Great win boosts United
United manager Aled Owen believes the superb victory over Welsh Alliance leaders Rhydymwyn can give his players a massive confidence boost. United stayed composed and played some neat football as they ended last Saturday’s Normac Precisions Cookson Cup preliminary round with a 4-1 win.
Goalless at half time, Andy Williams opened the scoring just after the restart and Gareth Eifion Jones made it 2-0 for the home side soon after. The visitors – unbeaten in the league this season – pulled a goal back with 15 minutes to go during a spell of heavy pressure. But United responded with two late goals from Matthew Phillips to put the result beyond doubt to leave Owen’s men upbeat going into Saturday’s Welsh Cup first round tie at home to Nefyn United.
The manager said: "It was a great win for us. It should give us a lot of confidence. We deserved it and scored four cracking goals. Rhydymwyn tried to kick us off the park while we tried to play good football, but our lads kept their heads. The first half was fairly even. Rhydymwyn are a big side and they pumped balls forward, but we defended well. We had a couple of chances in the half and their goalkeeper made a brilliant save from Math Phillips. After weathering the storm we came out in the second half and Andy Williams finished off a great move to beat his marker and round the keeper to score our first goal."
"Rhyd had us under the cosh for five to 10 minutes and pulled a goal back to make it 2-1, but in the last five minutes Matty went round a defender and beat their keeper from the edge of the box. His second goal was just as good. Carl Griffiths again won the ball to put him through on the left side. He beat the defender and I thought he would cross, but Matty told me afterwards he saw a gap between the keeper and the near post and put the ball into the net."
United embark on a run of cup games this month that could mean they are not back in league action until well into October. Up next is the clash with Nefyn and Owen is expecting a tough encounter. Despite mixed results, the opposition have climbed to sixth spot in the Welsh Alliance table but suffered a heavy 5-0 defeat at Holywell Town last Saturday.
"It will be a hard game," warned manager Owen. "We played them recently at home and lost 1-0. I didn’t think we deserved to lose that one but if you don’t put away your chances then you don’t win games. It will be a very different match to last weekend. There will not be many chances, I should imagine. We have to put them away when we get them."
Gareth Eifion Jones will undergo a fitness check, but Owen has no other injury worries.
United lie in 11th place in the table but have played a couple of games less than most of their rivals.
"It’s too early to say who will finish where at the end of the season," said Owen."We have showed we can beat the leaders and we have also beaten Llandudno Junction, who have started well. Hopefully we are looking for a top five finish."
Huwsi's view......
United advance in the Cookson Cup at the expense of League Leaders Rhydymwyn
It was plain to see following Saturday’s emphatic win by United that Rhydymwyn do not like losing, and turned to bullyboy tactics as a result. Let’s face it, the current squad at Rhydymwyn had not tasted defeat prior to Saturday’s encounter, therefore did not know how to cope – but I can tell you, you don’t cope by arguing with each other, sticking the boot in and shoves off the ball!
Full marks to Dave Ball and United’s defence, they coped admirably and stood up well to the bullies and any one of them could have earned Man of the Match but for the exploits of Mathew Phillips in front of goal.
The first half saw United play with the wind but they fail to capitalise and once again seemed to want to walk the ball into the net instead of testing the Rhydymwyn keeper, which was not the tallest person on the pitch. In contrast, Rhydymwyn’s very tall Centre half seemed to stop everything and Gareth Eifion got very little change off him!
Although the first half was all Rhydymwyn they couldn’t get the better of Dave Ball and his back four, and this coupled with the lack of clinical finishing meant that the first half ended as it begun, 0 – 0. Rhydymwyn got their first shot on target after only four minutes when what proved to be a rare mistake by Gethin Phillips when he failed to clear from the right touchline the ball fell to a Rhyd forward on the edge of the area but was shot straight at Dave Ball. Five minutes later and Rhyd nearly took an early lead, a free-kick from 30 yards out on the left was floated in which Rhyd’s No. 10 headed goal bound over an advancing Dave Ball, but Chris Joyce read the danger and went back to cover the line, and cover he did when he cleared off the line with his head.
It seemed that every time United cleared their line the ball came straight back and put the defence immediately under pressure. There was no movement off the ball, and so what else could they expect? Carl Wayne Jones came close for United after 24 minutes, when following a foul on Gareth Eifion Jones his effort went a foot or so over the bar. It was back to Rhyd after that, a fine blind save from Dave Ball denied them after 27 minutes when a 35 yard low effort through many legs was palmed passed the left post for a corner, which came to nothing.
Just after the half hour mark and United were keeping the ball well deep in their opponent’s half but could not find a way through, this led to Rhydymwyn clearing up field on the right, they crossed into the area but the forward who was free in space sliced his effort wide. Minutes later and Rhyd got another near miss when another cross from the right was headed inches wide. Five minutes before the interval and Dave Ball was once again United’s saviour, a Rhydymwyn corner was met with a free header but Dave reflex save low to his left saved the day.
United’s best chance of the half came with only two minutes remaining when Rhydymwyn’s tall Centre half made a rare mistake on the half way line, which saw Mathew Phillips getting the better of him and advance into the area with Gareth Eifion in support, Mathew maybe with hindsight should have either taken his effort from 15 yards or involved Gareth Eifion, but he advanced into the six yard box, with an acute angle he was denied by the visiting keeper, but he got a second chance but once again when his powerful effort was block under the keeper. Andrew Williams and David Noel Williams got into dangerous territory just before the interval, but the ball seemed to stick at their feet, and with time called on the first 45 minutes we all on the by-line thought that United would be punished during the second half when Rhydymwyn had the wind behind them – how wrong did this assumption prove to be!
The second half started as we all thought it would, Rhydymwyn were advancing on the United goal within seconds and had a corner within the first minute, but Dave Ball claimed easily and immediately released down the right flank which saw Gareth Eifion deliver a fine pass to Andy Williams who kept his head, advanced into the area and coolly slided passed the keepers left arm. One nil to United and this did nothing but to get Rhydymwyn riled-up and cross after cross came from their right flank but they could not penetrate United’s defence.
Fifty five minutes on the clock and United doubled their lead, Gethin Phillips started the move with a throw, which he got back and advanced to the left corner flag and delivered a fine cross into the six yard area when Gareth Eifion woke up (!) and showed great prowess and headed into the net from a few yards out, 2 – 0 against the run of play? Maybe? but that’s football! This is when the Rhydymwyn players started to argue with each other and turned nasty, with their top scorer Sam Jones and Captain the worst culprits. Eifion Williams got elbowed in the face, Gethin Phillips got persistently elbowed in the back, but the referee and his assistants saw nothing!
Sixty five minutes and Rhydymwyn’s Sam Jones got free on goal but his finishing was poor to say the least, as it had been all afternoon to be fair – nice bloke though! Three minutes later and a refereeing decision gat the Rhydywmyn players upset, when Eifion’s ‘shot hosan’ clearance for a corner was given as a goal kick. Another example of wrong decisions was when Dave Ball pulled off a fine save to tip over his bar following a long throw from the right side beyond the back post, but a goal kick was awarded. Seventy five minutes gone and Rhydymwyn pulled one back, following a claim for hand ball against Iwan Price, Dave Pulled off a fine save but it fell kindly to Jay Hughes who made no mistake from 8 yards out passed Dave’s left hand.
Sam Jones (nice bloke!) got close to even thing up after 78 minutes but his strike from just outside the area on the right side went inches passed the right upright. Dave’s goal kick saw Gavin Rogerson collect the ball on the centre line, he advanced up the right flank, and after being fouled took the ball into the area, but the referee missed the advantage and called the play back. The resulting free-kick got deflected for a corner which in turn saw Andy get the miss of the season so far, when he headed well over the bar from all of three yards out in front of goal!
Rhydymwyn kept piling on the pressure for the rest of the ninety minutes, plus TEN minutes of injury time, but it was Mathew Phillips who took his chances when on eighty seven minutes he kept a cool head and extended United’s lead from the right side. This infuriated the Rhydymwyn players even more, and when Carl Wayne Jones committed a foul on the halfway line, Sam Jones followed through and tried to punch Carl in the face, when he confronted nice boy Sam, the Assistant Referee saw that and the referee booked both – had he seen the initial challenge they surely Rhydymwyn’s number 10 would have seen red (pardon the pun!).
With two minutes of injury time played, Mathew Phillips once again extended United’s lead when he rounded Rhydymwyn’s defence with ease on the left side and coolly slid the ball passed the visitor’s keeper. Half way through injury time, Dave Ball pulled off another fine save, a header was creeping in near the left post, but Dave once again denied the visitors when he pushed the ball for a corner. Right on the stroke of time being called, Gethin Phillips denied the visitors a consolation goal, a floated cross was met by a Rhydymwyn head but Gethin headed for a corner, and that was more or less it.
A fine result for United who progressed to the first round proper of the Cookson Cup at the expense of much fancied and unbeaten Rhydymwyn. Up next another visit to Eithin Duon for Nefyn Utd in the first round of the Welsh Cup, Nefyn are the only team this season to beat United so lets hope for better things next Saturday. Oh, and did I mention what I nice bloke Rhydymwyn’s number ten was?!
LLANRUG UNITED: Dave Ball, Gethin Phillips, Chris Joyce, Iwan Price, Eifion Williams (capt), Carl Wayne Jones, David Noel Williams, Carl Griffiths, Gareth Eifion Jones (Gavin Rogerson - 60mins), Mathew Phillips, Andrew Williams (Marvin Pritchard - 90mins).
SUBS (Not Used): Martin Bohana & Aled Owen.
MAN OF THE MATCH: Mathew Phillips. |
2009/2010 