Date: Saturday 4th July 2009
Competition: Preseason Friendly
Venue: Belle Vue, Rhyl, Wales
Attendance: ???
Ticket In: £5.00
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Total: £5.00
Football is back, and its preseason friendly time. Having had only the Confederations Cup on the tele to keep me going over the offseason break (serious commiserations to the United States of America there), it’s going to be fantastic to actually get back into the grounds and see the action close up. The first match of the season for myself then is the preseason friendly match between Rhyl FC and Denbigh Town, a workout for everyone on the pitch to get back into the swing of things and a chance for me to shake out some of the journalistic cobwebs that might be lying within. Rhyl FC are the current Welsh Premier League champions and will be using this game as a warm up to their more serious Champions League encounter against Partizan Belgrade in 10 days time. Local rivals and Cymru Alliance side Denbigh Town provide the opposition. 
Results in these sorts of matches are not the most important thing, but with a local rivalry to play for both teams will probably be keen for a win, but it’s hard to look past Rhyl FC this afternoon if you are having a flutter on the result. Arriving at the ground and seeing the freshly cut grass in the muggy summers air was a refreshing sight and sensation after the time away from the game. Muggy heat, overcast, light rain, football is back, and the Michael Jackson songs that come blaring out of the grounds PA system further adds to my theory that there is seemingly nobody untouched by his death a few weeks ago. Time to drink in a bit of atmosphere before the kickoff in half an hour’s time.
So after the seemingly long break, two teams emerged from a football ground dressing room and onto the field, Rhyl in their home colours of black and white and Denbigh in their red and white. Captains and match officials complete the pre match formalities and the match gets underway. The first five minutes of the contest was contested in steadily increasing rain and muggy heat, which aren’t easy conditions for football and both teams spent this period keeping the ball on the floor sizing each other up. In a forward venture in the 7th minute, Rhyl thought they should have had a penalty when a bouncing ball was flicked on by one of their forwards and he was brought down by the Denbigh defender who was attempting to clear it. The appeals were waved away much to the relief of Denbigh Town as in my view they were lucky not to have the spot kick awarded against them. As expected, Rhyl were the faster team to settle and they created another attack when a ball out wide to the wing was crossed into the penalty area and was flicked on to the unmarked Matthew Williams, but the striker could only send his header over the crossbar and didn’t trouble the goalkeeper.
But Rhyl were settling into their stride well and were causing Denbigh Town plenty of problems with their play, keeping the ball on the ground and looking to prise open passages to goal. In the 10th minute Denbigh hurriedly defended a ball which eventually broke to a waiting Rhyl forward on the edge of the box but his shot was blasted over the crossbar. Rhyl’s dominance of play saw them almost take the lead in the 13th minute when they worked the ball to the corner of the box form an attacking throw in. The ball was then crossed into the area and an unmarked glancing header from the edge of the 6 yard box had the keeper beaten but couldn’t find the target as it sailed agonisingly wide. But Rhyl’s persistence would eventually pay off in the 15th minute when they would deservedly take the lead. A ball over the top of the defence saw Neil Roberts rush onto it and catch the advancing Denbigh keeper in no man’s land. The keeper continued to advance and Roberts skipped around him and slotted the ball into the net from an acute angle to give the hosts the deserved lead. Five minutes later and Rhyl doubled their advantage from a well taken goal when a cross from the wing was flicked on to the back post and Neil Roberts scored his 2nd goal of the game as he blasted the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net. Rhyl were now completely dominant and almost furthered their lead 2 minutes later when a looping header from the edge of the box was dipping underneath the crossbar until a great tip over the crossbar from the Denbigh keeper prevented another goal, although he was denied a good save by the linesman on the far side who ruled that the ball had gone over the bar untouched for a Denbigh goal kick. Rhyl increased their lead to three goals in the 27th minute when some neat and patient build-up play saw a perfect lofted ball over the Denbigh back line and Matthew Williams latched onto it and beat the keeper at his far post to put Rhyl firmly in control of proceedings. Rhyl kept up the relentless pressure when they won themselves a corner in the 33rd minute, the delivery of which forced another corner when the Denbigh keeper came to collect the cross and missed it completely, resulting in a defender having to put the ball over his own bar. The result form this corner was yet another corner as the same defender put the ball over his own bar yet again with the keeper coming to gather, before the pressure came to an end when the resultant corner was played short and crossed into the penalty area, a Rhyl forward being penalised for an infringement and Denbigh could breathe a sigh of relief after weathering the storm. 
The 38th minute saw Denbigh Town awarded a free kick in the penalty area after Rhyl goalkeeper Lee Kendal picked up a back pass, although he was adamant he had done nothing wrong in his eyes. This didn’t move the referee though and Denbigh took full advantage to get themselves on the scoresheet. A short roll of the ball to Lee Craven saw the striker beat the wall and hit the underside of the crossbar before seeing the ball nestle in the corner of the net, Denbigh Town on the scoresheet and the back pass mistake thoroughly punished. But before the half was out Rhyl would restore their three goal advantage by getting a fourth goal with the last kick of the half. A challenge between forward and defender on the edge of the penalty area saw the ball scoot forward to the waiting Luke Holden who fought off the attentions of two defenders before slotting the ball past the diving keeper and into the corner of the net in a neat finish. Straight from the kickoff the referee blew the half time whistle and the players headed into the dressing rooms for their team talks. As pretty much expected then, it’s been a thoroughly convincing half of football from the reigning champions, passing the ball about and playing neat ground football in attempts to work ways through the Denbigh Town defence. All four of the goals have been very well taken and Denbigh have been pretty much outclassed. Rhyl keeper Kendal hasn’t had a great deal to do in the half, apart from pick the ball out of the back of his own net after he picked up the back pass. Rhyl are comfortable though and more goals are expected in the 2nd half.
Half Time:
Rhyl FC 4 – 1 Denbigh Town
After Rhyl had made a cautious start to the 2nd half and they didn’t really need to make a start that was anything other after obtaining themselves a comfortable lead, Denbigh Town had half a chance to get a goal back for themselves when they went on a break downfield in the 52nd minute. A neat pass inside found a Denbigh forward with the target a t his mercy, but his shot on goal bought out a good save from Kendal in the Rhyl goal, turning the ball away for a corner kick. The resultant corner was cleared away from any danger by the Rhyl defence though and the threat passed.
The next chance fell to the hosts a minute later when they got the ball down the other end and a forward managed to hold the ball up, evading the challenges of the Denbigh defenders. Creating some space for himself, his shot was wide of the target from an angle in an unlucky effort. The 56th minute saw Rhyl coming forward again and after working the ball out to the wing, a low cross was turned behind his own goal by a Denbigh defender, the outswinging delivery of the corner saw the Denbigh keeper just get enough of a hand to it to divert it from the waiting Rhyl forwards and send it behind for yet another Rhyl corner. This corner’s delivery was to the back post and headed wide. Rhyl were looking the more comfortable and competent of the two sides at this stage, 68 minutes into the match and resorting to long range pot-shots that were not causing any problems to the target or the Denbigh keeper. The last 20 minutes of the match were played under sunlight as the clouds obliged the supporters and parted as Rhyl were still pushing on for another goal. They came close in the 77th minute when a deflected shot saw the Denbigh keeper do brilliantly well to re-adjust his body and make the low save, but that left the goal open for the fast approaching Rhyl forward, his shot from 6 yards out hit the crossbar and bounced away from the goal as a Steve Stone like miss was the rather embarrassing outcome from the attack. The game became a little more even at this point with both sides enjoying a similar number of chances, but they were not taken and the referee brought the game to a close.
So there were no more goals to follow in the 2nd half, which was slightly disappointing considering how freely they came in the first half.
Not that Rhyl didn’t come close to scoring more and really should have done when that sitter was missed, but the woodwork and some sensational saves from the Denbigh keeper denied them an even bigger victory. But the expected outcome was the eventual outcome and Rhyl won by a 3 goal margin. Quite an entertaining game as they go, but after a month and a half away from the grounds it was just nice to get back pitchside and see the best game in the world in action. Rhyl will face tougher opposition before long and all the best to them for their upcoming Champions League qualifier. Congratulations to Rhyl.
Full Time:
Rhyl FC 4 – 1 Denbigh Town
Results in these sorts of matches are not the most important thing, but with a local rivalry to play for both teams will probably be keen for a win, but it’s hard to look past Rhyl FC this afternoon if you are having a flutter on the result. Arriving at the ground and seeing the freshly cut grass in the muggy summers air was a refreshing sight and sensation after the time away from the game. Muggy heat, overcast, light rain, football is back, and the Michael Jackson songs that come blaring out of the grounds PA system further adds to my theory that there is seemingly nobody untouched by his death a few weeks ago. Time to drink in a bit of atmosphere before the kickoff in half an hour’s time.So after the seemingly long break, two teams emerged from a football ground dressing room and onto the field, Rhyl in their home colours of black and white and Denbigh in their red and white. Captains and match officials complete the pre match formalities and the match gets underway. The first five minutes of the contest was contested in steadily increasing rain and muggy heat, which aren’t easy conditions for football and both teams spent this period keeping the ball on the floor sizing each other up. In a forward venture in the 7th minute, Rhyl thought they should have had a penalty when a bouncing ball was flicked on by one of their forwards and he was brought down by the Denbigh defender who was attempting to clear it. The appeals were waved away much to the relief of Denbigh Town as in my view they were lucky not to have the spot kick awarded against them. As expected, Rhyl were the faster team to settle and they created another attack when a ball out wide to the wing was crossed into the penalty area and was flicked on to the unmarked Matthew Williams, but the striker could only send his header over the crossbar and didn’t trouble the goalkeeper.
But Rhyl were settling into their stride well and were causing Denbigh Town plenty of problems with their play, keeping the ball on the ground and looking to prise open passages to goal. In the 10th minute Denbigh hurriedly defended a ball which eventually broke to a waiting Rhyl forward on the edge of the box but his shot was blasted over the crossbar. Rhyl’s dominance of play saw them almost take the lead in the 13th minute when they worked the ball to the corner of the box form an attacking throw in. The ball was then crossed into the area and an unmarked glancing header from the edge of the 6 yard box had the keeper beaten but couldn’t find the target as it sailed agonisingly wide. But Rhyl’s persistence would eventually pay off in the 15th minute when they would deservedly take the lead. A ball over the top of the defence saw Neil Roberts rush onto it and catch the advancing Denbigh keeper in no man’s land. The keeper continued to advance and Roberts skipped around him and slotted the ball into the net from an acute angle to give the hosts the deserved lead. Five minutes later and Rhyl doubled their advantage from a well taken goal when a cross from the wing was flicked on to the back post and Neil Roberts scored his 2nd goal of the game as he blasted the ball over the keeper and into the roof of the net. Rhyl were now completely dominant and almost furthered their lead 2 minutes later when a looping header from the edge of the box was dipping underneath the crossbar until a great tip over the crossbar from the Denbigh keeper prevented another goal, although he was denied a good save by the linesman on the far side who ruled that the ball had gone over the bar untouched for a Denbigh goal kick. Rhyl increased their lead to three goals in the 27th minute when some neat and patient build-up play saw a perfect lofted ball over the Denbigh back line and Matthew Williams latched onto it and beat the keeper at his far post to put Rhyl firmly in control of proceedings. Rhyl kept up the relentless pressure when they won themselves a corner in the 33rd minute, the delivery of which forced another corner when the Denbigh keeper came to collect the cross and missed it completely, resulting in a defender having to put the ball over his own bar. The result form this corner was yet another corner as the same defender put the ball over his own bar yet again with the keeper coming to gather, before the pressure came to an end when the resultant corner was played short and crossed into the penalty area, a Rhyl forward being penalised for an infringement and Denbigh could breathe a sigh of relief after weathering the storm. The 38th minute saw Denbigh Town awarded a free kick in the penalty area after Rhyl goalkeeper Lee Kendal picked up a back pass, although he was adamant he had done nothing wrong in his eyes. This didn’t move the referee though and Denbigh took full advantage to get themselves on the scoresheet. A short roll of the ball to Lee Craven saw the striker beat the wall and hit the underside of the crossbar before seeing the ball nestle in the corner of the net, Denbigh Town on the scoresheet and the back pass mistake thoroughly punished. But before the half was out Rhyl would restore their three goal advantage by getting a fourth goal with the last kick of the half. A challenge between forward and defender on the edge of the penalty area saw the ball scoot forward to the waiting Luke Holden who fought off the attentions of two defenders before slotting the ball past the diving keeper and into the corner of the net in a neat finish. Straight from the kickoff the referee blew the half time whistle and the players headed into the dressing rooms for their team talks. As pretty much expected then, it’s been a thoroughly convincing half of football from the reigning champions, passing the ball about and playing neat ground football in attempts to work ways through the Denbigh Town defence. All four of the goals have been very well taken and Denbigh have been pretty much outclassed. Rhyl keeper Kendal hasn’t had a great deal to do in the half, apart from pick the ball out of the back of his own net after he picked up the back pass. Rhyl are comfortable though and more goals are expected in the 2nd half.Half Time:
Rhyl FC 4 – 1 Denbigh Town
After Rhyl had made a cautious start to the 2nd half and they didn’t really need to make a start that was anything other after obtaining themselves a comfortable lead, Denbigh Town had half a chance to get a goal back for themselves when they went on a break downfield in the 52nd minute. A neat pass inside found a Denbigh forward with the target a t his mercy, but his shot on goal bought out a good save from Kendal in the Rhyl goal, turning the ball away for a corner kick. The resultant corner was cleared away from any danger by the Rhyl defence though and the threat passed.
The next chance fell to the hosts a minute later when they got the ball down the other end and a forward managed to hold the ball up, evading the challenges of the Denbigh defenders. Creating some space for himself, his shot was wide of the target from an angle in an unlucky effort. The 56th minute saw Rhyl coming forward again and after working the ball out to the wing, a low cross was turned behind his own goal by a Denbigh defender, the outswinging delivery of the corner saw the Denbigh keeper just get enough of a hand to it to divert it from the waiting Rhyl forwards and send it behind for yet another Rhyl corner. This corner’s delivery was to the back post and headed wide. Rhyl were looking the more comfortable and competent of the two sides at this stage, 68 minutes into the match and resorting to long range pot-shots that were not causing any problems to the target or the Denbigh keeper. The last 20 minutes of the match were played under sunlight as the clouds obliged the supporters and parted as Rhyl were still pushing on for another goal. They came close in the 77th minute when a deflected shot saw the Denbigh keeper do brilliantly well to re-adjust his body and make the low save, but that left the goal open for the fast approaching Rhyl forward, his shot from 6 yards out hit the crossbar and bounced away from the goal as a Steve Stone like miss was the rather embarrassing outcome from the attack. The game became a little more even at this point with both sides enjoying a similar number of chances, but they were not taken and the referee brought the game to a close.So there were no more goals to follow in the 2nd half, which was slightly disappointing considering how freely they came in the first half.
Not that Rhyl didn’t come close to scoring more and really should have done when that sitter was missed, but the woodwork and some sensational saves from the Denbigh keeper denied them an even bigger victory. But the expected outcome was the eventual outcome and Rhyl won by a 3 goal margin. Quite an entertaining game as they go, but after a month and a half away from the grounds it was just nice to get back pitchside and see the best game in the world in action. Rhyl will face tougher opposition before long and all the best to them for their upcoming Champions League qualifier. Congratulations to Rhyl.Full Time:
Rhyl FC 4 – 1 Denbigh Town
View more photos at:
http://s375.photobucket.com/albums/oo198/YellowCardPhotos/Rhyl%20FC%20Vs%20Denbigh%20Town/
For the fans sake I hope the team wins, as Prescot Cables have yet to register a home victory on a Saturday afternoon all season, this afternoon obviously being their last chance to do so. With Cables having nothing to lose this afternoon, all the pressure will be on opponents Hednesford Town to collect the three points they badly need to keep their faint hopes of a playoff place alive. So on an early summers day it’s time to sit back and enjoy some football.
They did manage to get an effort on goal in the 16th minute when a free kick had been half cleared by the Hednesford defence and a long range effort was hit comfortably wide of the target. Hednesford got back on the offensive in the 20th minute though when a cross from the wing resulted in a corner kick as Prescot defender Sean Bowden-Davies headed the ball behind his own goal. The resultant corner eventually fell to the feet of Hednesford forward Tom Marshall who blasted his effort over the crossbar, the first real thing the Prescot fans had to cheer about. Hednesford has another really good opportunity go begging in the 27th minute when Captain Danny Harvey’s long ball towards the box was headed over his own defence by Prescot’s Karl Bell, which left Tyrone Barnett with just the goalkeeper to beat but his volleyed effort went wide of the target when he was well placed. The half failed to produce much else of excitement until right at the very end when Hednesford would deliver a sucker punch goal right before the halftime whistle. A long ball over the defence by Sam Hall found the Prescot defence napping and Tyrone Barnett found himself with only the keeper to beat. Showing a great deal more composure than he did with his last effort he brought the ball under control, drew the keeper and slotted the ball past him to give Hednesford a third goal in what had been a dominating first half display for the visitors. The half had just enough time left for both sides to have a penalty appeal turned down by the referee, Prescot’s coming when Darren Byers hit the deck after some faint contact by Hednesford defender Cedric Abraham and from this, Hednesford would break down the other end of the pitch and Ross Dyer would be brought down in the penalty area by Prescot keeper Phil Hunt. 
Both penalties in my view correctly turned down as there was only minimal contact on Byers and Hunt won the ball in his challenge. So the half time whistle was a chance for all to catch their breath and the home fans made their opinions of the match official loudly known. Hednesford have looked very comfortable whilst Prescot have looked all at sea in this first half. It would seem amongst a section of the home support that they cannot wait to get this season over with and behind them, however there are another 45 minutes for Cables to get this match turned around, though at this present time I can’t honestly see it happening.
Prescot worked themselves an opportunity on the hour mark when a good ball through to the wing was crossed into the penalty area and the keeper spilled it into the penalty area, the Prescot forwards effort at it however looped over the bar and Hednesford got away with a nervous moment. To their credit Cables didn’t give up on the match and they created themselves another half decent chance three minutes later when some good work from Darren Byers allowed the ball to be fed through to Jamie Croxton in the penalty area, but his first time shot was well saved by Stuart Brock in the Hednesford goal. Prescot keeper Phil Hunt had to be alert in the 65th minute when a Hednesford corner was headed towards goal and started dipping under his crossbar, the stopper doing well to palm the ball away to the relative safety of another Hednesford corner. Hednesford rounded off a perfect day from their point of view in the 86th minute as yet another chipped ball over the top off the defence allowed substitute Matthew West to cross the ball low into the penalty area and Elliot Durrell was on hand to tap the ball into the net to score his 2nd of the match.
Something of a good memorial to the days it was played on. The new ground is a very nice setup with a large seating stand along one side of the pitch next-door to the clubhouse and the pitch looks in fine condition. One issue of note is the fallen floodlight at one corner of the pitch, apparently some contractors suffered a hydraulics failure and broke the thing clean away, Holyhead having to play their last midweek match at local rivals Llangefni Town’s ground.
Hotspur turned the screw again in the 20th minute when Mold were powerless to stop the forward from getting behind the defensive line with the ball, but the forward lost his composure and shot wide of the target when he was well placed. Mold managed to get themselves a couple of chances at the 25 minute mark, the first coming from a cross from the edge of the box where a Mold forward’s attempt at an overhead kick saw the ball just go wide of the target. This was followed by a great run down the wing which saw the Mold player enter the penalty area before his attempted chip over the keeper went over the crossbar and the score remained the same. Mold did get themselves back into the game in the 32nd minute when they scored. That’s all I can tell you about the goal as I missed it completely whilst writing, but the score was now 2-1. The rest of the half belonged to Holyhead as they blasted a ball over the crossbar, forced a good low save from the Mold keeper and had a corner in injury time cleared at the 2nd attempt by the Mold defence. It had been a half of football that wasn’t really allowed to flow. Referee Griffiths has been dishing out yellow cards with Graham Poll like regard, but to be fair to him he’s had little choice but to, due to the petulant nature of the Mold players and bench. 
If I was refereeing I wouldn’t have put up with it, so why should he?! Holyhead started far the stronger and deserved their two goal lead, but Mold have started to get back into it as the half was drawing to its conclusion, so one would surmise that this game is far from over.
Four minutes later and Mold should have been back in the contest when a Mold forward beat his defender on the edge of the penalty area and played a brilliant square ball which left an open net for the advancing Mold player, he missed in embarrassing fashion and it was at this point that you were convinced that Holyhead were going to hold on for the win. Holyhead thought they had added a fourth goal to their tally in the 85th minute when a neat through pass and low cross was turned into the net, but after initially awarding the goal the referee disallowed it after noticing the linesman’s raised flag on the touchline. The last two useful chances of the half came the way of Mold, the 87th minute saw the Holyhead defence sit off the striker and allow him to fire a shot that worried the goalkeeper but sailed wide, and a minute later a superb aerial ball brought offside appeals from the Holyhead defence that were not returned by the linesman and the forwards shot beat the keeper but went agonisingly wide of the post. 
The full time whistle followed not long after and with leaders Bala Town losing yesterday, Holyhead keep up the pressure at the top of the league.