Holywell Town 3-1 Denbigh Town

Welsh Cup Round 1 – Saturday 6th October 2012
Holywell Town 3 – 1 Denbigh Town

Welsh Cup Action returned to Halkyn Road as The Wellmen entertained League Leaders Denbigh Town. The ground staff did a great job in getting the game on given the heavy rain of late and I'm sure the game would have been in doubt if it wasn't for their efforts.

The match got underway and both teams tried to take control of the game on the soft surface after the recent heavy rain. Holywell were the first to threaten with Ian Griffiths and Steve Thomas looking sharp upfront. The Wellmen did score first butthe linesman ruled it to be offside. A good move down the right saw Danny Sullivan crossing for ex Denbigh Town striker Ian Griffiths to slide the ball home but the Assistant raised his flag as Grifiiths was narrowly offside.

The home defence coped well with Denbigh’s long ball tactics over the top, with Ashley Durham having an outstanding game at the back. Tom Sharples had half a chance cleared for Denbigh before a great move down the left by Holywell saw Matty Roberts cross the ball and the oncoming Barry Calder was narrowly wide with his effort. A couple of minutes later, Steve Thomas went on a run and was tripped just inside the box and the referee had no hesitation and pointed to the spot. Ian Griffiths stepped up to take and his powerful shot hit the crossbar and bounced down and the Denbigh defence managed to clear the ball to safety for a corner. From the resulting corner, Ashley Durham saw his header go inches over the bar.

With a few minutes to go before the break, Denbigh Town were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position and Paul Edwards stepped up to take the kick and his shot went through a crowd of bodies and Town keeper Danny Stanton was glad to see it go inches past the post. A touch would have seen the ball go into the net. So as the teams left the pitch for half time, no team had made the breakthrough and both had all to play for in the second half.

The second half was only a couple of minutes old when Holywell Town made the breakthrough they deserved. Tony Roebuck thread the ball through to Steve Thomas, who skipped the challenge of a couple of defenders before turning and shooting low past Jamie Hulse’ right and the ball nestled into the bottom corner. This spurred the Wellmen on again, and Paul Williams, who was having a great game again in the centre of the park, crossed the ball over to Danny Sullivan at the far post but he miskicked his shot and Hulse was able to save. Williams again a few minutes later passed the ball wide right to Tony Roebuck. His cross towards Danny Sullivan at the far post was a bit close to the keeper but somehow went over his head and went in via the far post and Town were two goals to the good.

Town continued to press and were looking for the killer third goal. On the hour mark, Denbigh keeper Hulse produced 3 excellent saves in quick succession to keep Denbigh in the game. Holywell’s Ian Griffiths had a shot blocked by Hulse, and the ball fell to Sullivan who’s point blank shot was again saved by Hulse before Steve Thomas saw his shot saved by Hulse and the ball fell kindly to the Denbigh defence to clear.

Five minutes later, Denbigh were back in the game through Substitute John Slater. A ball from midfield fell to Tom Charles who broke clear and his shot was only parried by Stanton into Slater’s path who had the easy task of tapping the ball into an empty net. Denbigh thought they may get another and pressed hard but the Wellmen’s back four coped well and cleared any danger. With 10 minutes to go, Holywell Town scored the killer third goal through Ian Griffiths who made up for the earlier penalty miss. The dangerous Steve Thomas crossed low and Griffiths beat his marker to shoot the ball home giving Hulse no chance.

With a few minutes remaining, Denbigh’s Liam Jones thread the ball through from midfield for Slater to chase and Ashley Durham tracked back well to force Slater wide and Town were able to clear the ball and the chance was gone.

As the referee blew for full time, Holywell Town can be pleased with their performance and it’s their name which will be in the hat for next week’s 2nd round cup draw. Denbigh Town will not relish next Wednesday’s Cookson Cup game at Halkyn Road, and on that Holywell performance, who blames them!