Apologies for the delay in this one but some technical difficulties (blog wouldn't post) and a busy schedule (quiz,wedding, and work) prevented this one from going up on time. Here it is minus pictures as being the well organised individual I am I forgot to take Wen's camera.
On a cold yet thankfully dry night in Rhewl, Llandyrnog stuck away 7 goals in a fairly routine victory over a depleted Hafal side.
With mere minutes on the clock the tone for the evening was set as Phil Hinchcliffe headed just wide of the upright after latching on to his son Patrick's precise delivery. Patty Hinchliffe's crossing ability caused havoc in the Hafal box once again as his whipped ball in hit the post before a grateful Hafal keeper dived on the ball to deny Danny Roberts from tapping in the rebound. Dan Porter then attempted to get in on the act with a quality effort from all of 30 yards, unfortunately for Llandyrnog's top scorer the ball sailed just wide of the mark.
The deadlock was finally broken when Brandon Keating gave the ball a thump a young Stan Collymore against Newcastle or an old Stan Collymore against Ulrika Jonsson would have been proud of, which flew in through the Hafal goalie's legs from 7 yards out. Interestingly enough Brandon was carrying a knock from an earlier challenge and was being given 'the last few seconds of what appeared to be a failed five minutes to run it off. With his alloted 'see how it goes' time being extended a little more by the scoring of the goal, a hobbling Brandon Keating doubled his tally and Llandyrnog's with an almost identical finish as the ball dropped to him from a corner within five minutes of his first.
Llandyrnog continued to pour forward with Danny Roberts in particular giving the Hafal fullback a roasting that would make Kieron Dyer on an end of season holiday to Ayia Napa blush a tad, andwith John Jones overlapping well and spraying the ball nicely (that has everything to do with John playing well and nothing to do with the fact he asked me to make sure I mentioned him in the blog) the Blues were getting real joy down the left hand side.
Brandon Keating secured his hat-trick shortly before the half ended as he latched on to a beautiful, defence-splitting ball from Dan Porter before dinking the ball over the onrushing keep. That was the last piece of exciting on-field action in the half with the only other excitement coming from two explosions, it was either some kind of gas canister, being thrown on a bonfire that had been made behind the Sugar Plum Tea Room or a Denbigh Town Council meeting was in full swing, I'm not sure.
It wasn't long after the second half kicked off that Brandon Keating grabbed his fourth of the night, finding himself in the right place at the right time to tap in Patrick Hinchcliffe's cut back. There was a little controversy around this goal as Hafal were screaming for offside and for a moment the referee appeared to agree with them before deciding to go with his initial decision and award the goal.
Hafal then enjoyed a good spell of pressure, Liam Lloyd-Jones going close with a well taken free-kick from distance, before Daniel Jones was called into action in the Llandyrnog net as he handled well following another decent free kick from the Hafal striker. The two chances were as good as it got for Hafal and Llandyrnog quickly got back on top. Phil Hinchcliffe putting the ball inches wide after the ball ricocheted to him following a foul on Dan Porter. Substitute Josh Davies was next to go close, having replaced Brandon Keating early in the second half, as he was blocked from close range after being teed up by the impressive Pat Hinchcliffe.
Josh was at it again moments later as he ran off the shoulder of the last defender to pick up a great poke through by Luke Humphreys, only to see cross goal effort creep round the wrong side of the post. He wasn't to be denied though and following a great ball in from Dan Roberts he headed past a flailing keeper to record Llandyrnog's fifth on the night.
If the fourth was a tad controversial then the sixth was akin to Jimmy Saville opening a nursery called 'Jim'll Fix Them' (a tad excessive on the set up there but you get the idea that it was very controversial indeed). Chris Evans looped the ball into an empty net after the Hafal keeper picked the ball up to deny it falling to the young midfielder only to have what looked to be Luke Humphreys punch it out of his grasp and into Chris's path. Hafal could justifiably be outraged with that call from the referee.
Luke Humphreys went close next with a superb long range effort cannoning off the inside of the post before the ball was turned over by Chris Evans on the rebound. There was time enough left for Danny Roberts to cap off a fine display with a deserved goal as his half volley from the edge of the 18 yard box whizzed into the back of the net, the keeper being unable to react quick enough to prevent the Llandyrnog man from extending the lead.
The blog Man of the Match goes to John Jones, probably playing the best football I have personally ever seen him play at the moment. A rock at the back and adding real danger to the attacks with his whipped deliveries. Danny Roberts worth a mention again for the reasons stated throughout this blog, ruined his marker time and time again. Brandon Keating was close too as his knack of arriving right on cue was rewarded with four goals despite the injury but this isn't FIFA 2012 and we don't have to give it to whoever scores the most. I could have named any of the back four as they were as solid as they've ever been and kept the majority of any attacks at bay and stopped Daniel Jones having to commit any meaningful saves.
For those that care, the team was:-
Daniel Jones
John Jones, Russ Moorcroft, Emyr Jones, Tudur Morris
Patrick Hinchcliffe, Chris Williams, Dan Porter, Danny Roberts
Brandon Keating, Phil Hinchcliffe
Subs:- Tom Evans, Josh Davies, Mally Hughes, Chris Evans, Craig Jones, Luke Humphreys
Thanks for reading
Paul
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