BUCKLEY TOWN 0 – 1 HOLYWELL TOWN

29^th November 2014 - Welsh Cup Round 3

Anticipation was at fever pitch prior to this Welsh Cup match between two Flintshire rivals, with the match getting the deserved attention and build-up in the local media. In fact the promotion and local excitement of the cup fixture started as soon as the draw was made as it was set to be a clash between two Flintshire teams who were having fantastic starts to the season. Buckley Town had begun the season in impressive (if surprising considering the pre-season predictions) form by sitting high in the top half of the Cymru Alliance table and staying undefeated at Globe Way all season so far. Holywell Town were having an even better season by being 10 points clear in the Welsh Alliance Division 1 table looking like certainties for promotion, whilst also winning all their cup games up to this point ensuring The Wellmen still maintained a 100% record in all competitions in the 2014-15 season. With this ferocious local battle between two inform teams, it would be intriguing to see who would come out victorious and which record would come to a screeching halt: Buckley’s home record or Holywell’s 100% winning record.

In the newspapers both managers were cranking up the pressure by saying the opposing team were the favourites going into the match. On paper Buckley could have been considered favourites due to their higher position in the Welsh football pyramid, playing the second tier Cymru Alliance whilst Holywell Town applied their trade in the Welsh Alliance Division 1, a league below. However Holywell had reached the Welsh Cup semi-finals in a historic cup run last season and defeated a number of higher-league placed opposition along the way before they were finally vanquished by Welsh Premier League team Aberystwyth Town. This season they were dominating their league and had defeated another Flintshire-based Cymru Alliance team in Mold Alexandra in the previous round (my report of the game can be found here). Therefore it was tough to predict which team would come out victorious, especially as the old football cliché of “form books can be thrown out of the window” can be used to describe such a derby cup match.

FLINT TOWN UNITED 2 - 3 DENBIGH TOWN

22^nd November 2014 – Cymru Alliance

With Holywell venturing down into deep Mid-Wales for their away cup game against Tywyn-Bryncrug in the FAW Trophy, and myself not being able to travel the approximately 2 hours down there, it left me looking for another game to occupy me on the Saturday afternoon. After some scouting of the local fixtures, with options such as Rhyl, Llandudno and Witton Albion being available, the choice was made to go to Cae-y-Castell to see Flint Town United take on Denbigh Town in a “Shire Derby”. Considering the ground is only a 10 minute drive from my house, and my friend Greg lives “off” Flint (plus he couldn’t be bothered travelling too far due to working that morning..pffft a poor excuse ha!), it was an easy and obvious choice to make.

I have been to Cae-y-Castell before so this was not a new ground to add to the list, however I hadn’t been there for many years so it would be interesting to see how the ground had developed from my last visit and also to see the playing standard of the Flint team. They were going well in the Cymru Alliance and were coming up against a Denbigh side who were just a point and position above them in the table, so I was expecting a close game between two teams who were expecting a top half finish this season. As a Holywell Town fan, I was going into this match with no favourites and a complete neutral considering the historic rivalry between The Silkmen and The Wellmen, and also the recent rivalry between Denbigh & Holywell in the Welsh Alliance League the previous seasons (last season still pains me!). I was wondering whether it was possible for BOTH TEAMS to lose??? Haha! In all serious though, I was intrigued to see the playing standard of both teams this season and looking forward to a good derby game (Flintshire versus Denbighshire).

PRESTATYN TOWN 2 - 1 PORT TALBOT TOWN

15th November 2014 - Welsh Premier League

After researching into several options for a game I could watch during the weekend, which included potential trips across the border to watch Football League football, I chose on an easier option and to travel the 20 minute journey down the North Wales coast road to Prestatyn for some intense Welsh Premier League action. Even though Prestatyn is literally “just down the road” for me, it was another local ground and team I had not managed to visit over the years. Therefore it was an easy choice in the end to visit Bastion Gardens and rectify that anomaly of not visiting the Seasiders.

Accompanying me on this short journey was my friend Simon, who was making his first groundhop and attendance of a Welsh Premier game. The ground is fairly straight forward to find (even more so for a local lad like myself who knows the route to Prestatyn/Rhyl very well) and is just off the main coastal road and located near to the Pontins holiday park complex. The advice I would give to any future visitors to Bastion Gardens is to get to the ground fairly early as the club’s car park (situated right next to the ground at one of the goal ends) is not the biggest and can fill up quite quickly. I managed to get their about half an hour before kick-off and was lucky to find a space, with people less fortunate parking along the road heading to the ground. The entrance to the ground is at the end of a residential street so be aware if you have to park up alongside the road. Try not to block people’s drives as I don’t think the locals would be too fond of that!

MOLD ALEXANDRA 0 - 1 HOLYWELL TOWN

8^th November 2014 – Welsh Cup 2^nd Round

This weekend was cup weekend all over the country with the FA Cup, Scottish Cup and Welsh Cup all taking place during the bonfire weekend. Despite the allure of other games being played on the other side of the border, there was only one game that I wanted to go and visit when it was drawn and that was the Flintshire Derby in the Welsh Cup. Mold Alexandra would be hosting my team Holywell Town in the second round of the Welsh Cup with both teams hoping and confident for a victory over their local rivals.

On paper Mold Alex could have been considered slight favourites as they are currently playing in the second-tier Cymru Alliance and are a league above their local rivals in the Welsh football pyramid. Plus they were going into this cup game on some decent form after a less than impressive start to the season in the league. However Holywell are no pushovers despite their lower league placement and have become a team to avoid in the Welsh Cup over the past few seasons but certainly this season. This is due to them having a good record against Cymru Alliance teams in the cup but most importantly they achieved the historic achievement of becoming the first third-tier team to reach the semi-finals of the Welsh Cup (something which will never be forgotten by Wellmen fans) during last season’s cup campaign. In conjunction with the previous form, the Wellmen were top of the Welsh Alliance Division 1 and they still had a 100% record this season in all competitions going into the match, plus the squad still has a majority of players who played in last season’s cup run. Therefore confidence was high amongst Wellmen fans (and myself) that Mold would become another name added to the list of “cup scalps”.