The first booking came in the first five minutes as M Jones (Wrexham) attempted to set out his stall as a harsh disciplinarian and he booked Martyn Griffiths for whining about a free kick. The players' response was immediate as they set about assaulting one another with the hardest collection of tackles (not necessarily dirty) seen since the last time Ebbw Vale played Connah's Quay. Mr Jones was unable to cope and he gradually lost control amid inconsistent decision giving and just plain bad reffing. Aber were lucky not to concede a penalty on at least one of the three occasions when K. came running out to decapitate any oncoming attackers. For Bangor, chief mixer was their captain Steve Ashton who was lucky to escape with his life after some rumbles with Ryan Nicholls.
And whilst all that was going on, a football match was being played. In a first half where the off-side trap was the ultimate winner, it was a real surprise to find entertaining football. Without Nigel Nicholas, following an 'incident' where he aggravated an injury by fouling his assailant, Aberystwyth still managed to attack strongly through the midfield and down the flanks whereas Bangor, who totally dominated the opening ten minutes, attacked with speed through Marc Lloyd- Williams, Nicky Brookman and Harry Wiggins and were unlucky not to score on several occasions. But it was Aber who took the lead right on half time when Andy Evans dispossessed Mark Rutter in the box and laid on an inch perfect cross for Gavin Allen to tap in from less than a yard out. Much jubilation from the Aber faithful followed across half time, Andy absent because of a carol service was not needed to rally the troops as Dixon laid down the law: Aber will not lose today. Dave and myself ignored him and muttered our incantations of lists of other half time leads: Llansantffraid, Ebbw Vale, Caernarfon ... always like this.
The second half was where the real action was in this match and where the main controversies were to be found. No arguments about Aberystwyth's second which arrived on fifty minutes with Gavin Allen setting up Andy Evans to return the favour but within three minutes Bangor had pulled one back via an excellent driving shot from Marc Lloyd- Williams, though Aber might perhaps claim that they were distracted by a bout going on between Ken McKenna and John Morris, both of whom should have been sent off. After that, the gloves were off and we were treated to thirty six minutes (the ref blew up early) of raw football. Bangor brought on Kenny Woods and Derek Highdale and charged towards the Penparcau end with wild abandon, Aber charged back and all around the ref flapped his arms around and sometimes gave the right decision.
It was the ref who should be blamed for the punch up started by Ken McKenna on the edge of the Aber box though I suspect the FAW will just put it down to the fact that Park Avenue has been turned into a boxing arena quite a lot recently. After the dust settled, the ref dished out only a single yellow card and that to the ex-Conwy player and failed to use the occasion to try and defuse any tension.
Gavin Allen got the goal that sealed it with four minutes to go when he at last got the chance to convert a one on one with the 'keeper. Dave Williams could do nothing to stop Gav's clinical finish which caused him and his team mates to flip like fish out of water in celebration. The ref nearly booked him for that.
The man who can feel most aggrieved at the referee is Kenny Woods. Not because he didn't deserve to be sent of for the latest assault on Andy Evans but because, after all that had gone before, M Jones made himself look like more a fool for finally remembering what a red card is for. The match finished with a foul and, as the players were leaving the field, something happened in the tunnel, though I don't know what.
Radio Cymru covered the game live, their exhausted commentators at time laughed openly at the referee but still found time to marvel at the excitement on offer. It wasn't a game for the po faced dullards who populate the football media, but for energy and thrills you'd be hard pressed to beat this.
