A NORTH WALES reporter's charity football match has collected over £2,000 for a charity caring for his son.

Arron Evans, from Anglesey, has been working for Newsquest for the last seven years and is currently a Digital Reporter for Leader Live.

In April of this year, he became a father for the first time as he and his wife, Georgina, welcomed Ffredi Fôn Evans into the world at Ysbyty Gwynedd, Bangor.

However, although it looked as though he was initially doing really well, it later became apparent that his bowel was not working as it should be.

After two days, Ffredi was transferred to Alder Hey Hospital in Liverpool and over the course of eight days he was treated by the incredible surgical and neonatal teams in neonatal ICU.

He was then diagnosed with Hirschsprungs - a rare congenital disease that affects around 200 babies and children a year in the UK (1 in 5,000).

In August of this year, he will have surgery at Alder Hey Hospital to repair the defect in his bowel.

That is why Arron decided to raise money for Alder Hey Children’s Charity by hosting a charity football match at Llangoed Football Club's Tyddyn Paun ground, which took place on Sunday (July 28).

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The match between Team Arron and Team Ryan was a 6-6 thriller with Arron scoring a penalty in the game and fellow captain Ryan Williams also on the scoresheet with a fine strike.

Other goalscorers for Team Arron were Elliott Jones with a hat-trick, Llion Roberts and Ryan Wood, with Anthony Williams (2), David Thomas, Ethan Davies and Wayne Thomas scoring the others for Team Ryan.

It was Team Ryan who eventually won 4-3 via penalties on a sunny afternoon in Llangoed to become the first winners of the Ffredi Evans Trophy.

(Image: Arron Evans) PIC: Team captains Ryan Williams (yellow) and Arron Evans with Arron's son Ffredi.

But, of course, the real winner was the Alder Hey Children's Charity which will now receive £2,028 following the match.

A total of £453 was raised on the day itself in Llangoed.

Commenting after the game, Arron said: "We are overwhelmed by the support we've received for our football match. We are so grateful to everyone who has donated along the way - the money raised will go a long way towards supporting the children looked after by the Alder Hey Children's Charity.

"A huge thanks to all the lads who took part on the day and congratulations to Team Ryan for winning. To share the pitch with so many great people was an honour and the fact that the sun was shining throughout made it an even more memorable afternoon!

"We are now looking to make the match an annual event to continue raising funds for such a fantastic cause and also raise awareness of Hirschsprungs disease.

"Being a journalist was always my dream job growing up and I'm lucky enough to do that every day. But, being a father is now another dream come true, despite the challenges we've faced as a family so far.

"Ffredi is now three months old and the happiest boy with the cheekiest smile. We owe so much of that to Alder Hey."