Penrhyncoch 0 Ruthin Town 1

A tough 3 points for Wellies lads.

Ask anyone in the Huws Gray Alliance League and they will tell you that Penrhyncoch is a tough place to go. They have a good set up, a good pitch, a good manager and a good team that is very hard to break down. They are organised and know what they are doing.
Ruthin were expecting a tough game and got one. The away side enjoyed much of the possession and played some good football trying, and often succeeding, to play to feet and move the ball. They may have been guilty of trying to get the ball forward to early once or twice but in general the level of football was high with some good first touches giving time to pass to a team mate.
However, when half time came, there had been no shots on target by either side and only one shot off target each. Penrhyncoch went just wide of the post and Gwydion Ifan sent his miles over the bar. This was not a reflection of the general play but on how good both defences coped. Penrhyncoch, by intention, were deep and both Ruthin centre backs, Tom Dyer and Kev Evans did well. Kev Evans in particular looked the best player on the field during the first half. Gwion Owen also caught the eye, so much so that the opposition manager was asking who he was.
The second half was played in much the same manner with Ruthin continuing to probe and pass with Penrhyncoch prepared to let them. To be fair a breakthrough for either side looked unlikely until Kevin Evans fired in a tremendous shot. This led from a corner which had created a melee where one shot was saved by the keeper, another hit a defended before Kev hit his volley home on 65 minutes.
This led to a change of tactics by Penrhyncoch who now pushed men forward. This posed different challenges to the Ruthin defence who in turn were able to cope. Ryan Goldston in the Ruthin goal started to have crosses to deal with, which he did admirably, but again few shot were aimed in his direction. Ruthin now had chances break and suddenly opportunities started to open up at the other end.
As expected Penrhyncoch threw caution to the wind in the last few minutes but the Ruthin centre backs once again did well, Ruthin held firm to take the 3 points on the long journey home.

Authors man of the match – Kevin Evans.