Flint’s New Year got off to the best possible start, with a thoroughly deserved win over Colwyn Bay, although they left it late to do so, scoring in the 90th minute with a Harry Owen header. In truth, the game should have probably been wrapped up by the half time interval, but chances came and went, and the Silkmen were unable to convert any of them. However, they got their just reward when Josh Jones put them ahead, only to be pegged back, before regrouping and grabbing the much deserved late winner.
The first half was virtually one way traffic, as the Bay seemed to be nursing a collective New Year’s Eve hangover, and Flint pressed and harried, and stroked the ball around comfortably, creating several decent opportunities. The only downside being their inability to convert at least one of them.
Probably about the best chance was the first one, which arrived on 5 minutes. Jake Phillips beat the offside trap, before smartly laying it back to Darren Stephenson, who lifted the ball over the bar from a great position. Then, barely a minute later, from a long throw down the line, Josh Jones escaped and crossed to Stephenson who pulled it back to Jake Canavan. The midfielder tried to carefully place his effort, but a defender blocked the shot.
On 10 minutes, from a Bay goal kick, Sidi Fofana won his header, and found Stephenson, who did well to retain possession against two defenders. The supporting Canavan took control of the ball and played a nice weighted pass through to Jones, who struck a shot from just outside the box, that hit the upright before bouncing out.
Flint kept piling on the pressure and Stephenson broke away down the left, before pulling the ball back to Fofana, who miscued his shot horribly.
Stephenson was featuring heavily in the action in the final third, and following a nice exchange of passes between him and Mikey Burke, Burke in turn fired the ball into Canavan, but Bay keeper Alex Brown thwarted the TNS loanee with good strong hands to beat out his shot.
Then, a poor clearance from Brown, who was out of his goal area, inadvertently set up a chance for Fofana, but once again his shooting was wayward, and the ball struck Nathan Peate, before rebounding into the path of Jones whose curling effort went just wide of the post.
How the game reached the interval at 0-0 was a mystery, but also a bit of a worry for Flint fans, who feared that their team’s missed chances might prove costly.
Five minutes into the second half, and Flint carved out another decent opportunity. A good passing move saw Jones released on the right, and he got to the bye-line before pulling the ball back to Canavan, who from a well placed position lifted it over the bar. However, within 60 seconds, frustration turned to joy from a Flint point of view, as they eventually broke the deadlock. From the resulting goal kick after Canavan’s miss, Fofana won a header, and directed it in-between a couple of defenders for Jones to run onto. The striker duly obliged, reaching the ball just ahead of Brown who came racing out to the edge of is box. Jones then cleverly poked it through the keeper’s legs and set it on its way into the goal.
The goal finally shook the Bay into some sort of response, and they started putting a bit of pressure on the Flint goal. From a free kick, Peate got a head on the ball, and Jack Flint came off his line to punch clear under pressure. The ball was punched to the edge of the 18 yard box, but met by Jamie Cumming, who headed back goalwards, the ball bouncing back off the bar, before Flint was finally able to collect. A double substitution then injected some fresh legs into the Seagulls’ midfield, and the home side enjoyed their best spell of the game for the next 15 minutes or so.
They were handed a lifeline on 76 minutes. A lofted ball was played into the Silkmen’s box, and Harry Owen elected to head clear, when Flint probably should have come to collect the ball, as there was no immediate danger. The clearance only went as far as Uniss Kargbo who was situated on the edge of the box on the right, as Owen got under the ball and got height but not much distance. From that, Flint collectively struggled to clear their lines, and Canavan mishit a ball back into his area. Jack Thorn tried to head clear, but under pressure from Jordan Davies, missed the ball and it fell kindly to George Hughes who smashed it into the net. Flint players complained that Davies had fouled Thorn, but the referee, who was well placed, allowed the goal to stand.
It was now a question of whether Flint would start to wobble or remain resolute. Fortunately, their defence dug in and remained solid, allowing the team to regroup.
It was looking as though it was going to be a case of two points lost from a Flint perspective, but as the game entered the 90th minute, they had a corner that Canavan delivered to Owen who had pulled towards the near post area on the edge of the 6 yard box. He met it perfectly and powered his header on goal. The force of it beat Brown, as it deflected off him and behind the line. Although Brown did grab it, and move it back in front of the goal line, the eagle eyed assistant correctly ruled that the ball had crossed the line, and the goal was awarded.
A good contingent of travelling Flint supporters were rewarded for making the journey along the coast as the team comfortably held onto the lead to claim the 3 points, and could even have added more goals, as late substitute Elliott Reeves had two good chances in stoppage time to put the game well and truly to bed, but on each occasion he cleared the bar with his efforts.
Our phase 1 fixtures are completed on Friday 9th January, when we entertain Bala Town, the team we have leapfrogged above following this win, in what will be another hugely significant game.
Report by Nigel Sheen
Line Ups :
Colwyn Bay – A. Brown, Ar. Williams (U. Kargbo 63), E. Roberts, N. Peate, L. Sirrell (c), S. Forde, J. Cumming, A. Edwards (Aa. Williams 75), J. Davies, L. Robles (M. Hill 63), G. Hughes. Unused subs – L. Murphy (GK), J. Owen, I. Kargbo, M. McGoona
Flint Town United – J. Flint, B. Woollam, M. Burke, S. Fofana, H. Owen (c), J. Thorn, J. Phillips (B. Wynne 84), A. Mudimu, D. Stephenson (E. Reeves 84), J. Canavan, J. Jones. Unused subs – D. Szczepaniak (GK), Cam. Ferguson, K. Imariagbe, Cal. Ferguson, L. Morrison
Flint MOM – Harry Owen (a solid display capped off by that precious match winning goal)
