FLINT TOWN UNITED (Cae-y-Castell)

Wednesday 9th February 2011
Cymru Alliance
Flint Town United 1-2 Connah's Quay
Attendance: 150

Due to some work related shenanigans I was afforded the chance to work 9 to 5 like normal human beings do. This created the opportunity to get in some rare midweek action, what a treat!

It doesn't get much closer to home than this!

I used to watch Flint regularly in the mid 1990's when they were flying high in the League of Wales, but it has been a long time since I visited Cae-y Castell. What better way to re-introduce myself than a local derby against the Nomads. 

The ground has not changed at all since my last visit, with the exception of a tiny arena-style stand in one of the corners (see photo below) but the status of the club has, as they have been in the Cymru Alliance since 1998. The Nomads came down last summer after the re-organisation of the Premier League but find themselves in pole position to make a quick return.


The game never really got going in the first half, despite the Nomads taking an early lead when a mix up between the Flint goalie and defender allowed Gary O'Toole a simple tap in after five minutes. Flint hit the bar through Shaun Beck just before half time but there was little created in terms of clear cut chances.

O'Toole doubled the Nomads advantage on the hour mark, from a lightning breakaway from a Flint corner! Simon Thellwall made it 2-1 with 20 minutes but the Silkmen couldn't find that elusive equaliser, though they did come close deep into stoppage time.  The Nomads held on for a deserved victory.

ASHTON TOWN (Edge Green Street)

Tuesday 8th February 2011
North West Counties League Division 1
Ashton Town 5-2 Daisy Hill
Attendance: 40

Due to some work related shenanigans I was afforded the chance to work 9 to 5 like normal human beings do. This created the opportunity to get in some rare midweek action, what a treat!

It was a short trip up the M6/A58 to the town of Ashton-in-Makerfield and Edge Green Street, the home of Ashton Town. It was their first home game since December 11th due to the bad weather and tonight they were up against perennial strugglers Daisy Hill, but both teams are at the wrong end of the table.

The first half of the game was a pretty even affair with both teams as bad as each other. Ashton Town started like a train and were at Daisy Hill from the off. The Daisy Hill goalie was wearing tracksuit bottoms and I then told my groundhopping mate about my theory on goalkeepers who wear trackie bottoms and how, 9 times out of 10, they are dodgy to say the least.

After 4 minutes Ashton got a corner on the right and Paul Cliff proceeded to score direct from it. Point proved me thinks. The 'keeper then provided a couple more comedy moments but these were the highlights of a generally poor first half.

The second wasn't that much better, still very scrappy and bad tempered,  but at least there was a goal fest to compensate for the lack of any half-decent football. Lewis Coyle (58) made it 2-0 before Gregory (60) halved the deficit. Two goals in four minutes through David Ojapah (75) and a Michael Sykes penalty (79) gave the homesters an unassailable advantage. An own goal on 89 minutes proved to be too little too late for Daisy Hill, not that it mattered as Adam Howard fired home deep into stoppage time to give Ashton a 5-2 win.

DURHAM CITY (New Ferens Park)

Saturday 5th February 2011
Northern Premier League Division One North
Durham City 0-3 Chester
Attendance: 507

A Michael Wilde hat-trick secured a comfortable away win for the visitors.



Spot the mistake!



UWIC (Cyncoed Road)

The beauty of the Welsh Cup is the occasional oddities the draw throws up. Today was one of those occasions. The University of Wales Institute Cardiff are a team made up of first and second year students and they play in the the fourth tier of Welsh football, the Welsh League division 3. Their home ground is within the Cyncoed Road University Campus.

They are coached by former Welsh International Christian Edwards, who combines this role with a similar one at Aberystwyth whilst also continuing his studies. The opponents today were Bala Town who play in the Welsh Premier, the top tier, and although are having a difficult season results wise they are a team brimming with experience. On paper it seemed a bit of a mis-match.

I booked my train to cardiff back in November, as soon as the draw was made, but it was with some trepidation I left a frost bound North Wales and headed south. I just couldn't see the game being on so I was contemplating chucking my tickets in the bin and looking for a certainty closer to home.

I spoke to the UWIC secretary on the friday evening and he was pretty confident there wouldn't be any problems (last week when South Wales was covered in frost, theirs was one of only two games that went ahead). His confidence was well founded and the game was never in doubt.

It was well worth the trip as, in a major upset, the students stunned the premier league side by dumping them out of the cup.

Bala took an early lead through a Chris Mason shot from the edge of the box (9) before the students came back to lead 2-1. Lewis Murray (13) prodded home before Sam Carrington (18) doubled the advantage. Bala were then reduced to 10 men when left back Mike Thompson was dismissed (35) for an elbow. Bala did continue to press and were unlucky not to be level at the interval when the hit the bar and had two efforts kicked off the line. However the students held firm and were superbly marshalled by skipper Donal Roughneen.

Bala won a penalty within a couple of minutes of the restart, but this was saved by Chris Willis, the UWIC goalkeeper. As the game went on Bala became more frustrated and their challenges became more robust however the students continued to play their football and picked Bala off on the break with two further goals in the last 15 minutes.

An an attack was broken up by the Bala defender, but the attempted back pass was intercepted by Ed Jones (75) who rounded the keeper to slot home.  A superb strike by Murray (88) sealed the win for the students. Bala's misery was further compounded when they were reduced to 9 men in stoppage time Mark Connelly, on his debut, received his second yellow card.

Overall though Bala can have no complaints with the final score. This result puts UWIC into the draw for the last eight and, speaking to a club official, the £12,500 prize money they will recieve for today's victory will keep the club ticking over for a good four seasons. It also leaves the students only three games away from the Europa League...what price for that?

Bala's John Irving shields the ball from UWIC striker Ed Jones.

For the match highlights, courtesy of S4C, then follow this link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxK8RjtB2dQ&feature=player_embedded

Saturday 29th January 2011

FAW Welsh Cup 4th Round

UWIC 4-1 Bala Town

Attendance: 163