LLANDUDNO manager Iwan Williams could not hide his disappointment as his side exited the JD Welsh Cup with a 2-0 home loss to Newtown.

An under-strength Tudno were undone by two controversial moments that sent them crashing out at the quarter final stage, and their focus now turns to securing their top flight future when they entertain basement dwellers Prestatyn Town on Friday.

Williams, said: “Their first goal was definitely a foul and I know I have to be careful with what I say bit I thought the referee was awful.

“We started brightly after that and were knocking on the door but were unfortunate to have Paddy sent off, which is something he will learn from going forward.

“We have to dust ourselves down as we have a massive game on Friday which could get us one step closer to safety, but everyone is bitterly disappointed.”

After Mike Williams and Matty Williams missed fantastic chances to open the scoring in the first ten minutes, the Robins were awarded a penalty on 20 when Luke Boundford was pulled back by Joe Heath.

Alex Fletcher fluffed his lines from the spot thanks to a fine stop from Paddy Rutter, but Chris Hughes’ men went ahead just before the break when Neil Mitchell barged his way to head the ball into the net despite protests from the home side.

After the break saw influential duo Danny Hughes and Mike Williams both leave the pitch injured, and manager Williams donned the goalkeeping gloves after Rutter was shown a red card.

The tie was sealed in stoppage time when Williams came up for a corner in the dying stages which was cleared, and the resulting break allowed Nick Rushton the simple task of slotting home.

“It was quite difficult to speak after the game and it was hard to criticise the players as I saw in their eyes that they wanted to get back in the game,” added Williams.

“We might have been a bit cuter with the ball at times which would have led to more chances. The lads are devastated as they really wanted to get to a Welsh Cup semi.

“Alex (Lynch) is a good, honest lad who knew he has not been good enough, so we will look at how he does this week as he will have to come in and play the next three games in goal for us.”