The First Team's first home game of the season was not a joyous one as Gresford Athletic were knocked out of the Welsh Blood Service League Cup in round one following a 4-1 home defeat against Prestatyn Town on Saturday.

The first half started well for Gresford Athletic, with Alex Buxton doing well in the eighth minute to pick up the ball and play it to Joe Chaplin, whose deflected shot reached Paul Johnson for a strike on the edge of the area, which was saved by Travis Wilson in the Prestatyn Town net.

After a good start for Gresford Athletic, Prestatyn Town took the lead against the run of play in the 12th minute, with Tom Hilditch scoring the goal.

Joe Chaplin was played through by Harvey Ellis in the 17th minute with a great ball forward, but the striker was unable to find space to shoot and was martialled well by the Presatyn Town defence.

Prestatyn Town piled on the misery when Dean Davies scored their second goal in the 27th minute.

It was almost a debut goal in the 31st minute when Leon Bennett had a shot from close range, but it was blocked well by The Seasiders.

Gresford Athletic almost found the goal they had been searching for in the 34th minute when Charley Edge's free-kick smacked the crossbar.

However, Joe Chaplin finally found the goal for Gresford Athletic after Dominic Deacon smartly played him through and he slotted it home.

Despite chances for Gresford Athletic, Prestatyn Town were able to advance their lead further, scoring two in added time, with Daniel Atkins scoring the first and Karl Clair grabbing the second goal, meaning the half time scoreline was 4-1 to The Seasiders.

Gresford Athletic were determined to find their way back into the game in the second half, with Haci Ozlu putting in a good cross in the 53rd minute, finding Dominic Deacon, but his header was saved by Prestatyn Town's Travis Wilson.

Alex Buxton then almost grabbed a second Gresford Athletic goal in the 56th minute, with his curling effort nearly finding the top corner.

Gresford Athletic continued to look for another goal and, in the 59th minute, they were so unlucky not to find it, with Charley Edge's long-range effort rattling the crossbar and then the rebounded Joe Chaplin shot cleared off the line.

Charley Edge unfortunately saw red in the 65th minute after receiving a second yellow card, leaving Gresford Athletic with 10 men for the last 25 minutes of the game.

In the 82nd minute, substitute Toby Gallagher-Keenan was through on goal and had a good effort, but the ball went over the crossbar.

Joe Chaplin came close to scoring, with his good turn and powerful shot in the 85th minute being well saved by Prestatyn Town goalkeeper Travis Wilson. This was followed by Charlie Mann's 86th minute effort, which was tipped onto the crossbar by Travis Wilson, who had an excellent game in goal for Prestatyn Town.

Matt Busby was then called upon in the 87th minute to make a good save and deny Prestatyn Town a fifth goal.

Captain Joshua Griffiths then tested his luck in the fourth minute of added time with a long-range effort, but it went over the crossbar and the final whistle blew.

Gresford Athletic were knocked out of the Welsh Blood Service League Cup in the first round for the second season running, but certainly had plenty of chances that could have meant it was a very different scoreline at The Rock.

Leon Bennett was named Man of the Match for Gresford Athletic following a vote on Twitter, putting in a good performance on his debut for the club.

Gresford Athletic

Starting XI: Busby (GK), Ellis (Killilea - 77'), Bennett, J. Smith (Williams - 77'), Buxton (Mann - 60'), Griffiths (C), Johnson, Edge, Ozlu (Gallagher-Keenan - 60'), Deacon (S. Smith - 66'), Chaplin

Goalscorers: Chaplin

Subs not used: Jones (GK), Roberts

Yellow cards: Edge

Red cards: Edge

Prestatyn Town

Starting XI: Wilson (GK), White, Scoullar, Murphy, Rimmer, Cahill (C) (Aylmer - 21'), Davies (Holden - 62'), Pearson (Dunne - 71'), Hilditch, Clair, Atkins

Goalscorers: Hilditch, Davies, Atkins, Clair

Subs not used: Coulton

Yellow cards: Pearson, Atkins, Rimmer, Scoullar

Match Officials

Referee: Iolo Williams

Assistant Referees: Tomos Jones, Andrew Dogan