A YOUNG Penrhyndeudraeth side put up a spirited fight but were beaten 5-3 at Llanberis in the North Wales Coast West Premier.
The Ffordd Padarn hosts nudged ahead on six minutes through 18-year-old Caio Thomas but the Cocklemen came roaring back to take the lead by the half hour mark.
The equaliser came on 19 minutes when Callum Davies played the ball to Gwion Davies who kept his composure to blast the ball into the roof of the net from close range.
But the Darans were back in the lead by the break with a couple of goals by Kurt Hellfeld.
It had been a strong attacking first half by Pen, but they were punished by set-pieces with the hosts strong in the air.
The game drifted away from the Cockles early in the second half when Ifan and then Peter Mansoor made it 5-2 to the hosts.
Hughes bagged his brace from the penalty spot on the hour and that’s the way it stayed.