10th January 2015 – Welsh National League (Wrexham Area) Premier Division
After a Christmas and New Year period where surprisingly I managed to
watch the grand total of ZERO games either through postponed games or illness
(and legitimate illness and not Christmas hangovers if that’s what you’re
thinking), I was chomping at the bit to attend my first game of 2015 to make up
for a lack of games during the festive period. After questioning which game to
travel to on Twitter, a tweet came back from my mate Nick Owen (@NickOwen1) asking if I
fancied watching his side Penyffordd play at the weekend, especially as he had
now been brought back into the first team fold. Together with an encouragement
from the Penyffordd Twitter account as well (@penyfforddfc), the decision was made – a trip to
Penyffordd it was!
As you have read in previous blogs, this would not be the first time I
have seen Penyffordd play this season as a few weeks prior to Christmas I had
seen their Welsh National League match against Ruthin Town. That day they had
been decimated by the home side as their defence was as watertight as a
bottomless bucket, leading to a rampant Ruthin to dispatched them by the crazy
scoreline of 9-4. Clearly I had caught Peny on “one of those days” and the
performance did not give the true reflection of how decent the team was
considering they were second in the league at the time. So I was interested to
see how they fared on their home ground and if they had improved defensively
since the first time I had seen them.
LOCATION
Penyffordd’s ground, "The Castle Ground", is located in between the villages of Padeswood and Penymynydd-Penyffordd on the A5118 and next to the Castle/Hanson Cement factory, hence the name of the ground. Visitor parking is
located on the right hand side as you turn into the Castle Cement complex and
the entrance should be well before the security lodges. Once parked in the
visitor car park, cross the road and head towards a white lodge next to a field
which is opposite the car park. The lodge you’ll see is the Penyffordd
clubhouse. Walk past the clubhouse and continue on the path past the first
field and you will see the entrance to the football pitch that they use.
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| Clubhouse of Penyffordd |
The ground is like many Welsh National League grounds in that there are
no floodlights, although it does have dugouts and a fence surrounding the
pitch. On the path side, there is a toilet block for supporters to use during
the game although be aware as it could be locked (as mentioned later on). Good
footwear is also recommended should you wish to walk around the pitch as it can
be muddy especially if there has been a lot of rain previously.
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| Entrance to the ground |
PREVIEW
Going into this game, Penyffordd were going well in the league situated
3rd in the table and could have regained 2nd spot should they
have won. However they had not played a game since that Ruthin game so they were eager to put that result behind them and put in a decent performance.
Their opponents Overton were having an average season by
sitting 10th in the table, and suffered a 5-0 defeat to FC Nomads in their last league game way back in the first weekend of December. With both teams relatively "fresh" from having a lack of games over Christmas/New Year, and basing it on form, on paper it looked like the match
could be a home win!
FIRST HALF
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| The Castle Ground - home of Penyffordd |
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| It may have been sunny but the wind was biting!! |
Penyffordd 0 – 1 Overton
8 minutes – Danny Barlow had Penyffordd’s first chance of the game when
he latched onto a through ball and the opposition ‘keeper came flying out of
his area to close the danger down. The goalie did just enough to put off the
attacker as Barlow could only manage to curl this chance wide of post.
17 minutes – Penyffordd went down to 10 men as forward Danny Barlow was
sent off for reacting to a dangerous tackle by the Overton defender. Overton’s
centre half threw a high kick challenge that caught Barlow on the chest leaving
a stud mark and should have been at least a yellow card, however the official
saw Barlow’s reaction. Despite Barlow’s protest for action against the Overton
defender also, the referee sent the forward off much to his and his management’s
frustration and gave the visitors a free kick.
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| Penyffordd in the red & black stripes, Overton in lime green |
30 minutes – Despite being a player disadvantaged, the hosts started to
get into the game more and play at a better passing standard that they had
started the game at. Yet again proving that playing against 10 men is sometimes
harder than playing against a full 11. Penyffordd were starting to put pressure
on their opponents and managed a series of attacking corners against them. Their
first corner was their best chance as it was headed over due to a deflection
from the Overton defender, with the second attempt on goal being easily cleared
by the Overton defence.
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| Overton on the attack down the wing |
33 minutes – The game evened up in terms of player numbers as Overton
also had a player sent off. Their number 8 was dismissed for a high and very
late dangerous tackle which looked nasty from where I was standing, and left
the Penyffordd player needing some medical attention.
36 minutes – With Penyffordd in the ascendancy, Overton almost doubled
their lead through a set piece. A long free kick from the right hand side of
the pitch resulted in their attacker having space in the box, but could only
manage to send his header wide of the post.
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| Overton looking dangerous on the set pieces |
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| Hustle and bustle in the Penyffordd penalty box |
37 minutes – Overton’s missed chance proved costly as another set piece
at the other end of the pitch, this time from Penyffordd would prove decisive.
A counter attack from the hosts resulted in a corner, and from this a well-placed
corner was whipped into the box and met by number 10 Marcus Davies to nod in
the equaliser which had been deserved by the hosts.
Penyffordd 1 – 1 Overton
42 minutes – Another attack from Penyffordd from the right flank, saw
their right back whip in long cross into the box. However the howling wind
caught the cross and veered it towards goal which almost caught Overton’s
keeper out as he just about managed to tip the ball over the bar. Yet again the
resulting corner came to nothing as The O’s defence managed to clear the set
piece danger once again.
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| Penyffordd corner cleared away |
HALF TIME – PENYFFORDD 1 – 1 OVERTON
During half time it was a brisk walk back to the clubhouse to get warmed
up again after being blasted with biting cold wind throughout the first half.
The clubhouse complex houses both the dressing rooms on the left hand side, and
the supporters area on the right hand side. Cups of tea are sold from a serving
hatch on the far right of the clubhouse for 50p, so naturally a cup was bought
to help get the blood flowing again and I dived inside the clubhouse to slurp
down the cup whilst watching the darts that was being shown on the TV in there.
When I was there, the bar was closed so there seems to be an option to buy
alcoholic drinks there – probably during the big games or function nights that
are held at the clubhouse.
SECOND HALF
An attacking substitution was made by the Penyffordd management team prior
to the second half starting as they brought on Danny Wynne to go upfront and
give more firepower attacking wise. This would prove to be a vital decision in
the course of the match!
46 minutes - Unfortunately I missed the start of the second half because
the toilet block, which is located next to the pitch was all locked up even
though I was told it was open when I was in the clubhouse at half time. This
resulted to me having to sprint back to the clubhouse to make use of the
facilities ensuring I missed the opening salvos of the second 45 minutes.
Rather annoyingly I also missed a second Penyffordd goal during my shuttle run
to and from the clubhouse and only caught Penyffordd still celebrating the goal
with the game back to be restarted. Even more galling for me was that the goal
scorer was young Nick Owen who could only shout in my direction “Where were you? You missed it!!” – sorry
Nicko! Hopefully next time the toilet blocks will be opened during the games as
that was annoying missing the goal! Now according to him, he scored after
losing his marker at a corner and thundered the ball into the net from a front
post volley. Whether this volley was a couple of yards out through a deft
touch, or a Paul Scholes style thunderbolt from outside of the box is unknown
to me but it sounded a decent goal either way!
Penyffordd 2 – 1 Overton
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| Bloody missed the goal... |
54 minutes – With the second goal going in, confidence was high with the
hosts and they had another set piece chance that could have made it three for
the afternoon. A free kick from right hand side of the pitch was just volleyed
wide by the substitute Wynne, after he had made himself some space in the
Overton penalty area. At this point, if anyone was going to score next, it was
going to be Peny.
60 minutes – Overton managed a rare chance as they managed to earn
themselves a corner against the run of play. Another decent delivery was
volleyed by Overton’s number 10, but could only manage to aim his shot into the
keeper’s hands. Even though they were on the back foot, the visitors’ set
pieces were still causing problems for their hosts and if the equaliser was to
come, it would have come through a set piece chance.
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| Overton on the attack looking for the equaliser |
62 minutes - With over an hour
played, play was stopped as the referee required some medical attention after
he seemed to tweak his hamstring. Although he managed to continue to complete
the game, it was looking a perilous that the game could have been abandoned due
to a lack of officials. This is because there were no linesmen at the game with
the Overton manager holding the flag one side, and a young lad running the line
on the opposite flank to make up for the missing assistant referees!
73 minutes – Penyffordd’s half time substitution would prove to be vital
as substitute finished off the game as a contest when he was put through on a
one-on-one with the Overton goalkeeper. Despite pressure from the goalie, and
the worsening weather, he managed to coolly finish the chance by slotting the
ball past the onrushing keeper and into the bottom corner of the net.
Penyffordd 3 – 1 Overton
Once Peny’s third goal had gone in, the game fizzled out as a contest as
Penyffordd were content with the scoreline. Plus the wintery weather conditions
and heavy pitch had ensured both teams had run themselves ragged and were happy
to see the game out to a conclusion.
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| The game fizzling out whilst I'm cowering from the cold gale! |
FULL TIME – PENYFFORDD 3 – 1 OVERTON
Overall the game wasn’t the best I have seen this season, and there were
some aggressive challenges being made by both teams which resulted in the
dismissal of two players and numerous yellow cards shown. However the quality
of the game was a result of the windy conditions (which made it absolutely
freezing viewing by the way) and the heavy pitch which had suffered from the
torrent of rain during the week. It was your typical New Year game….
It was nice to see Penyffordd play a lot better than the first occasion
I had seen them and I was impressed with a lot of their play. The way they
fought their way back into the game after being a man and goal down should be
highly commended, and you can understand why they were doing so well in the
league this season. That win would put them up to second in the WNL table! Yet
again they conceded another early goal in a game I have watched them and I
think that is something they could work on by getting their defensive focus
from the kick-off otherwise teams could punish them. As for Overton, I was
impressed with some of their play first half and they were constantly had an
attacking threat at set pieces throughout the game. Unsurprisingly they lost
some focus and shape when they went down to 10 men but defended well when the
hosts had the lion’s share of the possession and chances either side of half
time, and conceded their third when they were pushing for an equaliser.
Finally I would like to thank Penyffordd for inviting me to the game, they
are a great little club and hope they continue to go from strength to strength.
Hopefully I will get the chance to head to Overton sometime in the future as
they brought some decent support with them, look a solid team and it would be
another ground to tick off the list! I wish both seams all the best for the
rest of the season!!
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