Mountain Complete Double Over Rivals

A lethal Jimmy McGlone bags five goals as Flint Mountain beat Halkyn United and climb above their rivals at Wat's Dyke Way

With the Welsh FA stopping any official fixtures last weekend, Flint Mountain turned their attentions to a must-win clash against Halkyn United. Having been bolstered by the signing of three new players in the run up to the game, two of them went straight into the squad for today's game. Karl Griffiths took his place in the centre of midfield, whilst Ryan Worrall and Lee Messham both returned to the starting line up, following injuries. The final change saw Ian Jones replace Chris Layne, who dropped to the substitute's bench, where he was joined by George Jones, Lewis Evans, Dylan Roberts and Christian Davis, newly signed from Mold Town United.

Flint Mountain started the game in perfect fashion and took the lead within two minutes. From a ball forward, Lee Messham cleverly flicked the ball into the path of Jimmy McGlone, who calmly slotted the ball past the Halkyn goalkeeper and into the bottom corner of the net. The lead did not last long though, as Halkyn capitalised on poor defending to equalise. Halkyn intercepted a poor pass from Ryan Worrall, before passing to former Flint Mountain striker Sean Wilkes, who found the net past Ryan Roberts. However, Flint Mountain immediately retook the lead as McGlone grabbed his second of the game. Once again, Lee Messham did well getting to the byline, before crossing to McGlone, who made no mistake from close range.

McGlone should have bagged his hat trick shortly afterwards, as Damon Griffiths' long ball found McGlone, but his effort was well saved by the Halkyn goalkeeper. Just after this, Ryan Worrall signalled the end of his afternoon with a recurrence of his hamstring injury. George Jones was quickly introduced as his replacement. Halkyn continued to battle and just after half an hour, had found another equaliser. Once again, Sean Wilkes got through poor Mountain defending to score his second.

On the stroke of half time, Flint Mountain took the lead for the third time with a fluke goal. With Jimmy McGlone pressing, the Halkyn defender attempted a clearance, which hit McGlone and looped over the goalkeeper and into the top corner. At half time, Chris Layne was introduced in place of Alex Millington in a swap on the right wing. Just three minutes into the second half, Flint Mountain gained some breathing space with a fourth goal. A long ball forward from Ryan Roberts was helped on by Jimmy McGlone into the path of Lee Messham, who composed himself and slotted the ball past the onrushing goalkeeper.

The fourth goal gave confidence to the Mountain players and they quickly extended the lead as Jimmy McGlone grabbed his fifth of the game. A free kick deep into the Halkyn penalty area looked to have gone harmlessly out for a goal kick, but Richie Hughes rose high to head the ball across the face of goal, where McGlone was on hand to tap into the open goal. Halkyn still had some fight in them and found a third goal. A long ball forward was not cleared by the Mountain defence, before the Halkyn striker fired a sublime volley into the top corner, leaving Roberts no chance in the Mountain goal.

The goal saw the last action in the game for Rob Rush, who continued to suffer with an ongoing back injury. Replacing Rush was Christian Davis, who moved into the centre of midfield, whilst fellow debutant Karl Griffiths dropped back into defence. Davis' introduction proved to be tough for Halkyn, as they struggled to handle the debutant. After a succession of throw in's moved Mountain towards the Halkyn penalty area, the ball was played back to George Jones, whose ball was cleverly left by Davis and found McGlone, who fired past the goalkeeper and into the net. As the remaining minutes passed, Flint Mountain continued to press and were unlucky not to extend their lead further, with Ian Jones, Chris Layne and McGlone all going close. However, the side held out to complete a second league victory over the rivals this season.

Next up for Flint Mountain is the opening round of the Horace Wynne Cup, where they welcome Mostyn Dragons to Wat's Dyke Way. Having been finalists in 2014, Flint Mountain will be looking to go one step further this season and claim the trophy for the first time. We hope you can join us.

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