By David Figg

Graham Edwards Memorial Trophy final

Chirk Town 3

The New Saints U-19s 1

IN AN eventful final at Gobowen Playing Field, it was Chirk Town who were crowned the Graham Edwards Memorial Trophy winners for 2019.

A memorable game saw newcomers Chirk take home the trophy after a pair of first half goals and a late third in the second half was enough to secure the win against The New Saints under-19s.

The action got underway with the Saints scoring in the seventh minute – only for it to be ruled offside.

Then in the 19th minute, a second Saints goal was ruled out for offside, before Chirk opened the scoring in the 22nd minute.

Naz Farhat’s free kick from the right eventually found Lewis Penrose who fired home from close-range after a scramble in the box.

Town doubled their lead in the 34th minute when a clearance by their goalkeeper, Nikki Williams, found its way to Shaun Morris who went through on goal and kept his cool to slot home from 12 yards out.

Chirk held the 2-0 lead until a while after the break when TNS pulled a goal back.

In the 74th minute, substitute Lewis Bloor crossed from the right to find Louis Bradford who met the ball with his head to guide the ball into the net past Williams.

Tempers began to flare up after the goal with Saints’ Ethan Short being shown a yellow card by referee Mike Coburn after an altercation with Chirk’s Farhat.

The pair clashed again shortly afterwards, this time causing retaliation from members of both sides.

When the referee calmed the situation down, Short was shown a second yellow card while Chirk captain Matty Cooke received a yellow card.

In added time, Chirk used their one-man advantage to good use and scored a third.

A penalty awarded for a foul on Cooke was fired home by Tom Freeman.

Robert Jones, who scored in the final of the tournament in 1975, presented Cooke with the trophy after the match.