Matty Williams opened the scoring for the hosts midway through the opening half before the Bus capitalised when Mark Kelly was shown a straight red card approaching the hour mark.

Jake Eyre’s brace, in addition to Ryan Edwards and Adam Davies goals, ensured the Bus strengthened the grip on top spot after title rivals Llandudno dropped two points on Saturday – Eyre's late sending off the only disappointment on an otherwise fantastic afternoon.

The boss made two changes from last weekend’s home triumph against Flintshire rivals Buckley Town. Owen Payne and Simon Spender returned to the side operating in the full-back positions.

Despite it being a glorious sun-drenched day in Llanrhaedr, the pitch was proving problematic in the early stages. The Bus struggled to maintain possession due to its bobbly nature so played more direct into Davies and Oli Lanceley.

Marc Griffiths’ side largely dealt with the aerial threat of the two forwards well but Airbus still probed for a breakthrough on a couple of occasions. Eyre struck narrowly wide one-on-one in the 16th minute before Gaz Edwards' header grazed the woodwork from a corner.

Llanrhaedr then struck a sucker punch against the run of play. Williams fired home with an excellent finish to the distaste of O’Shaughnessy’s men who were convinced the referee missed a blatant handball in the build-up.

But Airbus quickly had to fuel perceived injustice into a champions-esque response. Deploying a deep defensive block that seemed to retreat further and further as the half progressed, the Bus struggled to calve open a clear opportunity prior to the interval against stern opposition.

There was also a scare of potentially falling further behind when Payne’s uncharacteristic sloppy back-pass appeared to be goal-bound but thankfully tricked past Lewis Dutton’s post.

A response was needed in the final 45, and the game was thrown on its head in the 57th minute. Eyre raced in behind and was cynically brought down in the box by Kelly. David Livesy pointed to the spot and reduced Llanrhaedr to 10-men.

Eyre stepped up and levelled proceedings nestling his spot-kick into the bottom corner with aplomb. The hunt was now on for three points.

Turning the screw with the man advantage, Airbus had to wait until 15 minutes to play for the comeback to be complete following a period of persistent pressure. Simon Spender picked out Edwards who beat his marker and slotted home on his left foot.

Just moments later, Eyre all-but secured victory. Payne’s spectacular long-range pass found the forward who delightfully chipped the goalkeeper to add a third to the tally.

In the 82nd minute, substitute Nathan Brown made an instant impact. He worked a shooting angle and forced a neat save before Davies was on hand in true strikers' fashion to poach home the rebound – his extraordinary goalscoring season continues.

The match seemed to be fizzling out to its finale until an action point five minutes from time. Eyre exuberantly slid into a challenge which was deemed reckless. He was shown his marching orders meaning the 26-year-old will miss the next three league fixtures.

But this dismissal was the only disappointment on what was potentially another decisive day for the Wingmakers’ title aspirations. Just five games remain. One step at a time...

Airbus UK Broughton FC

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