November 10th 2007
St Asaph v Llandudno Junction Reserves.

After a much improved performance on the previous week the lads were full of confidence going into the clash against St Asaph as only a few weeks ago we had beaten them 5-0 at their ground. We warned the lads about complacency and this would be a much tougher test as St Asaph would not want a repeat of that result. This week saw Scott away on yet another Jolly so the squad this week was as follows:-

Mike Hughes

Sion Watson, Phil Williams 1, Aaron Jones, Mathew Hunt,

James Hobson, Nathan Watson ©, Danny Parry, Chris Darbey

Ross Stevens 3 and Matt Hughes MOM

Craig Evans on for Matt Hughes

Chris Lloyd on for Nathan Watson

Ashley Jones on for James Hobson

As the weather was quite bleak in contrast to our last visit the Referee suggested that we try and get going as quickly as possible, both teams agreed and St Asaph kicked off and immediately bombed forward towards our goal but our defence stood firm and the move broke down. The game was very slow and we couldn’t string the passes together which was a reminder of the Rhos game. On 5 minutes Matt Hunt took a quick throw in to Ross who headed on to Darbey which put him clear, he then took on the full back and whipped in a low ball towards Hobbo but with his body shape all wrong he scuffed the ball wide. St Asaph did seem more up for a battle and on 8 minutes they attacked down the centre of the pitch and their number 9 was foiled when Mike bravely saved at his feet. St Asaph were then awarded a throw in level with our 18 yard box this was cleared by Nathan with a great header which found Danny who passed to Ross who controlled the ball and took on the St Asaph defence turning one way then the next which ended with his marker on the seat of his pants, Ross then opened up his body and calmly curled the ball past the keeper 0-1.
St Asaph restarted and we quickly gained possession of the ball and with some good play we found Hobbo wide on the right who crossed into the box but was cleared by St Asaph’s defence this then put them on the attack and resulted in a shot from their number 7 thankfully this was well over. This gave St Asaph the belief they could get a goal and when they were awarded a corner all the big guns come up from the back, the ball was knocked in which Nathan cleared to a St Asaph player who put the ball back in and their number 6 just volleyed wide. We seemed quite nervous at this stage and we needed a second goal to settle us down, we created some very good football on the right hand and when Hobbo picked up the ball he delivered a quality cross which took out but centre half’s and found Darbey who volleyed goal wards but the keeper managed to save. As St Asaph battled for everything we were awarded a series of free kicks and were in a very good position Dan decided to play it to Hobbo who unusually scuffed his shot and resulted in a goal kick. We were having a lot of joy down the right hand side, maybe this is because we had so many players down that side but when Hobbo delivered another great cross there was no one in there to convert another chance, at this point we got the message to Matt to stay central as he would get a goal or create an opportunity if he stayed in the middle. Darbey who seems to be enjoying his football a lot more since he has been put further up the park controlled a difficult ball played it to Nathan who then played it to Matt who was unlucky to shoot wide after some good crisp passing. St Asaph were never out of this game they just were very poor in front of goal and when they were awarded a free kick they chose to float it goal wards but under some pressure Mike managed to tip the ball over for a corner, the resulting corner was cleared well by Azzy. As St Asaph’s frustrations seemed to be getting the better of them their full back clattered into Ross who had been giving their back four a torrid time, which resulted in us being awarded another free kick, Hobbo delivered perfectly to find Phil free on the back post who headed in to make it 0-2.
As the game was coming to half time the ball was pumped forward and Matt controlled fantastically but was unable to find the finish to match the control, as the Referee was about to blow for half time there was a nasty looking clash which resulted in their number 7 receiving treatment.

Although we were 2 nil up we hadn’t played well and the lack of communication was a frustration for all, we had a chat and put a few things in place which we thought would help our style of play and overcome St Asaph’s tactics, straight from the restart we felt there was a more positive attitude from the lads, we played some good football and on 48 minutes we played the ball about from the back through to Hobbo who switched it to Darbs who took on his full back again and delivered a good cross but St Asaph headed clear. We didn’t let up the pressure and when Matt took another quick throw in to Ross we were able to break free and let Nathan run clear who beat two players then released Darbs who managed to earn us a corner, this was delivered well again but Matt just headed over. The football was much better in the early stages of the second half and all the lads were playing well and when Matt played the ball to Nathan from left back who turned smartly and passed to Darbey who again beat his man but was blocked off by their centre half. In the 65th minute we got the ball on the floor and played some lovely football which started with Matt at left back who again found Nathan who passed to Ross who fed in Darbey who instantly fired goal wards which took a slight deflection passed their keeper 0-3.
 This is were we totally settled down and played the ball around with lots of confidence, Danny who now was pulling the strings in the middle of the park was finding lots of space and controlling the pace of the game, St Asaph never give in but each time they attacked the failed in front of goal with poor finishing or were denied by a very solid back 5. The game was very open at this point and with the freedom of the middle of the park Danny was spraying the ball all over the place and when he found Darbey out on the left hand side with probably the ball of the game we thought Darbs would take on the full back and deliver another cross but this time St Asaph’s full back stopped Darbey in his tracks. Sion Watson forgot about what was bothering him for a few minutes and went on one of his mazy runs and with a clever ball found Ross who shot just wide. St Asaph started going more direct now which stretched the game further and again they were unlucky not to score when their number 9 headed wide. As they chased the game we played our way around the park and in the 84th minute we stretched our lead further when Matt turned and shot only to be denied by the post but with the goal hungry Ross on hand to bag his brace 0-4.
As we seem to be scoring everyone wanted to get in on the action which left us open to the counter attack and when St Asaph found themselves two on two they thought they must get a consolation goal but once again they finished with a very poor shot. Again we applied pressure on the St Asaph defence and when Ross hit a shot which was blocked only to rebound to him which he controlled and shot again only to be denied a second time but yet again the ball found its way back into his path, this time he made no mistake in finding the back of the net 0-5 and another hatrick. The game was won and out of reach for St Asaph but this didn’t stop they from battling to the end like all teams should regardless of the score line, by this time we had introduced Beef, AJ and Lloydy to the game and a combination and AJ battling hard for possession of the ball in the midfield area saw him successfully come away with the ball and play a nice little ball to Sion who found Lloydy in acres who smashed his shot goal wards to make it 0-6 and another good result. In the closing minutes St Asaph had their final chance from a corner but once again the free header we gave them was poorly taken and well off target.

A better second half saw us dominate large portions of the game and some good finishing saw us gain another valuable 3 points away from home this result will now put us 3rd in the league, next week we are at Home to Division One opponents Point of Ayr in the Presidents cup with a 13.45 kick off we hope to see you all at the Home of Football thank you once again for your continued support.