MATCH REPORT | Gresford Athletic 1-5 Mold Alexandra | 2023/24 JD Cymru North, Matchday 12

Gresford Athletic suffered a heavy defeat against Mold Alexandra on matchday 12 of the 2023/24 JD Cymru North on Friday night.

The game began with an early chance for Haci Ozlu as he ran through on goal, but his effort two minutes into the game went wide.

Then, it was not long before Mold Alexandra grabbed their first goal when, in the 10th minute, a great pass was played across the pitch to find Samuel Duffy, who calmly slotted it home.

In the 25th minute, the ball was picked up by Mold Alexandra in a dangerous area, played forward to Jake Roberts, who turned and blasted the ball into the back of the net to make it 2-0.

Five minutes later, in the 30th minute, Jake Roberts scored his second goal of the game, as he placed the ball past Mike Jones from a tight angle to make it three for The Alex.

Things then went from bad to worse for Gresford Athletic, as Charley Edge kicked out at Mold Alexandra's Henry Nash in the 38th minute, resulting in him being shown a straight red card and leaving The Colliers down to 10 men going into the break.

The teams came out for the second half after a host of Gresford Athletic changes and Mold Alexandra managed to find a couple of early shots on goal, but nothing came of them.

In the 59th minute, Simon Smith did test his luck from far out, but his effort went wide of the post.

just a few minutes later, Mold Alexandra found their fourth goal, through a cross into the box for Jake Roberts to bag a hat-trick in the 63rd minute.

Gresford Athletic did not lie down, though, and Haci Ozlu had the ball in the back of the net in the 66th minute, but it was ruled out for an extremely tight offside.

However, substitute Nathan Williams did give Gresford Athletic the goal that they had been looking for in the 74th minute, putting the ball through the legs of Mold Alexandra goalkeeper Alex Swindell following a good one-two with Simon Smith.

Despite that though, Mold Alexandra made it 5-1 in the 82nd minute, with Danny Warren's effort bouncing off the post and falling into the path of Nathan Mendoza to tap it into an open net.

The fifth goal cemented the final score at full time and a tough evening for Gresford Athletic, who will look to dust themselves off and go again after five games without a win in all competitions.

Matchday sponsors WB Environmental Ltd chose Captain Joshua Griffiths as the Gresford Athletic Man of the Match, who had a good performance, despite the result.

Gresford Athletic

Starting XI: Jones (GK), J. Smith (Killilea - 57'), Johnson (Hesp - 70'), Bennett, S. Smith, Griffiths (C), Edge, Buxton (Williams - 46'), Gallagher-Keenan (Mann - 57'), Spridgeon (Ellis - 46'), Ozlu

Goalscorers: Williams

Red cards: Edge

Mold Alexandra

Starting XI: Swindell (GK), Lewis, McHugh, Watkin (Ibrahim - 81'), Watkins, Duffy, Durnell (Mendoza - 69'), Roberts (Coney - 81'), R. Nash (C) (McManus - 81'), Griffith (Warren - 69'), H. Nash

Goalscorers: Roberts (x3), Duffy, Mendoza

Yellow cards: Griffith, Duffy

Subs not used: Davies

Match Officials

Referee: Karl Berry

Assistant Referees: Connor Fowler, Luke Allsop