COLWYN Bay marked their return to competitive action with a dramatic penalty shootout victory at Buckley Town in the Nathaniel MG Cup.

The Seagulls’ returned to the pitch after a 281-day absence due to the coronavirus pandemic, with the club also unable to participate in any friendly fixtures in the lead-up to their cup tie at The Globe.

Craig Hogg’s side managed to dig deep to book their place in the next round, and the boss was clearly delighted with the commitment shown from his side during the clash.

He said: “To come straight into a cup game at Buckley and be the better team for everything bar the last ten minutes or so, says so much about the type of people we have at this club.

"We had a couple of teenage lads and players having to play out of position just to do a job for us because we are down to the bare bones at the moment.

"With everything that has gone on this year, I am so pleased for so many of our players and in so many different ways.

"There were some excellent debuts, household names impacting the game, young men acting like seasoned pros and lads doing the basics extremely well for us.

"The game was a battle from start to finish on a very heavy pitch. We knew that was going to be the script going into the fixture, but I thought we came out on top in every department.

"We did fade in the last 12 minutes as lack of match practice and fitness began to kick in, but that was expected and understandable.

"It went to penalties which I felt like an injustice, but the lads rallied yet again and the quality of our penalties in the shootout was excellent.

"It was a privilege to be manager of this group. They gave everything for our club and got what was fully deserved I feel."

The Bay went two goals to the good thanks to efforts from Mike Williams and Sion Edwards, but a brace from Shaun Tinsley – the last coming in added time – sent the game to penalties.

U19 player Morgan Ashworth was the hero as the visitors emerged victorious by a 6-5 shootout score line.