GAP Connah’s Quay were given a real run for their money before finally beating Buckley Town 3-1 in Friday’s derby date.

Manager Mark McGregor admitted: “Buckley give us a real scare and I was quite impressed with them.

“I was really happy to have come away with maximum points with three well taken goals. It is great to get off to such a flying start as there is nothing worse than having to play catch up.”

Buckley had the best of the early spoils and Mark Ormer fired against the bar and should have done better with a snapshot moments later.

It was Gap who went on to break the deadlock when Andy Olsen scored with a close range header from a pin point Stuart Huber free-kick.

Back came Buckley to deservedly pull level when James McIntosh converted a spot-kick following a foul on Gary McConnell.

Late in the game, the Nomads restored their lead with a spectacular shot from Rob Jones after he was set free by Dean Thurston.

Buckley went chasing the game and were caught on the break when Danny Forde created a simple opportunity for Gary O’Toole to cement the 3-1 success with the last action of the match.

Buckley chief Gareth Thomas was far from down-hearted and said: “Overall, we made a good scrap of things and I thought we shaded the second half despite conceding two sloppy goals. “

Cefn Druids returned from Rhyl empty handed after being floored 3-1.

Assistant manager Dave Taylor bemoaned a series of missed chances for Druids and said: “Early on in the game we failed to make the most of the opportunities we did create, with Aden Shannon and Richard Cook both going close to breaking the deadlock.”

Rhyl rode their luck and against the run of play, Stuart Rudd gave them a 21st minute lead.

Druids were back on level terms shortly after though when Adam Hesp scored from close range.

There was a minor fracas on the stoke of half time and Rhyl had John Keegan dismissed after tangling with  Shannon who was also sent off following a second bookable offence.

Rhyl then pushed on to victory with goals from Simon Heenon and ex-Wrexham midfielder, Gareth Owen.

“We conceded a controversial second goal when I thought Simon Heenon was yards off-side when he raced clear to beat Chris Mullock,” admitted Taylor.

“We had good chances to get back on level terms with Max Peate going close but their decisive goal was a well struck shot from 25 yards out by Gareth Owen which gave Mullock no chance.”

Flint Town United were relieved to have got off the mark after a one-sided 2-0 win at home to Welshpool.

“It wasn’t so much the performance that pleased me but taking all three points from the game was more important than how they were achieved,” said manager Paul Davies.

“To be fair, Welshpool were never in the game and we wasted a bagful of chances.

Simon Hulse picked out Sean Beck but his looping header went wide of the target.

“We failed to break the deadlock from the penalty spot which was awarded for a foul on Beck but Jon Kenworthy fired against the bar and Phil Lloyd made a hash of the rebound.

“Eventually, all of our pressure did pay off and after Welshpool were reduced to ten men when Scott Jones was dismissed and from the resulting free-kick, Matt Roberts broke the deadlock. To cement the win, Beck popped up in injury to score the simplest of goals. “

Rhos Aelwyd remain unbeaten after they shared the spoils in a 1-1 draw with Guilsfield.

Rhos took a 14th minute lead from the penalty spot and it was converted by ex-Wrexham midfielder Waynne Phillips following a foul on Mike Pugh.

The visitors did pull level on the half hour mark when Scott Graham breached the Rhos defence after a good spell of possession.

From that point onwards however, Rhos spurned chance after chance.

Mike Parry was denied by the crossbar, player-boss Mike Barton pulled off two wonderful saves from Mike and Josh Russell, who later got his marching orders.

Rhos boss Steve Walters was happy with the point, claiming: “I am delighted to be two games into the new season and ten days ago I would have taken four points out of a possible six but on reflection, I would sum up Saturday’s match as two points dropped.

“In the second half, we failed to convert so many chances and this is an area where we need to improve.”

Rhydymwyn also remain unbeaten following a credible 1-1 draw at Rhayader, who did fluff two penalty opportunities during the game with Rhyd keeper Danny Stanton the hero

The hosts took a deserved lead through Tom Bithell but Dean Hughes rescued Rhyd a point.

“This was not vintage Rhyd but on chances, I thought we deserved the point,” admitted boss Phil Eaton.

“Dean Hughes got us back into the game with a close range header and Mark Gunther and Dean right at the death might just have sealed things for us but all in all, I can’t complain about the result.”

Ruthin Town are just two points off the top after drawing 2-2 at Penrhyncoch.

They put themselves in the driving seat when Mike Garrod and Aaron Aby carved out a two goal cushion but the hosts finshed strong to hit back through Josh Shaw (2).

In the remander of the action, champions Llangefni find themselves rooted to the base of the table after flopping 4-2 at Caersws who had a hat-trick hero in Marc Griffiths and Llandudno are looking in fine fettle after beating hosts Porthmadog 3-2.