Rhyl 0 v 0 Porthmadog

Sunday 13th November 2011
Cymru Alliance
Belle Vue, Rhyl
Admission : £6.00
Programme : £1.50
Attendance : 402
Match Rating : 3

The final game on my long weekend stay in Colwyn Bay would be on my way home. The original plan was to take in the Welsh Premiership game between Airbus UK Broughton and Afan Lido. This would not have been ideal, having to rely on Sunday buses to get to and from the ground from Chester, and happily various quirks of fate ensured that the Porthmadog v Rhyl was reversed at late notice, providing a much easier game in take in on my way home, to see two former Welsh Premiership clubs with strong ambitions to return (not always the case in Wales) in "sunny Rhyl".

The Belle Vue ground is located about 15 minutes from Rhyl town centre, slightly less from the train station and has quite an impressive and large fascia to the ground. One inside, the ground is almost completely all-seater. Behind the goal where one enters the ground is uncovered seating, with the "Legends Lounge" portakabin type building perched above. Behind the other goal is an all-seater stand. Spanning one length of the pitch is the largest all-seater stand in the ground, whereas on the other side is another all-seater stand, with the only standing areas in the ground either side of it. Unfortunately, all of the covered stands have many supporting pillars to obstruct one's view. The facilities are well in excess of what one usually encounters in the Cymru Alliance, and Belle Vue would be considered one of the best grounds in the Welsh Premiership - where they are surely destined to return sooner rather than later, having been demoted and then denied entry for off-the-pitch reasons. The 42 page programme was a good read although far overpriced at £2.00.

Today's match would be between two of the strongest teams in the Cymru Alliance. Rhyl currently sit on top of the league and have won eight games by at least four goals, twice scoring eight, and have already racked up a goal difference of plus 41 from their 11 games played. They have been formidable at home too, with a 100% record from their five games and only conceded two goals. Porthmadog sat in fourth place, just three points behind Rhyl and have only lost one league game this season - their previous game at Buckley. Porthmadog and Rhyl only played each other last week, when Rhyl triumphed 3-2 at Porthmadog in the Welsh Cup.

A good quality game was predicted between two good sides, and this quickly became apparent, and Rhyl almost took the lead on five minutes when a header hit the post. On 26 minutes, they again should have scored when the ball was blazed over from close range following a good cross. A few minutes later and they came close to scoring agaiin, when the forward beat the keeper to the header, but the ball just dropped over the bar. With the last kick of the half, Rhyl hit the post for a second time from a free-kick. Rhyl would certainly have been kicking themselves to have not scored in the first half, although Porthmadog certainly had their share of the play and also had some chances themselves.

The second half saw plenty of endeavour from both sides, again with Rhyl carving out the better chances, and roared on by a vocal and passionate support Rhyl came ever closer to scoring, but just couldn't find the goal. With five minutes remaining, Rhyl had Mark Powell sent off for a second yellow card, and in the end, both teams had to settle for a point, which no doubt the visitors would be much the happier with.

Conwy United 1 v 2 Flint Town United

Friday 11th November 2011
Cymru Alliance
Morfa Stadium, Conwy
Admission : £5.00
Programme : £1.50
Attendance : 150 (estimate)

For the first game of my long weekend based in Colwyn Bay, I soon made my way westwards along the coast to Conwy for a game in the second tier of Welsh football, between two former Welsh Premier teams in the Cymru Alliance.

The Morfa Stadium is located about a 15 minute walk westwards from Conwy rail station and town centre, and for an evening kick-off in surrounding darkness is quite an unremarkable ground, although when I returned the following day, it turned out that it has a very pleasant, typically rugged Welsh background, with steep large hills close behind one length. There is a fairly small, elevated all-seater stand straddling the half way-line, with half a dozen terrace steps either side stretching to the corner flags. On the opposite side there is a small covered standing area and straddling the half way line is a rather unusual tall and narrow, two story building that looks like it should be a regular stand but actually houses the elevated dugouts on the lower level - the top level is out of use. Behind one of the goals is a modern covered all-seater stand and behind the other goal is the clubhouse, changing rooms and a portakabin on breezeblock stilts housing rubbish such as a mattress and cupboard, all behind hard standing. The ground unsurprisingly reflects the team's fortunes on the pitch - both have had much better days, with the ground decaying very noticeably since it hosted top flight football, with many of the seats broken, the clubhouse needs a fresh lick of paint, and the back wall to the open terrace has fallen down in a couple of places . Although overpriced, the 26 page programme was a reasonable effort, with all the essential stats as well as some interesting articles too.

Having opened their season with three wins following promotion from the Welsh Alliance, Conwy then struggled somewhat, picking up just 5 points from 8 games, culminating in a 0-6 defeat to Rhyl, before winning their last game 6-2 at home to Ruthin Town. They went into this game in ninth place in the 16 team league and already seem to be settling into mid-table obscurity. Flint had a marvellous run in late August/early September, when they won six games on the bounce, but since then have picked up just one point from three games. They were three points and three places better off than Conwy, having played a game less.

On an evening with constant drizzle of varying intensity for the opening hour of the game, and with a pitch that was very bobbly as well as slippery, the first half was a poor affair, with both teams playing ugly brands of football - Flint seeming to just want to hoof the ball forward at every opportunity, whilst Conwy's passing was woeful, far too many times having passses easily intercepted. With both defences looking very solid, the goalless scoreline at half time was unsurprising, although both teams did have one golden chance to open the scoring, on 35 minutes a long range shot from fully 45 yards by Flint's Johnny Hill hit the post and a couple of minutes before half time, Conwy forced a smart save from the keeper low at his near post.

Within two minutes of the restart, the deadlock was broken when a looping cross was sent in from close to the byline, and Shaun Beck powered home a header from close range at the far post. Flint went on to have slightly the better of proceedings, and it was somewhat against the run of play when Conwy equalised, Chris Quinn scoring with a stooping header following a corner. Parity only lasted for two minutes though, as Flint went back into the lead when Jordon Brierley scored with a low shot from 25 yards into the corner. For the remainder of the game, there was plenty of huff and puff from Conwy as they attempted to score their second equaliser, but they never really convinced that they could score, and so it was Flint who claimed the away win.