Llandyrnog Summer League: Llanfair vs. Llandyrnog

Dan Porter levels the playing field by playing on his knees.

A big night and a big win for Llandyrnog who regained the top spot in the league by beating Llanfair 3-2 on a night in which Llanrhaeadr lost to Llangynhafal (get in Hafal!).

There was a slight delay to proceedings on the night with the game kicking off five minutes after the allocated time. It wasn't due to a massive traffic jam preventing the tens of fans from getting to the match, hell even Howie was there on time. It wasn't due to the roof being closed to keep out the rain, it was actually a nice night! No the reason this game was delayed was because there was dog shit on the pitch and rather understandably nobody wanted to touch it. Fortunately for us, Llanfair have a bloke on staff that has a carrier bag specifically for these occasions. Here he is coming to the rescue:-

Man on a mission

There weren't many openings in the first five minutes with the first real chance coming for the home side, a Llanfair midfielder's long range effort whistling past the post. Llandyrnog fired their own salvo across the Llanfair bow as Tom Evans 's rocket mere inches from nestling in the top corner. The attempted sniping of the net continued as Danny Porter couldn't keep his speculative effort from 30 yards under the bar.

With more pile-drivers being attempted than in a match between The Undertaker and Owen Hart, it was only right that the opening goal came from inside the box. In form striker Josh Davies spinning in the box and drilling a shot across goal to put the visitors one up.

The game was barely underway again when Davies continued his habit of scoring in bunches, latching on to Dan Porter's wonderfully flicked on ball and volleying his second of the night from just inside the box. Hat-trick time came soon enough as Davies scored his eighth goal in three games to give Llandyrnog a commanding lead, twisting and turning in the box before squeezing the ball under the Llanfair keeper.

The chances dried up from the point as the ball spent most of the half being lumped back and forth, both defences dealing well with the long ball, there was time enough for Josh to go close once more as his header sailed agonisingly over the bar following some great work out wide from Danny Robs.

Llandyrnog were caught napping from the restart as the home side broke quickly and a low cross into the box was turned in by an outstretched and perhaps offside Llanfair boot. Unfortunately we went back to the centre circle where the goal stood (ironically enough it was the centre circle the referee was stood in when he decided there was no offside too, nothing quite like keeping up with play). The goal lifted Llanfair and they began to get the ball down and played some nice football. It paid off as the Llanfair #12 won a penalty after a dive so wonderful that ITV's producers have already lined him up for a spot on Splash! with Tom Daley! Tom Evans going shoulder to shoulder with the Llanfair lad only to see the opposition player throw himself to the ground. The game actually carried on for a good five seconds before the referee decided to give what has to be considered one of the worst decisions ever made. I've seen worst decisions but I would argue this one was worse than Decca snubbing The Beatles, Glen Hoddle's deciding to share his views on reincarnation, or even the decision of every parent that ever allowed their child to have a sleep-over at Neverland! Insane decision that I'll never understand. Huw Price converted the penalty, sending goalkeeper Daniel Jones (booked for dissent in the aftermath of the penalty incident) the wrong way.

The game got nervy for Dyrny but some good defending from Tudur Morris, Russ Moorcroft, Emyr Jones, and Mally Hughes kept the away net safe. With the strong foundation of their backline to build on, Llandyrnog started to press, Danny Robs going close with a half volley that the Llanfair glovesman made an absolute meal of when tipping wide.

Dan Porter's influence started to tell and after picking the ball up, ghosted past four players with an Oezil-like calmness before laying the ball off for Tom Evans to whip in the ball of the night for Josh Davies to head into the net. As was to be expected, the goal that put the game to bed was disallowed, the referee signalling for offside before advising that Josh had pushed his marker. There weren't to many complaints from the Blues striker so it would appear that the call was correct. Sensible play won out for the remainder of the game as Dyrny held firm to gain a valuable three points.

The Man of the Match award is split for this game as I can't choose between Tom Evans and Dan Porter. It wasn't a vintage night for the side but Porter's ability to always stay out of reach of the opposition challenges and Tom's ability to be cover every blade of grass saw us through so they can share it. Obviously a mention for Josh, not often you score three and don't pick up the MOTM award.

The side for those keeping tabs:-

Daniel Jones
Mally Hughes, Russ Moorcroft, Emyr Jones, Tudur Morris
Pat Hinchcliffe, Phil Hinchcliffe, Tome Evans, Danny Roberts
Dan Porter, Josh Davies

Subs: Chris Evans, Luke Humphreys

Some more photos again, a fair few from Idris Parry, who had chosen having a KFC instead of making it back home in time to play.