A fourth victory of the season over Aberystwyth gave Flint the three points that assured them they would finish the season outside of the relegation zone, a great achievement by Lee Fowler’s young side, who have come of age during this campaign.
In the early stages they had to withstand some strong pressure from a determined Aber side, who were playing with some new found freedom now that their own relegation had been confirmed, and the burden of expectation had been lifted from their shoulders. Iwan Lewis featured prominently in the best attacking moves for the home side, first sliding a ball into Jonathan Evans who swept his shot just past the post, and then letting fly from 20 yards out on the right of the area, with Jack Flint getting a touch to direct the shot onto the woodwork.
On 8 minutes, the visitors got their first sight of goal. Sidi Fofana stuck out a leg to intercept a pass from John Owen, who was filling in at centre half, and found Josh Jones, who lobbed the ball nicely into the path of Elliott Reeves who was through on goal. Aber keeper Dave Jones distinguished himself by turning Reeves’ effort round the post.
A few minutes later Aber went close. Zac Hartley was allowed to make good ground through the centre, before laying the ball into the path of Alex Darlington. Jack Flint parried his long range effort, but the ball went straight to Evans. Flint did well to block Evans’ close range effort, but then the ball bounced into the path of Abdi Sharif, and Flint was quick to recover and keep his shot out also.
Flint had to be alert to field a long range effort from namesake Niall Flint, and make sure he gathered the ball and prevent any rebound from falling at the feet of Hartley who was in attendance close by to the keeper.
Having weathered the Aber storm, the Silkmen began to impose themselves on the game, and they took the lead on 35 minutes thanks to a fine solo effort from Ben Wynne. Having received the ball in space some 40 yards out, he advanced towards the box, and with no-one in black and green closing him down, he took his opportunity from the edge of the area to drill a shot into the corner of Jones’ net.
From that point on, it was fairly comfortable for the visitors, and they should have doubled the lead a few minutes later. Reeves was fed with the ball, and broke to the bye-line before pulling it back to Jones, who was 7 yards out, unmarked, in the centre of goal. However, he contrived to lift it over the bar as he tried to pick his spot.
Flint were sensing a second goal was in the offing, and a Jake Phillips free kick found Harry Owen, but his bundled effort went just wide of the target, thanks to a deflection. From the resulting corner, the ball was eventually returned into the box and Owen met it once more, this time the post kept his header out.
A couple of minutes before the interval Phillips intercepted a pass, and charged down the right from deep in his own half. His run took him inside the Aber box, and he pulled the trigger, only for Jones to stick out a hand and deflect the ball onto the bar.
The Silkmen picked up where they left off within a couple of minutes of the restart, and Reeves played a nice ball between two defenders to pick out the overlapping Ben Collins on the left. He, in turn, played it back to Wynne, whose shot just skidded the wrong side of the post.
The game was effectively put to bed on 64 minutes, when Reeves picked the ball up on the half way line and surged forward. His attempt to find Jones with a pass was blocked, but the ball fell kindly back to Reeves’ feet, and from 20 yards out he calmly buried it inside the post.
On 72 minutes. Luke Mariette shot from the edge of the area, and Jones did well to get down and save, but with Reeves looming large for the follow up, Jones did even better to somehow keep that out. When the ball did find its way back to the feet of Reeves moments later for a simple tap in, he had strayed offside and so it was disallowed.
With 3 minutes remaining Aber did manage to get onto the scoresheet, following a rare foray forward in what had been a rather one sided second half. As Sharif ran into the box, Phillips tangled with him, bringing the Aber player to the floor, and Niall Flint scored the resulting penalty, just sending the ball beyond the grasp of Jack Flint, who dived the right way.
But it was no more than a consolation for the home side, and the small band of Flint supporters who had made the Friday night journey to mid Wales celebrated their side’s survival at the final whistle.
Report by Nigel Sheen
Line Ups :
Aberystwyth Town – D. Jones, B. Davies, Z. Hartley, C. Huxley (C. Cline 71), J. Owen, J. Thorn (c), J. Evans (T. Mason 71), I. Lewis, N. Flint, A. Darlington, A. Sharif. Unused Subs – S. Osment (GK), S. Davies, I. Duggan
Flint Town United – J. Flint, I. Lee (L. Morrison 84), B. Collins, I. Lambert, H. Owen (c), S. Fofana (M. Burke 62), J. Phillips, O. Simmonds (L. Mariette 62), E. Reeves, B. Wynne (G. Maire 71), J. Jones (L. Sumner 84). Unused Subs – D. Szczepaniak, C. Hart
Flint MOM – Elliott Reeves (great movement up front and a clinical finish for the killer second goal)
