Late second half goals give Flint the win

Denbigh Town F.C 1-3 Flint Town Utd F.C

Denbigh’s second game of the season saw them up against a highly fancied Flint team. Despite going down 3-1 the performance was a great improvement on the week before and they can take heart from a good team effort.

With Ross Weaver injured and Mark Roberts and Bailey Jackson suspended young 17 year old Sion Jones made his first team debut and brothers Sam and Tom Jones both started.

Denbigh played with a strong wind behind them in the first half and had early pressure on the Flint goal when they had four corners in quick succession, but all of them were dealt with comfortably by the Flint defence and their towering keeper Josh Hart. At the other end the Silkmen broke from one of the corners and Kyle Smith was through on goal only for Lewis Sirrell to take a timely interception.

Sam Jones won a fifth corner for Town and Tom Jones floated in a deep cross for Curtis Langton’s goal bound header to be cleared.

Despite this confident Denbigh start it was Flint who had the first breakthrough in the 16th minute when from a free kick some 20 yards out on the edge of Town penalty box, Mark Cadwallader curled his shot round the wall and into the net giving Craig Vernon no chance

Vernon made a great save minutes later and on the rebound he punched the ball away. In the scramble that followed the ball fell to Luke Blondell who should have scored but his shot went wide of Vernon’s goal.

Town looked to get back in the game and Sam Tate saw a shot of his saved after some good work by Sam Jones and Lewis Sirrell. As the half progressed more and more of the game was being played in the centre of the park showing the game was developing into an even contest.
Flint had another chance to extend their lead when Kyle Smith broke the offside line only for him to be strongly tackled by Tony Davies who was putting in a true captain’s performance.

Denbigh had a great chance to equalise on 41 minutes when Sam Jones sprinted into the penalty box only for keeper Hart to tackle him with his foot. The ball fell to Sam Downey 25 yards out and he shot towards a keeperless goal only for Flint’s defender to block his shot with a great saving header.

Minutes later the hard working Jake Walker linked with Jones and his well struck shot brought out a save from Hart diving to his left hand side.

Town made some tactical changes at half time and they had more possession in the opening stages of the second half. However Craig Vernon was called on again to make a double save to keep Town in the game on 51 minutes.

At the other end Towns’ young Sion Jones had settled into the game well and had made some key touches with great awareness . He linked well with Tom Jones and Sam Tate and sent a dangerous low cross into the box which Flint cleared for a corner.

The second half saw Denbigh more settled with much more of the ball, but they could not make that break through. Rhys Llwyd came on for Jake Walker as Town looked for a different line of attack.

Still Flint were having chances and Tony Davies was called on to make another superb tackle to thwart a Flint attack and then Flint’s Mark Williams had a great chance from eight yards only for his shot to fly just over the Town bar.

Denbigh’s hard work and perseverance paid off on 74 minutes when Sam Downey made a great cross field ball to Sion Jones. Jones controlled and crossed for Rhys Llwyd to shoot only for Hart to save and then Llwyd was able to get his second attempt past the keeper to make it 1-1.

Town now pushed forward for a winner and Tom Jones made way for Sam Cartwright. However by looking for the next goal they allowed spaces to appear in their defence and on 81 minutes Kyle Smith was able to latch onto a ball and beat the stretched defence to fire past Vernon to make it 2-1 for Flint.

Five minutes later Flint had put the game to bed when from a similar break substitute Aron Jones was able to fire past Vernon and give the Silkmen a 3-1 win.

Joint Manager Dewi Llion commented afterwards “It was a much better display today. We were much happier with the performance and just disappointed to lose two late goals as we were pressing forward ourselves. We changed things at half time and it worked better for us during the second half as we had more possession and more opportunities. There is a lot of belief in the team and we’re all now looking forward to the Ruthin game on Tuesday night”

Denbigh’s next game is the local derby against Ruthin at the Memorial Grounds, Ruthin on Tuesday 28th August 2018. It is an early evening kick off is at 6.30pm

Denbigh Town
Craig Vernon, Sion Jones, Lewis Sirrell, Miles Todd, Tony Davies (Capt), Curtis Langton, Sam Downey, Tom Jones, Jake Walker, Sam Jones, Sam Tate Subs – Rhys Llwyd, Sam Cartwright, Rhys Cooper, Gruff Jones, Pete Lloyd

Flint Town Utd
Josh Hart, Tom Kemp, Jack Lewis, Sam Hart (capt), Andy Brown, Mark Williams, Kai Wallis, Ryan Smith, Luke Blondell, Mark Cadwallader, Kyle Smith – Mamadu Dabu, Jonny Hill, Jack Welsh, Aron Jones, Jake Hampson

Referee – Arthur Smallman
Assistant Referees – Stewart Ellis & Simon McCormick
Attendance - 105