A game that looked to be delivering 3 precious festive points turned into a bit of a nightmare before Christmas for Flint as they were pegged back after establishing a two goal lead, and they suffered 4 injuries to key players.
Elliott Reeves and Ben Hughes returned to the starting line up, having missed last week’s Cup match, and they injected a greater sense of purpose and more inventiveness to the side in an attacking sense, as Flint looked lively in the opening stages.
An early corner from Jake Phillips just eluded the head of Harry Owen on the back post as Flint pressed. Then, on 14 minutes, Darren Stephenson did well and muscled his way to the byeline, before playing the ball across to Hughes, who was just in front of County’s keeper Luc Rees on the near post, but it just eluded the midfielder and Rees got hold of it.
The home side opened the scoring on 25 minutes. Jack Thorn received the ball in space, and found Jake Canavan, who turned, checked back, and spotted the run of Reeves before lofting a delightful ball right into his path. Reeves took one touch then lifted it over the incoming Rees for an exquisite finish.
Haverfordwest didn’t threaten too much in the first period, apart from a free kick from Rhys Abbruzzese on the edge of the box that was comfortably held by Dawid Szczepaniak in the Flint goal. Much more of a concern was the departure of Reeves, Hughes and Isaac Lee all with injuries, of varying degrees, as the first half drew to an end. Ben Wynne, who had come on to replace Reeves, would himself have to be replaced in the second half, as Flint’s injury woes deepened.
The first chance of the second period fell to the Silkmen when Canavan fired in a shot that Rees managed to deal with.
Haverfordwest then started to exert some pressure and create some chances of their own, as first captain Dylan Rees crossed to the near post, but Owen did well to get there ahead of Ben Ahmun, and deflect the ball put for a corner. Then Owain Jones was found in a good position on the edge of the box, but placed his shot wide of the post.
On the hour mark, Flint mounted a good counter, when Stephenson broke, and then slipped the ball to Wynne, who shaped to shoot, but Corey Shepherd did well to get back and block the effort as Wynne hit his shot. However, a few minutes later, they broke again, and this time the move resulted in a goal. Canavan turned the ball over in the Flint half, before supplying a pass for Wynne to run onto. Rees came haring out of his goal, and Wynne hurdled his challenge, before squaring the ball towards Canavan, who had sprinted upfield in support. The ball eluded Canavan’s foot by mere inches, but the player recovered to retrieve the ball wide on the right, and then played it into the path of Phillips who was surging into the area. He was unceremoniously upended by Ricky Watts, and Josh Jones stepped up to convert the awarded penalty.
It looked to be game over at the point, as although Haverfordwest had shown glimpses of threat, they hadn’t overly troubled the Flint defence too much.
But, out of the blue, two goals in two minutes turned the game on its head. A lapse in defensive concentration allowed Dan Hawkins to escape down the right, and receive the ball from Owain Jones. He fired the ball across goal, and the unfortunate Harry Owen could only turn it into his own net. Then, barely a minute later, the Flint goal was breached for the second time. Tis time, possession was given away cheaply on the left, allowing Haverfordwest to attack through Jones, who sent over a cross that kindly fell into the path of Hawkins, who was allowed to deliver a little chipped ball onto the head of Ahmun, who nodded home.
Poor game management when in a decent position costing the Silkmen points once again this season.
Our festive programme continues on Boxing Day when we entertain Connah’s Quay Nomads for a derby encounter, kick off 2-30pm.
Report by Nigel Sheen. Photos by Damon Mead.
Line Ups :
Flint Town United – D. Szczepaniak, B. Woollam, I. Lee (J. Jones 45), D. Davies, H. Owen (c), J. Thorn, J. Phillips, B. Hughes (S. Fofana 46), E. Reeves (B. Wynne 41 (Cm. Ferguson 67)), D. Stephenson, J. Canavan. Unused subs – J. Flint (GK), Z. Dempsey (GK), L. Morrison
Haverfordwest County – L. Rees, D. Rees (c) (K. McCarthy 65), R. Abbruzzese, E. Scotcher, I. Humphreys (O. Jones 46), G. Walters (A. Watkins 82), R. Watts, C. Shepherd, B. Ahmun, D. Hawkins, P. Makwiramiti (K. Kenniford 46). Unused subs – I. Knott, A. Jones
Flint MOM – Jake Canavan (was at the heart of Flint’s most promising moves)
