Llanberis FC v Llandudno Junction FC
05th April 2008

This week’s fixture saw us start a run of three tough away games. Llanberis are a very good side but we thought we could go there and get a result that we very much need. Our preparations were dealt a severe blow when it was announced that we would be without four first team regulars so our full squad this week was as follows:-

Rob Jones
Neil Picton, Ben Thomas, Phil Williams, Dwyfor Williams,
James Hobson, Neil Poynton, Nathan Jones, John Blundell,
Tom Roberts, John Paul Colville.

Joey Welsh on for James Hobson
Mike Williams on for John Paul Colville.

 We arrived in Llanberis with the sun beaming down and the squad full of hope, we got changed in the ram shackled shed and set about our plans for the game, after the news of the players being unavailable our luck hit another low when we realised our favourite referee was to take charge of our game. The game kicked off with Llanberis flying out of the traps and putting us under some pressure and creating a great chance with a looping shot in the first two minutes. We launched a long ball from Rob which JP ran onto but was crudely blocked off by the experienced Llanberis centre half. Some very good passing between Natty and Tom saw us spark into action and when the ball was fed into Hobbo he controlled well shifted the ball slightly and drilled the ball into the box which we were just unable to get on the end of. Phil won a fantastic header which he directed to Dwyfor who played into the feet of Tom who in turn found JP and instantly turned the ball out to Hobbo who once again crossed the ball well but Tom at full stretch couldn’t get near but the football was again very good. Then Llanberis got their foot on the ball and played a good one two in the middle of the park and pushed the ball forward which their Number 9 battled with Crouchy for and with their number 9 winning the battle he bent his shot round Rob making it 1-0 to the home side.
Dwyfor again started our next attack when he played a delightful ball down the line which JP ran onto and worked well with John but we lost control when their full back defended well. John then launched a long throw into the box which was defended well but the ball only fell to Dwyfor who played the ball to John between two defenders and John struck well but was denied by their goal keeper’s feet, but once again some good football led to the chance. Then our next chance was created by Tom who had been working his socks off and when he gained possession after some good pressure he beat two players and took the ball into the box and played it to JP who was manhandled and lost control of the ball, but Poynton did really well to win a free kick after some good perseverance, after the referee got the wall back its fully 8 yards which he counted out Natty struck the ball well only to find his effort just off target. With half an hour gone Llanberis put us under quite a bit of pressure which we couldn’t deal with and after some very poor defending on our part we were only saved by the woodwork. Llanberis seemed to be attacking at will and we just couldn’t get hold of the ball and Llanberis created another chance but their number 9 thankfully this time got his angles all wrong and blazed his shot well over. Then after five minutes of constant pressure Llanberis were awarded a corner which they took quickly and again we were not switched on and allowed their lively number 9 a shot at goal. Our only hope seemed to be from John’s long throw which was causing Llanberis all sorts of problems and when John launched another into the box Poynton headed on well which Tom battled well for and with a hurried clearance the ball fell to John who smashed the ball goal wards but their keeper was equal to it. Tom was working tirelessly and was playing really well for the team he was making the Llanberis defence earn their money and this was helping the team immensely. Just as the half time whistle was approaching Llanberis were awarded another corner which was delivered well and met with a great header which Rob managed to push onto the bar only to rebound out which was headed back towards goal but this time John headed off the line and clear the danger.

Half time saw the score line at 1-0 to the home side but it could have been a lot worse; once again we were poor at defending and not alert enough with the only shining light being Tom who was excellent. We spoke again about discipline and that we needed to pass the ball more which would help us get into the Llanberis final third which will hopefully give us the chance to get back into the game. As the second half started Tom got straight back into the action doing really well against two defenders and winning the ball and with a drop of the shoulder he lost another marker but was crowded out just as he was about to pull the trigger. On the 50th minute Natty linked well with Tom who was strong to hold off the defender turned well again and ran at the Llanberis backline but hurried his shot and his effort was weak in the end but once again very well worked. Almost instantly we could have got level when this time Poynton done really well in the middle and passed the ball to Pico who delivered a great ball perfectly over their last man which Tom read well and with only the keeper to beat failed to lift the ball over the oncoming keeper.
This was our best spell of the game because we were doing everything we had talked about at half time, our passing was great and when the ball was fed along the ground for JP to run onto their number 5 gave chase but pulled up sharply with an obvious hamstring injury and JP put their covering defender under so much pressure he won us a corner, which Dwyfor delivered well which Phil met but the keeper managed to save. We were well on top now and passing the ball well but as the chances kept on going begging our frustrations started to boil over and the referee was spoiling the game by some very poor decisions and inconsistent rulings you would be forgiven if you thought that there was only one team playing today as his performance, was as they call in the trade ‘a homer’ If we were adjudged to have committed a foul or breaking a rule the other were free to do what they wanted. This was taking its toll on the lads and when he awarded Llanberis a dubious corner he lectured JP on his comments the corner was delivered well and we once again were saved by the post. With the game edging out we made some changes to try and freshen things up a bit but as the clock struck 82 minutes another dubious free kick was delivered in with a good line and an obvious offside which was not given, Llanberis continued to play with a header across our box to find an unmarked player free to head home and make the score 2-0 this was an obvious mistake by linesman and referee collectively but both couldn’t admit their mistake and awarded the goal. As the three points were slowly slipping away Natty tried to win the ball back with a sliding tackle which clipped their number 6 who stumbled to the ground and this was deemed as a second yellow card when it was quite clear it was an attempt to win the ball and nothing else which resulted in Natty being sent from the field and nearly getting knocked out by the corner flag! Before the winning goal came the referee felt the need to stop the game and count the players on the pitch this seemed to me as he realised we had been playing against twelve players for the whole game as every decision went to the home side.
As the game was in the final seconds Llanberis were awarded another corner which was fired in and headed home to make the score line 3-0 and the chance of getting away from the bottom two places was gone. Holywell's game now on Tuesday night will have more importance than ever, so if you are available to make the journey down the A55 for such a crucial game your support will be much appreciated.