Town beat Buckley for second time in three weeks

Buckley Town 0- 2 Denbigh Town

Denbigh claimed the three points and their first clean sheet of the season as they beat Buckley for the second time this season at the Globe. Three weeks ago Denbigh had won 3-1 in the JD Welsh Cup and once again they came out comfortable winners in this Huws Gray Cymru Alliance League fixture which sees them move up the table to twelfth position

Gwydion Owen was called up to replace injured keeper Craig Vernon and proved an able deputy with some fine saves. Sam Jones started at left wing back with Lewis Sirrell being unavailable as Town looked to build on the improvements they have seen in their play over the last few weeks.

Denbigh showed their intent from the start with Pat Hinchcliffe sending a deep cross over the Buckley box which Sam Jones latched onto and won a corner.

Scott McHarrie and Sam Downey took early control of the midfield with some strong challenges and powerful surges into the opposing half. McHarrie ran half the length of the pitch with the ball before he laid it off to Mark Roberts on the edge of the Buckley box. Roberts’ shot whistled past the far post. Just after Downey sent a looping cross to the far post for Jordan Barrow to flick the ball into Sam Jones’ path and Jones’ half volley went just over the bar. Both Downey and McHarrie have both established themselves into the side and are gaining a great understanding of each other’s play with McHarrie showing experience beyond his years.

Buckley’s attempts on the Denbigh goal were limited to long shots in the first part of the game which Gwydion Owen dealt with comfortably, ably assisted with a strong back four. Aron Williams had a shot from 20 yards blocked by Curtis Langton for a corner which Denbigh defended well to clear to safety. Miles Todd put Connor Littler under enough pressure to see Littler’s shot on goal go well wide and Todd followed this up with a crunching tackle on Adam Eden as Denbigh’s defenders stamped their authority on the game.

Jordan Barrow had opened the scoring two weeks ago from a free kick and when the impressive Pat Hinchcliffe was fouled on the edge of Buckley’s penalty box, the kick was in an identical position from which Barrow had previously scored. This time instead of shooting over the wall he placed it round the wall and straight into the net to give Denbigh a deserved lead on 38 minutes.

Sam Jones had a chance to double the lead just after when Mark Roberts broke free to cross for Jones whose shot hit the side netting.

At the other end a fine run from Aron Williams saw him run from the right hand side of Denbigh’s half, across the pitch to the left hand side of Denbigh’s box to shoot low at Gwydion Owen’s post with Owen diving well to force the ball out for a corner.

With the half coming to a close, Pat Hinchcliffe and Jordan Barrow worked well together to force a corner. Barrow took the corner and floated in a ball to the far post which captain Tony Davies headed back across the box for Sam Jones to hit from 10 yards only for Buckley’s keeper to palm the ball onto his crossbar. The ball fell back to the feet of Pat Hinchcliffe who fired in from 6 yards to let Denbigh go in at half time with a 2-0 lead. (see photo)

It was Buckley who had the better early stages of the second half but Tony Davies and Curtis Langton held firm and once again the opportunities on Gwydion Owen’s goal were limited to a minimum. Meanwhile Jordan Barrow was finding time to spray top class balls to his wingers Sam Jones and Pat Hinchcliffe but their crosses were comfortably dealt with by Buckley’s defenders.

With Jake Walker replacing Sam Jones on 62 minutes, Denbigh changed their tactics. It gave Pat Hinchcliffe more space and he did well on two occasions to make strong runs deep into Buckley’s half. The latter run saw him get to the byline, wind his way into the six yard box to shoot only for his shot to be blocked by a Buckley’s defender and Denbigh attackers claimed hand ball. Referee Aled Rhys Williams waved away their claims and play continued.

A minute later, Town’s Dan Lloyd made great progress down the left wing and crossed for Jake Walker’s header to just miss the target

Buckley threw on their last roll of the dice by making a triple substitution on 75 minutes. This gave the hosts a bit more impetus but still Denbigh threatened the Buckley goal with Jordan Barrow and Mark Roberts both coming close. Barrow was replaced by Tom Jones on 80 minutes as Denbigh looked to play out the game. Jones had a great speculative shot at Makurak’s goal which the keeper did well to tip over the bar.

As the game reached its final moments, Buckley frustrations became evident when Adam Eden crudely challenged Pat Hinchcliffe on the half way line. Hinchcliffe was force to leave the pitch and Eden received a yellow card for his challenge. Rhys Llwyd replaced Hinchcliffe for the remaining three minutes as Denbigh ran out comfortable winners

Joint Manager Matty Jones said after the match “This was another great result with an excellent defensive performance, not just by the defence but backed up by every one of the team – just brilliant to get our first clean sheet of the season.”

Buckley Town FC
Joe Makaruk, Rhys Hewitt, Dylan Roberts, Josh Jones, Lewis Hone, Luke Blizard, Aron Williams, Aled Bellis, Connor Littler, Jake Roberts, Adam Eden: Subs- Kerion Moore, Josh Garmon, Shaun Tinsley, Dan Moore

Denbigh Town FC
Gwydion Owen, Miles Todd, Dan Lloyd, Curtis Langton, Tony Davies (Capt), Scott McHarrie, Pat Hinchcliffe, Sam Downey, Mark Roberts, Jordan Barrow, Sam Jones: Subs – Jake Walker, Rhys Llwyd, Tom Jones, Bailey Jackson, Pete Lloyd

Referee – Aled Rhys Williams
Assistant – Llyr Jones
Assistant – Will Peel

Attendance - 161