After building a 1-0 lead at the break, they really turned the screw in the second period and steamrollered their opponents adding a further four goals.
On a hot afternoon at the Cyncoed Stadium, the visitors soon settled into their stride and took the lead on 8 minutes. Callum Bratley did well to win back possession for his team in midfield, and he found Danny Harrison. The ex-Nomads player, making his first start for Flint, looked up and saw the run of Jack Kenny, before pinging a beautifully weighted ball into the forward’s path. Kenny then had to keep his nerve as he had a one on one with Met keeper Alex Lang. This he did superbly, by drifting out to the right hand side of the six yard box, before shooting into the far corner of the net.
As the half wore on, Met started to impose themselves a bit more on the game, and looked dangerous with some thrusting moves down the flanks. However, as soon as they reached the edge of the Flint box, most moves tended to fizzle out as a combination of Silkmen midfielders and defenders snuffed out the danger with well timed tackles or blocks. One such occasion was on 27 minutes, when a great block by Ben Nash 12 yards out stopped a fierce shot from Adam Roscrow that looked as though it was going to be on target and would have given Jon Rushton problems to deal with. Having survived that mini scare, and with Ben Maher and Harrison doing some dogged work in midfield, Flint comfortably made it to the break with a deserved lead.
In the second half, the Flint midfield took the game by the scruff of the neck, and were totally dominant, providing the perfect platform for the forwards to reap their rewards. Bratley was fouled on the hour mark, and the resulting free kick was hoisted into the box wide on the left, where Nash returned it into the danger area, and with Met defenders hesitating, Bratley turned on the loose ball and struck it home from close range.
More defensive lapses were to provide Michael Wilde with his first goal in Flint colours on 69 minutes. A corner from Sam Hart looked as though it wouldn’t come to anything, until Wilde, showing he has lost none of his predatory instincts, quickly nipped in front of his marker to score. The Flint striker had been relatively well marshalled by Emlyn Lewis in the opening half, but was now beginning to enjoy himself and find little pockets of space to exploit. Shortly after he went close again, dragging a shot just wide of the post.
Conor Harwood was introduced into the action on 66 minutes and soon made his presence felt. First he went just wide with an overhead kick, before being released by Alex Jones and embarking on a run down the right which beat the offside trip. He centred a perfect ball into the path of Wilde, and the forward doubled his tally by lashing it into the roof of the net on 78 minutes.
Maher capped off an excellent display with a nice assist for Harwood on 88 minutes. His cushioned header floated over a defender to find his teammate, and Harwood applied the finishing touch with a glancing a header into the net.
To their credit, Met kept plugging away, and grabbed a consolation goal in the last minute, when Tom Price struck a lovely curling shot from range that gave Rushton no chance. But it was very much a case of too little too late, as Flint claimed an emphatic opening day win.
