Date: Saturday 4th April 2009
Competition: Cymru Alliance
Venue: The New Oval, Holyhead, Anglesea, Wales
Attendance: 123Ticket In: £3.00
Programme: £1.00---------------------
Total: £4.00My first competitive match from the Cymru Alliance league and after days of having my spelling corrected by online search engines, spelling Cymru is now 2nd nature to me. The Isle of Anglesea is the intended destination for the match between Holyhead Hotspur and Mold Alexandra at Holyhead’s The new Oval Ground. Although often thought of as part of Anglesea Holyhead actually lays on Holy Island, connected to Anglesea by “Four Mile Bridge”, a causeway that carries the railway line and road. The ferry port at Holyhead is one of the busiest in the country as it handles 2 million passengers a year on its routes between Wales and Ireland. Welsh international footballer Tony Roberts was born in Holyhead, as was comedienne and actress Dawn French. On the pitch, Holyhead are enjoying a successful season and they currently sit in 3rd place in the league having won 16 of their 24 games played. Their opponents this afternoon, Mold Alexandra, lie 9th in the league with 12 wins from 29 games in their first season in the Cymru Alliance after winning promotion last season, so you would expect the hosts to be favourites to win this afternoon but anything can happen on the day. It’s an absolutely gorgeous day on the west coast of Wales, bright sunshine and warm temperatures that vaguely resemble a summers day. So the first stop is the Hotspur clubhouse to try and escape the heat for a while. It’s a spacious affair with plenty of seating, two television sets and a well stocked bar with plenty of selection and reasonable prices, a very tidy facility indeed. Holyhead have recently moved grounds, covering a distance of about 100 yards as their old ground lies right behind the new, complete with nets on the goalposts. 
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.
The teams emerge from the dressing rooms and onto the pitch, Holyhead in their home colours of blue and white shirts with blue shorts and Mold in their changed strip of red and black striped shirts with black shorts. Captains and match officials complete what needs to be done and Mold Alexandra get the match underway at just on 02:30pm. The first chance of the match fell to Hotspur in the 4th minute when a through ball beat the offside trap and saw the forward have only the keeper to beat, but Ryan Roberts in the Mold goal made a fine save to palm the ball away from danger and allow his defence to clear the ball. But the opening spell of pressure paid dividends for Holyhead as the deadlock was broken in only the 7th minute when they took the lead. Another silly free kick was conceded by Mold and the delivery into the penalty area saw Hotspur’s Mark Evans rise the highest to send a looping header towards goal that the Mold keeper misread completely and it dipped embarrassingly under his crossbar to put the hosts into a deserved lead. Things got quickly worse for Mold as in the 13th minute they found themselves two behind through the fault of their own defender Sam Roberts. A break down the wing from Holyhead saw a low cross fired into the box and turned into the net by Roberts who tried to turn it wide, Holyhead now in cruise control with Mold still floundering.
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.
Half Time:
Holyhead Hotspur 2 – 1 Mold Alexandra
Holyhead made the better start to the 2nd half and within the first minute had a good chance to further their lead when some encouraging and patient build up play saw a Holyhead forward send his shot wide of the target from the angle. The hour mark saw another good opportunity for Holyhead to further extend their lead when a well delivered corner to the back post was headed just over the bar, another good chance missed as Holyhead were becoming wasteful in front of goal. Holyhead had another corner in the 62nd minute which resulted in the ball being put over the bar from 3 yards out as yet another great chance to kill the game went begging with Mold failing to get themselves into the contest. Holyhead had another chance in the 64th minute when they won a throw in an attacking position, the ball was crossed to the far post but was once again headed wide. But the pressure finally told in the 66th minute when Holyhead finally scored the goal they’d been threatening. A cross from the wing to the back post was headed towards goal by Curt Williams and was palmed into the top of the net by the Mold keeper. Things then went from bad to worse for Mold Alexandra as they were reduced to 10 men as a deliberate handball brought a 2nd yellow card from referee Griffiths.
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.
Mold Alexandra never really looked in the match in the 2nd half as they failed to match the standard of play of their opponents. Holyhead’s 3rd goal was the killer as Mold never looked like getting back into the contest. Holyhead were also the far better disciplined of the two sides and on the balance of the match were very worthy winners. Congratulations to Holyhead.
Full Time:
Holyhead Hotspur 3 – 1 Mold Alexandra
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.The teams emerge from the dressing rooms and onto the pitch, Holyhead in their home colours of blue and white shirts with blue shorts and Mold in their changed strip of red and black striped shirts with black shorts. Captains and match officials complete what needs to be done and Mold Alexandra get the match underway at just on 02:30pm. The first chance of the match fell to Hotspur in the 4th minute when a through ball beat the offside trap and saw the forward have only the keeper to beat, but Ryan Roberts in the Mold goal made a fine save to palm the ball away from danger and allow his defence to clear the ball. But the opening spell of pressure paid dividends for Holyhead as the deadlock was broken in only the 7th minute when they took the lead. Another silly free kick was conceded by Mold and the delivery into the penalty area saw Hotspur’s Mark Evans rise the highest to send a looping header towards goal that the Mold keeper misread completely and it dipped embarrassingly under his crossbar to put the hosts into a deserved lead. Things got quickly worse for Mold as in the 13th minute they found themselves two behind through the fault of their own defender Sam Roberts. A break down the wing from Holyhead saw a low cross fired into the box and turned into the net by Roberts who tried to turn it wide, Holyhead now in cruise control with Mold still floundering.
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.Half Time:
Holyhead Hotspur 2 – 1 Mold Alexandra
Holyhead made the better start to the 2nd half and within the first minute had a good chance to further their lead when some encouraging and patient build up play saw a Holyhead forward send his shot wide of the target from the angle. The hour mark saw another good opportunity for Holyhead to further extend their lead when a well delivered corner to the back post was headed just over the bar, another good chance missed as Holyhead were becoming wasteful in front of goal. Holyhead had another corner in the 62nd minute which resulted in the ball being put over the bar from 3 yards out as yet another great chance to kill the game went begging with Mold failing to get themselves into the contest. Holyhead had another chance in the 64th minute when they won a throw in an attacking position, the ball was crossed to the far post but was once again headed wide. But the pressure finally told in the 66th minute when Holyhead finally scored the goal they’d been threatening. A cross from the wing to the back post was headed towards goal by Curt Williams and was palmed into the top of the net by the Mold keeper. Things then went from bad to worse for Mold Alexandra as they were reduced to 10 men as a deliberate handball brought a 2nd yellow card from referee Griffiths.
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.Mold Alexandra never really looked in the match in the 2nd half as they failed to match the standard of play of their opponents. Holyhead’s 3rd goal was the killer as Mold never looked like getting back into the contest. Holyhead were also the far better disciplined of the two sides and on the balance of the match were very worthy winners. Congratulations to Holyhead.
Full Time:
Holyhead Hotspur 3 – 1 Mold Alexandra
View more pics at:
http://s375.photobucket.com/albums/oo198/YellowCardPhotos/Holyhead%20Hotspur%20Vs%20Mold%20Alexandra/
