Football: Llandyrnog United FC unlucky to lose

Sep 3 2008 By Dave Jones

LLANDYRNOG UNITED 1 HOLYHEAD HOTSPUR 2

CYMRU ALLIANCE LEAGUE

A MUCH improved performance by bottom side Llandyrnog almost gained them a point but a lack of concentration two minutes from time allowed Holyhead a winner when a draw would have been a fair result.

The youthful villagers, with six first team members missing because of injuries, matched their opponents throughout but lack of experience towards the end gave the Harbourmen an advantage which they gratefully took with a headed goal by Marc Evans.

Both sides started out brightly, passing the ball at pace and not giving defenders time to dwell on the ball.

Dan Porter and Ian Dunn, on their full debuts for the home side, settled down quickly and put the visitors on the back foot with good movement and crosses into the danger area which were dealt with by the defence.

The closest anybody came to scoring was Hotspur’s Mike Edwards, who was not closed down for once by the home defence and his shot from outside the box rattled the crossbar and rebounded to safety. Anthony Marshall and Tom Sharples worked hard at the centre of the home midfield and Porter and Wood put in some good crosses which the experienced Lee Webber and his co-defenders efficiently dealt with.

Dunn did have a sniff at goal but delayed his shot while Adam Lloyd and Graham Owen kept the talented Curt Williams and Evans quiet as the first half ended goal-less.

Llandyrnog started the second half with more urgency and after forcing a few corners they eventually took the lead after 51 minutes.

A long free-kick taken by keeper Arwel Hughes found the tall Sharples and his downward header was flicked home by the diminutive Endaf Jones.

This gave the home side confidence and they attacked with gusto but they failed to get the second goal and 10 minutes later were caught by a sucker punch.

A poor free-kick went straight to the hands of keeper Liam Shanahan who cleared quickly upfield over the home defence and Evans ran on to score the equaliser.

Both sides to their credit went for the winner with both having periods of pressure. A Darren Garmey shot from a narrow angle was blocked by Hughes and efforts from Mike Edwards and Owen went wide of the upright. The home side forced a number of corners with Webber blocking efforts from Sharples and Jones and Jason Wood having an excellent attempt which scraped wide of the post.

The game looked like ending in a draw but there was a cruel twist for the home team when they were exposed on the left side and a deep cross from Darren Garmey was headed back across goal by his brother Dean for Evans to touch in at the far post to notch his second goal and the three points.

Ball sponsor: Chris Swallow, Golden Lion, Llandyrnog.