October 13th 2007
Llandudno Junction Reserves v Llannefydd.

After a recent couple of games in the cup we were back to the league and back at Home. Three games unbeaten with two of them on the road has been a good little run, so with the home game it was important we continued our winning streak. As reported previously, the squad is getting bigger and stronger each week and the task of picking the squad is getting harder, this week Nathan Jones was available for the first time since returning from the postage stamp Ben Thomas was knocking on the door along with Craig Evans who are both desperate to play. This week’s squad, after a lot of thought was as follows:-

Mike Hughes

Chris Darbey, Phil Williams 1, Scott Jones, Sion Watson,
Chris Lloyd, Nathan Watson ©, Danny Parry 2, James Hobson MOM
Ross Stevens 1, and Matt Hughes

Aaron Jones on for Chris Darbey
Nathan Jones on for Ross Stevens
Mathew Hunt on for Sion Watson
Unused subs Tom Roberts.

AWOL! BOBBY COLVILLE.
 

Yes the inevitable happened after seven appearances, one Man of The Match Performance and FOUR ish goals Bobby went AWOL, this left us with only four subs and lots of other players left in limbo. With the photo shoot of the new kit kindly sponsored by Deganwy Ventilation, due at 13.40 all the lads got their early and prepared the Home of Football immaculately for the visit of Llannefydd. With the lads full of beans and excited about getting their pictures on the website, the music blared from the dressing room and the place was buzzing with anticipation. Scott took the lads for the warm up has we had some last minute thoughts of what to do for the game and picked the stating eleven. The game got under way, bang on time and after only a few minutes I was called upon as Lloydy had gone down like a cheap hooker clutching his foot which looked serious, Nathan immediately warmed up which was good to see. However after some magic water Lloydy was on his feet and raring to go again, which is always good to see on four minutes Llannefydd earned themselves a corner which Phil cleared with a good header but the clearance was met by a Llannefydd player who connected well but shot just over. We played some nice football down the right hand side, which started with Sion who cleverly found Hobbo who instantly passed to Ross unfortunately he was challenged and the play was broken down this was a superb bit of play and was a credit to Mally Williams and Colin Jones as all three played under their guidance at under 17 level. Our play this season has been exceptional and our tackling has been fantastic and this was shown in true style when Scott made an excellent tackle just inside our half and then had the presence of mind to find Lloydy who crossed into the box showing no signs of the earlier knock. We opened the scoring in the 11th minute with some quick smart play from Mike who threw the ball to Darbey who then threaded the ball to Matt who played it to Ross and at a very tight angle unleashed an unstoppable shot past the helpless Llannefydd keeper, 1 – 0 and another good start. Within two minutes we had doubled our lead when Hobbo delivered a perfect free kick into the box which found Phil in acres of space and he was able to volley home from three yards, what a difference a week makes! This gave Llannefydd the kick that they needed and they started to play a bit, they attacked down the left hand side and crossed the ball into our penalty area and with the ball bouncing round like Sion Watson on a night out in Bangor, the ball was eventually cleared by Scott. The game was very stop start and lots of Free kicks were being awarded by the Referee and in a passage of play that was 15 minutes long 8 free kicks had been awarded and the final one was converted by Llannefydd’s number 4 who had a free header and accurately found the back of our net. This was a sign for the lads to up their game and within a few minutes we were passing the ball around very well and created another chance which Lloydy just failed to convert. Again another free kick was awarded and this time Danny took it which found Nathan Watson who volleyed straight at their keeper, again the attitude was right and the lads played some good stuff and when Hobbo clipped the ball to Lloydy we thought this was going to be his chance to get on the score sheet after some very impressive performances in recent weeks but this was thwarted by a very strong tackle which tested the earlier knock on Lloydy, but thankfully he was fine. As reported earlier the game was all about free kicks and in the 33rd minute Hobbo struck the wall, but with the rebound he hit an excellent volley which just sailed over. As the game came closer to half time Sion stopped another attack and went on a run and with a great cross he found Ross who was unlucky when his shot was parried by Llannefydd’s keeper, Lloydy chased down and the ball which was cleared for a throw in. This was quickly taken by Darbey who found Matt who played the ball back to Nathan who was challenged when dispatching his shot this brought the half to a close and a score line of 2-1.

The last few games have been played with a lot of heart and belief and all the players have done their bit to get a result. With Nathan Watson getting closer to full fitness after a non existent pre season he was able to burst forward from midfield into the Llannefydd box and was taken down and received a kick to the head for his troubles the Referee had no choice but to award a pen which Danny finished to make it 3-1. This was going to test Llannefydd as early goals are horrible to cope with, they continued to play their game and created a few opportunities but we were up to the task and defended well. On one occasion Mike ended up with the ball, who chipped the ball to Matt who was urged from the crowd to lob the keeper as he was well off his line but Matt got his bearings wrong and put the ball just wide. We continued to play the game at our pace and created another chance which was saved well, we then won the ball back in midfield and with some excellent one touch football along the floor we found Ross who ran directly into the box with the ball who was brought down and we were awarded another pen, the battle of wits against Keeper and Taker was again on show again Danny stepped up a made no mistake and stretched our lead to four. As each week passes the football gets better and the antics get funnier, this week was Matt’s turn, we was chasing down a lost cause and then ended flat on his face how I do not know but no one was near him! Llannefydd enjoyed some possession of the ball and created a very good chance but this was volleyed just wide, this was the opportunity for Natty to make his second resurrection under my guidance and came on for the very energetic Ross who again performed very well in numerous positions. As Natty hasn’t played for a while on a decent Football pitch, it was with great expectation as to see how he would deal with such a vast open space, and within minutes Natty showed what he is capable of with a nice flick to Hobbo which was cleverly disguised. Without my ball boys to go and retrieve the balls I set off myself to fetch the stray balls, so you will have to forgive me for the lack of information for the next 15 minutes. Mathew came on for the tiring Sion who once again had given his all and in the last five minutes Aaron went on for Darbey who has also played very well this season. The last chance of the game fell to Llannefydd who after a scramble couldn’t find the target from three yards out, final score 4-1 and another good hard fought result.

Again we would like to thank you all for your valued support and hope to see you all again at the Flyover this Saturday when we take on Connahs Quay Nomads Reserves, who are placed second in our league and will be our biggest test to date, after this game we will be able to asses how far we have come and how far we have to go.