On a day when a win, or even a draw, would have secured their top flight status, Flint slumped to a bitterly disappointing defeat against the bottom placed side as their poor home run continued. The Silkmen were hoping to record their first home league win since October (which, ironically was against Llanelli), but instead the visitors claimed only their third win of the campaign and their first since September. Fortunately, Bala also lost, meaning that the gap between us and them remains at 5 points, and we have two matches remaining to secure that elusive point that will almost certainly guarantee safety given the goal difference between the two sides.
Flint started brightly and looked to be in the mood to get the job done against their lowly opponents. But their habit of trying one pass too many, or being too intricate with the final ball, meant that Alex Pennock in the Llanelli goal wasn’t seriously troubled. He was called upon to make a fairly routine save on 6 minutes, when a good incisive run by Jake Canavan led to him feeding Josh Jones who shot from the edge of the box.
Llanelli made their first dangerous foray into the Flint half on 20 minutes, when Jay Farrell-Ali found himself through on goal, only to delay shooting, and was then bundled off the ball. Nevertheless, this seemed to give the Reds confidence that they could pierce the Flint rearguard, and they started to come out of their shell. Meanwhile, at the other end, Flint continued to try and thread the ball through the eye of a needle, and time and again, passes were intercepted by the Llanelli defence.
The Silkmen were shell shocked on 26 minutes when they fell behind. Bradley Gibbings did well on the right to send in a dangerous ball, and Danny Williams nipped in between two defenders on the edge of the 6 yard box to volley home.
For some reason Flint were unable to rouse themselves to respond to this setback, and the rest of the half petered out.
A double substitution after the break attempted to inject more life in to the home side, as Jake Phillips and Lee Jonas were introduced into the action. Phillips, in particular, featured prominently as Flint started strongly, and showed more urgency in taking the game to their opponents.
On 52 minutes, Canavan picked out Phillips who delivered a dangerous low cross, but Reds skipper Sean Cronin was perfectly positioned to cut it out just in front of the waiting Flint attackers. A few minutes later, Elliott Reeves ran onto a through ball, outpacing the defence, but in collecting it had gone to the right of the goal, and he screwed his shot wide of the far post. He then completely misjudged a free header, with his attempted glance sending the ball spinning away from goal.
Ben Hughes found himself through on goal following a defensive mix up, but from a great position he miskicked and the ball rolled harmlessly through to Pennock.
A Phillips delivery just eluded both Reeves and Jones as Flint continued to press, before Jack Thorn saw his low shot saved by Pennock, who was comfortably dealing with everything that was being thrown at him.
On 72 minutes, Hughes slipped in Jones, who just had Pennock to beat, but he shot straight at the keeper, who gratefully blocked the effort.
It was beginning to look like it wasn’t to be Flint’s day, and the frustration from the fans was audible as chances were squandered, and the build up play was all too often over elaborate.
Then came the sucker punch of the second goal on 80 minutes, which completely knocked the stuffing out of the home side. A free kick from the right was swung in, and Luke Owen drove in a shot that Jack Flint parried, and with the ball being unable to be cleared to safety out of the 18 yard box, Cronin was on hand to drill it into the goal when it fell handily into his path.
Reeves and Canavan both saw efforts saved by Pennock, before, deep into stoppage time, Ben Woollam volleyed in a Phillips corner to grab a late consolation goal.
Our final home game sees us welcome Haverfordwest on Good Friday, as we look to break our duck at the Essity in Phase 2 and finally get a home win, which would ensure safety.
Report by Nigel Sheen. Photos by Damon Mead.
Line Ups :
Flint Town United – J. Flint, B. Woollam, O. Abadaki, S. Fofana (L. Jonas 46 (E. Smith 89)), H. Owen (c), J. Thorn, D. Stephenson (J. Phillips 46), B. Hughes (M. Purvis 83), E. Reeves, J. Canavan, J. Jones. Unused subs – D. Szczepaniak, C. Ferguson, L. Morrison
Llanelli Town – A. Pennock, M. Evans, S. Parsons, S. Cronin (c), J. Lester, M. Power, J. Lloyd, B. Gibbings (J. Baker 69), J. Farrell-Alli, D. Williams (K. Hussein 79), T. Jenkins (L. Owen 75). Unused subs – D. Davies (GK), O. Williams (GK)
Flint MOM – Jack Thorn (showed good endeavour on a miserable afternoon for his side)
