FLINT TOWN UNITED (Cae-y-Castell)

CYMRU PREMIER, FLINT TOWN UNITED 4-1 HAVERFORDWEST COUNTY, ATTENDANCE: 223

With the stormy weather battering the country this weekend I opted to stay local with another visit to Cae-y-Castell, the home of Flint Town United.

Flint returned to the top tier of Welsh football for season 2020/21, after an absence of 22 years but, due to coronavirus restrictions, this season is the first chance for supporters to cheer on The Silkmen. The crowds have reflected this and a recent game against rivals Connah's Quay attracted a 1k plus attendance.

So far, expectations have been well and truly exceeded with Flint spending the majority of season hot on the heels of runaway leaders The New Saints.

Flint were founder members of the League of Wales in 1992 and had six seasons in the top flight before relegation to the Cymru Alliance in 1998.

Flint actually finished distant runners up to Prestatyn Town in the Cymru North in 2020 but were promoted after Prestatyn's Bastian Road failed ground grading criteria.

Cae-y-Castell, or Castle Field in English, has been home to Flint since 1993 when they left their previous home, Holywell Road (which is now buried under a retail park).

The ground is just a short walk along the coastal path from the 700 year old Flint Castle, famous as the location of a fateful meeting in 1399 between Richard II and his rival to the crown Henry Bolingbroke (later Henry IV), an event immortalised in Shakespeare’s Richard II.

This afternoon was a reasonably comfortable win for Flint.

With the strong wind blowing from one end of the pitch to the other, the game hinged on who could take advantage with the wind at their backs. It was the homesters as they went in 3-0 up at the break and it should have been more. Kai Edwards (16) Michael Wilde (41) and Jack Kenny (44) scored the goals.

Haverfordwest, who had former Welsh international Jazz Richards in their starting XI, weren't without their chances and they actually missed the first big chance of the match and had a couple of opportunities to make things interesting after substitute Williams (58) had got one back. However Flint made certain of the points when Kenny (80) scored his second of the match.

Just for further information if you do visit Cae-y-Castell this season then make sure you try the locally produced pies on sale here, they are absolutely superb!

LLANTWIT MAJOR AFC (Windmill Lane)

CYMRU LEAGUES CUP 1st ROUND, LLANTWIT MAJOR 3-3 RISCA UNITED* ATTENDANCE: 86

(*won 4-2 on penalties)

It felt fantastic being on the road to South Wales today, almost 18 months after my last journey down the A483.

Plenty of options to choose from, especially from the two Cup competitions taking place but, as much as I love the Welsh Trophy, I wanted for something higher up the food chain so eventually plumped for Llantwit Major versus Risca United in the Welsh Leagues (Nathaniel MG Group) Cup 1st Round. What a brilliant decision that proved to be!

Llantwit Major were founded in 1962 and were a successful amateur league team, the 1980's being a particular boom time with South Wales Amateur League titles in 1980, 1981 and 1984, along with Cup Wins in 1981, 1984 and 1987.

The last decade however has seen the club surpass those highs as they have risen from the South Wales Amateur League to the second tier of Welsh Football. The club were promoted to the Welsh League in 2012 and after a few seasons of consolidation, they won back to back titles (and promotions) in 2017 and 2018.

When football in Wales was restructured in 2019, the club were founder members of the Cymru South. Their first season was cut short due to the Covid-19 pandemic and the club were placed 11th in the final standings on points per game.

The club are based at Windmill Lane, which is in the shadow of the old Frampton Mill (pictured right) which was built around 1820, but ceased working around 1850 and was converted to a dwelling in the early 1980s.

The ground has undergone Major changes to meet the licence criteria for step 2 football in Wales. The ground is fully enclosed and has two seated stands, one on each side of the pitch. The ground looked resplendent on a gloriously sunny afternoon. 

The opening exchanges were fairly even but the best chances fell to the homesters so it was slightly against the run when Risca opened the scoring through Leon Thomas after 20 minutes. 

Llantwit Major were level on the half hour when Josh Jones blasted home from the edge of the box and nearly took the lead when a Rob Jones effort came back off the post. They did take the lead after 41 minutes when Josh Jones rounded the 'keeper for his second and in stoppage time it was 3-1 when Thomas Walters was felled in the box and he stepped up to convert the resulting penalty.

Leon Thomas brought Risca back into the game after 57 minutes and 10 minutes later it was all square as Jordan Thomas netted the equaliser. 

In the last stages of the game it could have gone either way as both teams pushed for a winner but it wasn't forthcoming and it was the dreaded penalty shoot out. 

The Cuckoo's comeback was complete as they triumphed in the shoot out, Arthur Furness scoring the winning kick after efforts from Major's Ioan Emmanuel (saved) and Josh Morgan (skied) were missed. A wonderful encounter, especially when you consider the searing heat, just a shame one team had to lose.

The decisive penalties; Llantwit Major's Josh Morgan skies his (left)

whilst Arthur Furness converts his (right)

RUABON ROVERS (The Recreation Ground)

FAW WELSH CUP 1st QUALIFYING ROUND, RUABON ROVERS 2-7 SALTNEY TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 100 (😏)

With England reaching (and losing to Italy) in the Final of Euro 2020 "Football's Coming Home" seemed to be everywhere this weekend so, with that in mind, I decided to keep it relatively local and head to Ruabon where you could say the Welsh Cup "came home".

The village of Ruabon is intertwined with the history of Welsh football and the Welsh Cup itself as the competition began in an hotel, The Wynnstay Arms, just yards from where today's game took place (naturally, it would have been rude not to have a beverage at his historic venue).

In 1877 local resident, and inaugural Chairman of Football Association of Wales, Llewelyn Kenrick established the competition after being inspired by the FA Cup and in 1878 local the local team, Ruabon Druids, reached the first ever final where they were beaten by 1-0 by Wrexham.

It was Llewelyn Kenrick who established football in Wales as we know it today after reading a challenge in "The Field", a London based newspaper, to arrange a football match between Wales and Scotland or Ireland. He told The Field that the footballers of North Wales accepted the challenge and Wales went on to lose 4-0 to Scotland in March 1876.

In May 1876, a further meeting was called at the aforementioned Wynnstay Arms Hotel in Ruabon where the name the "Football Association of Wales" was agreed and a constitution was drawn up. Welsh football was born and, the rest, as they say...

The Welsh Cup made an appearance at The Rec

It was another little piece of history this afternoon as Ruabon Rovers made their debut in the Welsh Cup competition. The club were formed in 2020 but, due to the Covid pandemic, they never played their first competitive game until last Saturday (when they beat Brymbo Lodge 2-1). Coincidentally, the last competitive game I saw in Wales, back in January 2020, was a Welsh Cup tie as Swansea University lost to Prestatyn Town (the competition was not completed that season and not played at all last season).

Ruabon are the latest club to come out of the village and the first since the demise of Ruabon Villa over fifteen years ago. A favourite son of the village, Mark Hughes, is the Honorary President of the club.

The club play on the Recreation Ground in the heart of the village. The ground is just a pitch with no football furniture but today the club produced a matchday programme and this clearly attracted groundhoppers from far and wide to visit The Rec. Obviously the Covid pandemic means crowds are restricted to 100 but I would say there must have been a few more out and about taking their exercise or walking their dog!

Saltney Town were the opposition today but unfortunately for Ruabon there was no cup upset as the higher ranked opponents cruised through the next round. Despite being on the backfoot from the beginning, it took until the 19th minute for Saltney to make the breakthrough when Thomas Booth scored. However nine minutes later it was four to Saltney as Booth added a second (21) and Corey Mason (23) and Adrian Callaghan (28) netted. Callaghan scored his second on 41 minutes and most of the crowd were anticipating a cricket score.

Ruabon to their credit dug deep in the second half and scored after 51 minutes when Michael Jones headed home. Rovers' Adam Jones saved a penalty from Stephen Chiocchi before Booth completed his hat-trick on the hour. Carl Pleavin (78) made it seven for Saltney but the final word was left to Ruabon skipper Chris Bennion who took advantage of a defensive mix-up to make the final score 2-7.

BACKCELL ARENA (Azerbaijan v Wales)

Whilst i'm still on my covid enforced sabbatical from groundhopping, due to a local lockdown, here is a post I wrote last year about my eventful trip to Azerbaijan, which I never got around to publishing. I suppose it's better late than never. Enjoy! 

SATURDAY 16th NOVEMBER 2019, EURO 2020 QUALIFIER, AZERBAIJAN 0-2 WALES, ATTENDANCE: 8,662

This was certainly a trip into the unknown. When the draw for the qualifiers was made this was the one I definitely had my eye on.

I flew from Manchester to Baku via Istanbul and it was definitely an interesting watching the flight path on screen as places such a Mosul and Allepo appeared in shot. I travelled with an official party and it was a good laugh meeting up with supporters from down the North Wales coast.

There were no problems with the flight and,after a stopover in Turkey and a few light ales, I landed in Baku in the early hours of the morning.

The game was being played at 9pm local time on the Saturday, so this effectively gave 2 days to see the sights of the city. I have to say it was an amazing place to walk around.

The Republic of Azerbaijan was a former Soviet state but is also were Europe meets Asia, so there is an interesting mix of cultures and influences.

The Inner City of Baku, which is surrounded by walls, along with the Shirvanshah's Palace and Maiden Tower, were designated as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2000. I spent most of the day walking around these sites.

There was also time to visit the famous Flame Towers and the legendary Carpet Museum to visit as well as stroll along the beach front. However me being me, I managed to seek out a great bar in order to have a few bevvies and plenty of the local falling over juice (as my badly bruised ribs would ultimately testify).

 

When my plans for this trip were drawn up and booked, it was assumed that the game would be played at the Olympic Stadium but as the qualifiers got underway it quickly became clear that Azerbaijan were playing their home games at the 11,000 capacity Eighth Kilometer District Stadium which, for sponsorship purposes, is currently called the Backcell Arena. The ground was inaugurated in 2012 when it hosted matches in the Women's U17 World Cup.

The ground is also the home of Azerbaijan Premier League side PFC Neftchi, who have won the most league titles (8) of any club in the competitions history.

With the smaller capacity, it was then a case of waiting to see what allocation the Welsh FA would be getting. As tickets are sold on an away credit basis it was a nervous countdown of days until as the tickets were sold. Fortunately there was no issues and I obtained my ticket with no problem (and the collection point was even in my hotel in Baku). The ground is around 9 miles out of town and buses were laid on for the Welsh fans to take them to and from the stadium. 

Wales took about 1,200 fans to Azerbaijan for this must win game, knowing that any slip ups could end any chance of automatic qualification. In the end it was a comfortable victory thanks to goals from Kieffer Moore (10) and Harry Wilson (34).

This, coupled with Croatia beating Slovakia, put automatic qualification back in Wales' hands and they duly completed the job by beating Hungary a few days later.

Unfortunately for me I was unable to attend this game as my ribs were badly bruised as a result of my over exuberance on the Friday night and I was confined to the sofa barely able to breathe! Indeed I had to pay a visit to the hospital on my return home to have my ribs checked over. Will I ever learn?

As a final postscript, when the draw was made for Euro 2020, Wales were drawn in a group where two of the games will be played at the Olympic Stadium in Baku but obviously Covid-19 has put things on hold until 2021.

Keifer Moore heads home for the first goal of the night