RHYL’S battling qualities came to the fore as they fought from a man and a goal down to draw with Porthmadog.
Danny Hughes handed the Lily’s an early lead, but after Steve Lewis was dismissed for a petulant kick, Porth looked set to inflict Rhyl’s first league defeat of the season.
But veteran Mark Powell popped up with a wonderful 78th minute equaliser to share the spoils, and with fellow title hopefuls Cefn Druids losing out a 3-2 thriller with Conwy Borough, Greg Strong saw the draw as a point gained, despite second-placed Caersws narrowing their lead to four points.
“I think for us to play with ten men for 65 minutes, and still be the ones looking most likely to make something happen, it’s a difficult one to call.
“At the end of the day, with the way other results went, I think it has to be a point gained.
“I’m delighted with the way the ten lads who finished the game played. At the end, their manager said that if he could have taken a draw he’d have snapped our hands off, which says a lot about our fitness and commitment.”
Hughes converted a Paul McManus cross on seven minutes to put Strong’s men ahead, but Porth proved they were no push-overs by levelling 20 minutes later through Josh Banks.
Lewis was given his marching orders after kicking out at a marker soon after, and things looked ominous when Ryan Davies headed the visitors in front 15 minutes from time.
But an edge of the box blast from Powell levelled the match, stretching Rhyl’s unbeaten streak to 15 games.
Aberystwyth await this weekend in the Welsh Cup, and Strong said his boys were relishing the opportunity to test themselves against the in-form Welsh Premier League side.
“The lads are really looking forward to it, it’s one of those rare occasion where people outside the club are not really expecting much from us, but we’re really looking forward to the challenge,” he said.