Rhewl vs. Llandyrnog

Rhewl attack as I hide under the Helen's lifesaver of an umbrella

It was another win for Llandyrnog on a wet and windy night in Rhewl with Llandyrnog getting all three points on the back of a 4-2 victory. In conditions not exactly fitting a 'Summer' League night Llandyrnog prevailed in what was a feisty game that could have seen far more cautions that it eventually did.

Llandyrnog started brightly and immediately set up camp in the Rhewl half, there was an early chance for Phil Hinchcliffe who couldn't quite get his head over the ball when he latched on to Danny Roberts' floated free kick. Within five minutes Llandyrnog had taken the lead, after winning a corner following a lung busting 50 yard run from Danny Roberts, Tom Evans whipped an inviting ball in for an unmarked Patrick Hinchcliffe to nod home from close range and show his old man how to bury a header (albeit a simpler one than Phil had attempted).

The tone for the remainder of the game was set moments later when the Rhewl Hinchcliffe, brother of Llandyrnog's Phil, picked up a yellow card for a lunge on Dan Porter. Unfortunately Llandyrnog were unable to make the most of the resulting free kick as Dan Porter placed it high and wide.

There were shouts for a penalty from the Llandyrnog contingent as Emyr Jones, up for a corner, showed some delightful dribbling skills as he turned his man in the Rhewl box and attempted to cut the ball back to the queue of blue shirts looking for a tap in, only to see his pass blocked by what appeared to be a Rhewl arm. The referee did not agree and play was waved on. The pressure continued to mount on the home side and Patrick Hinchcliffe almost added a second on the night but his smart overhead kick was straight at the keeper. The pressure did tell though and eventually Rhewl's good fortune ran out when Danny Robs volleyed in from close range after Rhewl again struggled to get near a wicked Llandyrnog cross, this time from Dan Porter.

Rhewl then started to make inroads into the game and almost got a goal from nothing when a poke at the Llandyrnog goal was deflected, wrong footing Daniel Jones before creeping just wide of the post. Rhewl's rare forray into the Llandyrnog half did not stem the tide though as Llandyrnog added a third goal, this time Phil Hinchcliffe drilling in from ten yards after the Rhewl stopper had parried a Tudur Morris effort tamely into the path of the elder Hinchcliffe.

The game turned into a bit of a midfield battle at this point and barring a few Rhewl corners and a scramble in the Rhewl area that was hoofed clear chance were at a premium for the remainder of the half. There was another yellow card though as the Rhewl #2 was booked for hacking down Dan Porter after one of his team-mates had tried and failed to do the same to Llandyrnog's top scorer.

Soon after the restart Dan Porter made way for Luke Humphreys with what is hopefully just a knock but given some of the treatment being dished out to him it was probably wise to replace him. The second half continued in the same vain as the first one finished when the Rhewl #9 was booked for trying to put young Pat Hinchcliffe into a headlock after being warned on more than one occasion in the first half for his behaviour. Phil Hinchcliffe followed him into the book by giving him what appeared to be a good old fashioned rugby tackle. The game continued as a scrappy affair with plenty of ticking offs being doled out by referee and a bit of bite being put into both sides tackles.

Chances finally started to come after a mix up in the Rhewl defence and a poor clearance from the Rhewl goalkeeper let Luke Humphreys in only for the hapless keeper to twice parry the ball back to the Llandyrnog attackers before eventually grabbing hold of the ball. Patrick Hinchcliffe again went close for the Blues when his shot was deflected narrowly wide of the Rhewl net.

As it turned out Rhewl would claim the next goal as Llandyrnog failed to clear the ball before a little penalty box pinball resulted in Iolo Hughes smashing the ball home from close range. Llandyrnog responded within a minute when a defensive mistake from the Rhewl Hinchcliffe was pounced upon by substitute Luke Humphreys who calmly slotted under the Rhewl #1 after gambling on the last defender missing the ball through.

The game wasn't done there though as Dion Lloyd scored with an effort from just over 20 yards that flew into Llandyrnog net leaving Daniel Jones with no chance. That was it for the goals but there was just enough time for Tom Evans to find his way into the book for a late challenge on a Rhewl midfielder that left the opposing player in a heap.

The game almost erupted moments after the final whistle when Tom Evans decided to test whether the Rhewl goalkeeper was willing to back up some of the shit he was talking (it turns out he wasn't) but fortunately cooler heads prevailed and the players left the field.

It was a scoreline that is perhaps generous on the Rhewl side but understandable given the awful conditions and niggly nature of the game.

My Man of the Match goes Patrick Hinchcliffe who put himself about all evening and was central to most of the games better moments. There were deserving performances too from Tom Evans who freed Patrick up to get forward and disrupted the flow of the Rhewl midfield perfectly and also Emyr Jones at the back who defended well all night and even joined the occasional attack to good effect.

The team was as follows:-

Daniel Jones

John Jones, Russell Moorcroft, Emyr Jones, Mally Hughes

Tudur Morris, Tome Evans, Patrick Hinchclliffe, Danny Roberts

Phil Hinchcliffe, Dan Porter

Subs: Chris Evans, Luke Humphreys, Jamie Dowell, Craig Jones

There isn't many photos because it was wet and cold and my hand was shaking too much to get a non-blurry pic of the action. You can enjoy these two but that's your lot,.

A Rhewl free kick sails harmlessly over

Porter wearing whatever that is meant to be, far better than the tights he had on underneath though.

Thanks for reading

Paul