Flint Town United
Matches
Sat 30 Apr 2016  ·  Huws Gray Alliance
Flint Town United Football Club
Flint Town United
K Smyth (45'), (71')
2
1
Llanfair United
Flint seal first win in 8 league games despite subdued performance

Flint seal first win in 8 league games despite subdued performance

Nigel Sheen30 Apr 2016 - 19:24
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It was a case of after the Lord Mayor's show at Cae-Y-Castell, as following the heroics of Wednesday night this was typical end of season fayre.

Aden Shannon kept faith with the players whom had won through to the League Cup final, with the only change to the starting line up being Jack Abraham for the injured Stewart Carroll.
But the team were a pale shadow of the side that had been so dominant against Gresford just a few days earlier, opting for more side to side and backwards passing rather than a direct attacking approach.
Perhaps it may have been somewhat different had they converted a good chance after 9 minutes, when a Paul McManus through ball found Kyle Smyth who was clear on goal, but rather than hit it first time, he elected to take a touch and in doing so was well closed down by visiting keeper Mark Richards, who smothered the effort.
The game then descended into a poor spectacle, with neither goalkeeper seriously troubled until just before the half hour mark, when Smyth had a chance of getting onto a through ball, this time supplied by the lively Joe Palmer, but Richards was alert enough to beat him to the ball.
Llanfair mounted their first serious effort on goal on 33 minutes, when a ball over the top found Andrew Hughes, who cut into the box and hit a fierce shot that Ross Dalton did well to turn around the post.
Flint opened the scoring at an opportune time, just before the interval. An Abe Dobson corner was half cleared to Kyle Smyth, some 16 yards out, who stoked a sweet shot into the back of the net, to give Flint a lead that their overall possession probably merited.
However, and not for the first time this season, the home side were rocked on their heels at the start of the second half, when they were slow out of the blocks and Llanfair took full advantage to equalise. The visitors attacked down the right, and a dangerous cross was delivered into the Flint box, and Hughes met it with a thumping header that left Dalton grasping at thin air as it powered into the net.
Shortly after, Dalton had to be substituted as he felt a slight groin strain, giving Elliot Quinlan his first taste of first team action.
Flint passed up a golden opportunity to retake the lead just before the hour mark, when a quickly taken throw in from Smyth found substitute Aaron Rey free in the box. Richards distinguished himself with a good block on Rey's initial shot, and then the Flint striker could only put the rebound across the face of the goal, when perhaps he should have done better.
Jack Abraham was also presented with a good chance, when, with Richards out of his goal, he shot at the empty goal from a wide angle, but failed to find the target.
On 66 minutes, McManus deliverd a variation on the corner routine, when he played a low ball to Smyth on the edge of the 18 yard box. Smyth flicked it goalwards, and Hill tried a cheeky back heel, but Richards was alert enough to collect the ball comfortably.
The winning goal arrived on 71 minutes. McManus delivered a ball into the box, and Llanfair's Hughes attempted a clearing header, but the ball only reached as far as Smyth who was lurking on the edge of the area. He produced an instinctive finish that flew into the top corner of the net, much to the despair of Hughes, who up to that point had had an excellent game for the visitors and didn't deserve the part he played in setting up Flint's goal.
He almost, though made amends, a couple of minutes later, when he broke late into the Flint box to get on the end of a cross, and although he got his effort on target, Flint skipper Craig Jones was stationed on the goal line to clear the ball to safety.
Flint could have added to their tally in the closing stages, but couldn't quite exploit the opportunities they were presented with.
First, a swift counter attack ended with Smyth having a strike on goal, that resulted in a good save from Richards preventing him claiming his hat-trick.
And then in the 89th minute, a rebound fell into the path of Hill, in front of goal and with only Richards to beat. But he was stretching to get to the ball, and didn't connect cleanly, allowing Richards to block his shot.

Line Ups :
Flint Town United - R. Dalton (E. Quinlan 50), J. Hill, J. Culshaw, C. Jones (c), J. Davies, S. Cunningham, A. Dobson (A. Rey 55), J. Abraham, J. Palmer (A. Goundrey 81), P. McManus, K. Smyth. Unused Subs - P. Djan, L. Randles
Llanfair United - M. Richards, Alun Hughes, M. Jones, P. Griffiths (M. Spencer), D. Jones, R. Bennett, J. Voughan, L. Gethin, R. Davies, J. Davies, Andrew Hughes (J. Astley 75). Unused Subs - J. Waldron, S. Jones

Goalscorers :
Flint Town United - K. Smyth (45, 71)
Llanfair United - Andrew Hughes (46)

Bookings - None

Flint MOM - Kyle Smyth (in what was an otherwise mediocre team performance he produced two classy goals to win the points for Flint)

Match details

Match date

Sat 30 Apr 2016

Kickoff

14:30

Attendance

76

Competition

Huws Gray Alliance

League position

9
Flint Town United
15
Llanfair United
Team overview
Further reading

Team Sponsors

Main Sponsor - Essity Oakenholt Mill
Website Sponsor - Woodlands
News Sponsor - R.G. Jones Ltd