Flint maintained their unbeaten record against Newtown this season, thanks to Elliott Reeves’ 87th minute goal, which secured a well deserved draw.
This was a game that the hosts were desperate to win, and they adopted a physical, robust approach, designed to knock Flint out of their rhythm and prevent them from playing their normal passing game, and to be fair it paid dividends, especially in the first period with Newtown definitely gaining the upper hand.
The first clear cut chance arrived after 5 minutes, when Robins’ midfielder Rob Evans connected with a corner at the far post, that Jack Flint did well to beat out.
The game quickly developed into a scrappy affair, with Newtown the more dominant force, but Flint did put together a threatening move on 24 minutes. Reeves received the ball, did well to shield it, before finding Josh Jones on the edge of the box, who passed up an opportunity to hit it first time, but took it around a defender before getting away the shot that crept just wide of the upright.
The home side were threatening to overrun Flint in the midfield area, but Sidi Fofana was immense for his side, holding firm, and doing a good job in breaking down the play.
The opening goal arrived on the half hour mark, and was the result of a corner played to the back post.
The ball was then played back across the area to Zeli Ismael, who applied a good finish to give the home side the lead, as Flint protestations for hand ball in the build up were ignored.
Three minutes before the interval, the Silkmen were back on terms, following a corner of their own. Ben Collins picked the ball up wide on the left, and then sent a curling effort from outside the box into the far corner of the net. This time it was the Newtown protests that went unheeded, over a Flint player possibly impeding the goalkeeper’s line of sight from an offside position. After a brief conversation with his assistant, the referee pointed to the centre circle and awarded the goal, as it would have been incredibly harsh to rule it out, with the ball going far beyond the keeper’s reach anyway.
In the opening minutes of the second period Flint had a much more assured look about them, and were starting to knock the ball about with more confidence, but from nowhere were completely undone as they lost possession near the touchline just inside their own half. The ball was quickly played down the line to Ismael, and with their centre backs caught horribly out of position, Flint’s rearguard was exposed, allowing Rackeem Reid to steal in and slot home Ismael’s centre.
Newtown were then content to pack their own half, and try to prevent Flint from playing through them, using every opportunity to waste time when the situation arose. The away side were finding space difficult to come by, and more often than not were giving the ball back by running infield into trouble, when what space was available, was wide on the flanks. When things did start opening up, a lack of composure meant that wrong options were taken, such as hurried, long range efforts, that did little to trouble Garcia in the Newtown goal. Indeed, it was the Robins who had the best sight of goal, when Reid was allowed to come in from the left and close in on the near post, only for to Flint to come out and meet him and bravely block his effort.
The Silkmen continued to try and break down a resolute Newtown defence, and had a decent penalty shout waived away when Ben Hughes tumbled inside the box, but it looked as though their efforts would come to nothing. That was until the 87th minute, when finally, Jones was picked out in space by Isaac Lee. He made the most of the opportunity, sending the ball into the danger area, where Reeves got across his man, before getting a telling glance on the delivery to send it beyond Garcia into the net. As the game headed into added on time, Flint mounted another attack, which again saw another penalty appeal waived away, before Luke Mariette flashed a shot just past the post. The final action saw Jake Phillips receive the ball from a corner, and his curling effort just went the wrong side of the post.
Although they might feel disappointed not to have snatched the win having got back into the game, this point may yet prove pivotal in Flint’s survival quest come the end of the season.
Next up is Connah’s Quay Nomads on Tuesday evening.
Line Ups :
Newtown AFC – S. Garcia, D. Smith, C. Smith (J. Rainbird 85), D. Martin, S. Sutton (c), C. Williams, R. Reid (O. Sharp 76), R. Evans, G. Hughes, A. Williams (D. Torry 90), Z. Ismael (T. Hollinshead 85). Unused Subs – S. Ussher (GK), W. Tahra, J. Harries
Flint Town United – J. Flint, I. Lee, M. Burke (I. Lambert 54), S. Fofana, H. Owen (c), B. Collins (O. Simmonds 68), J. Phillips, B. Hughes, E. Reeves, B. Wynne (L. Mariette 60), J. Jones. Unused Subs – D. Szczepaniak (GK), G. Maire, K. Brick, L. Sumner
Report by Nigel Sheen
Flint MOM – Sidi Fofana (held it together for his side in the midfield in the first half when they could have been overrun)
