitors had opportunities of their own in the closing stages to claim all three points. Clarke drove into the Penycae penalty area in the 88th minute but his low shot narrowly went past the wrong side of the far post.