The game started brightly and it was Chris Williams with the first real chance as he latched onto Brandon Keating's squared ball only to see his sidefooted effort comeback off the underside of the bar with the keeper beaten like he was Rihanna getting a lift off Chris Brown. After a couple of corners in quick succession and a little bit of scrappy play in the Trefnant penalty area, Dyrny created a good opportunity again, John Jones lofting in a great ball from the right back position only for the Trefnant stopper to paw the ball out onto a grateful Danny Robs' head. Danny made no mistake from two yards out as he scored 7th of the season.
The chances started to come thick and fast for Llandyrnog then as John Jones, supporting well from full back, saw a long range drive stopped by a great diving block from the Trefnant #11, Craig Jones stinging the keeper's hands on the subsequent rebound. Craig then had a good double chance as he headed straight at the Trefnant #1 from five yards only to see the ball parried back into his path, unfortunately he couldn't keep his shot down and the ball ended up high above the goal.
There was a break in play midway through the half as a Trefnant player (I think it was Rob Cefn, who surely should be known as Rob Trefnant now?!?) took a rasping shot straight to the chops and subsequently dropped to the floor. It was the footballing equivalent of some Shawn Michaels' sweet chin music.
With the game back underway Danny Porter attempted to further extend his lead as Llandyrnog's top scorer only to see his effort from the edge of the area pushed wide. Not long before the half came to a close Llandyrnog were forced to make a change with Chris Evans replacing the scorer Danny Roberts who had felt a tightness in his hamstring. (You know how on Match of the Day they only show substitutions if the sub ends up being a goal-scorer? This might just be the blogging equivalent of that moment).
There was the now obligatory penalty shouts with five minutes left in the half when Martin Fearnley appeared to raise an arm in blocking a Danny Porter effort and mere seconds later Porter seemed to be upended as he picked up Fearnley's spike. The referee was not interested though and despite strong appeals from the players, nothing was given.
There was just time enough in the half left for Russ Moorcroft to try and double the Blues' lead but he couldn't quite get over the ball as he headed over from five yards.
When the second half kicked off it was Trefnant who started the brighter as Lawrie Bell's 25 yard corker was tipped over the bar by a nonchalant Daniel Jones. That would signal Trefnant's only real adventure deep into Llandyrnog territory for the moment though as Dyrny enjoyed a period of sustained pressure. They went close as a lofted free kick (Tom Evans or John Jones I think), was misjudged by the keeper and then headed off the line as it bounced it's way towards the net.
The second wasn't much longer in coming though as Chris Evans (son of former Llandyrnog goalkeeper Andy 'Ginge' Evans and brother to Mikey Evans) scored his first senior goal for Llandyrnog and one he has Dan Porter to thank for. Porter had received the ball on the corner of the 18 yard box and driven towards the byline, he then cut back on the defender freeing himself to shoot past the onrushing keeper. His shot was tipped by the stopper and as it looped up into the air and towards the goal 15 year old Chris Evans followed it in and headed home from a few yards to ensure the ball crossed the line.
No sooner was the second on the board than a third felt the need to be added, Dan Porter scoring his tenth of the campaign from the penalty spot, drilling his penalty low and to the left after Llandyrnog were awarded a penalty following what looked like a soft handball. There is a chance the referee was trying to atone for the earlier non-award of a penalty but I've seen similar pens given and my obvious bias makes me think this may have been a stone wall penalty...honest.
Dan Porter was involved heavily again as Llandyrnog added their fourth goal of the night as his delightful, outside of the foot effort from the edge of the area sailed past the goalkeeper before bouncing back off the bar and onto the stranded goalkeeper's back before bobbling back into the net. I feel harsh taking away what would have been a great goal for Porter but this one has to go down as an own goal.
There was another little stoppage in the game as the Trefnant goalkeeper took a couple of sore ones that required treatment. He was initially caught by Chris Williams who lunged in a tad as he tried to get onto the end of a big punt forward before it ran through to the goalie. As he dangled a boot towards the ball he just caught the keeper's shins causing what looked to be quite a bit of pain. The Trefnant defenders pleaded in vain to the referee that the challenge was malicious and as they checked on their gloves-man, Rob Cefn proceeded to give the referee a demonstration of what he perceived to be a lunge/stamp by Williams, the problem was Rob was a little to close to his keeper and actually ended up stamping on the prone keeper's leg. He quite literally kicked his own player whilst he was down!
That was as good as it got for Llandyrnog as injuries to the the two strikers, Brandon Keating and Dan Porter and the fact that they had only one sub and he was on the pitch (unfortunately I did not have my boots and would probably have been less effective) meant that Llandyrnog were limited up top. Both players tried valiantly to hold the ball up but their inability to run made it nigh on impossible for Llandyrnog to create any clear cut chances.
It was actually Trefnant that finished the game stronger and after creating a couple of half chances they actually got the goal their energetic performance deserved. Russ Vaughan (Member of THE Vaughan family that has produced many a good Summer League and Llandyrnog player over the years [Uncle Alan and father John Vaughan]) sent a grass cutter hard across the face of Daniel Jones' goal which the Dyrny keeper could not push far enough wide and Trefnant's giant forward happily swept the loose ball in, much to the appreciation of the home support.
There were a couple more chances for both sides but nothing really exciting, the result was probably a fair one with Llandyrnog under-performing and perhaps showing a little complacency with regards to the game. I give my blog Man of the Match award to Chris Williams who produced a solidly effective, understated performance in the centre of the park that had a touch of the Michael Carrick about it. A mention also for Craig Jones who looked lively in the first half and had to put in a real shift late in the second to cover for the stricken front men. John Jones also had a very good first half, supporting play well and exploiting the space his opposite number left him.
The team was as follows:-
Daniel Jones
John Jones, Russ Moorcroft, Phil Hinchcliffe, Tudur Morris
Craig Jones, Chris Williams, Tom Evans, Dan Roberts
Brandon Keating, Dan Porter
Sub - Chris Evans
There is literally only a few photos because aside from the one at the top, of the 30 I took only a small handful are not blurry! I most definitely not a photographer (I'm probably not much of a blogger either but I'm trying).
 |
| I'm not sure why but everyone appears to be attacking without the ball! |
 |
| Tom Evans clearly does not fancy Gaz John's chances here, if you look closely you just make out the spelling mistake on the Trefnant shirt! Two f's in scaffolding chaps. |
Thanks for reading
Paul
No comments:
Post a Comment