Buckley Town 0-1 Holywell Town

Welsh Cup Round 3
Buckley Town 0-1 Holywell Town

The Wellmen travelled to local rivals Buckley Town in the 3rd round of the Welsh Cup and both teams were confident ahead of kick off that it would be them in the hat for the next round after the full time whistle had been blown.

Town were the first to have a chance as Sam Jones crossed the ball into the danger area and John Leonard found time to shoot but his effort went wide of the goal. Buckley then went close as Lee Reynolds fired wide of Mike Platt’s goal. The Wellmen then won a free kick on the edge of the box and Sam Jones crossed an inch perfect ball into the heart of the penalty area and Matty Harvey rose to head the ball goalwards but keeper Jones gathered well. In a proper end to end game, Buckley then felt they should have taken the lead as a free kick over into the Town penalty area found Lee Davey but his effort was saved comfortably by Mike Platt.

With quarter of an hour on the clock, Buckley were reduced to 10 men as Lee Reynolds was shown a straight red after kicking out on Town’s John Leonard in an off the ball incident. Referee Gwynne Vaughan had no alternative but to show the red card and Buckley now had to play over 75 minutes with 10 men. The hosts Danny Sullivan, who played for Holywell Town a couple of season’s ago, saw his shot saved by Platt before Town’s best chance of the game fell to Phil Lloyd after he chased the ball towards the Buckley goal ahead of the on-rushing Ben Jones, Lloyd got a head to the ball to take it over Jones but as Lloyd went to tap the ball towards the goal, he was challenged by Buckley’s Jack Jones and the ball went out for a corner. From the resulting Matty Roberts corner, the ball fell to Matty Harvey but his header went over the bar.

With a few minutes of the half remaining, the Wellmen took the lead. Sam Jones, who was causing the back four problems all afternoon, beat the challenge of Dave Bryan, and his inch perfect cross found the head of Tony Roebuck who’s flick goalwards beat Jones to give Town the lead, much to the delight of the travelling support, and as the referee blew for half time, it was Holywell who held the advantage.

The second half got under way and it was pretty evenly matched with both Buckley and Holywell’s players trying to control the game. The first chance of the half fell to Holywell as great work by Tony Roebuck saw him pass to Matty Harvey but his through ball was a little to hard for John Leonard who was through on goal. Buckley had the next chance but Mike Platt gathered well from Adam Eden’s Free Kick. Buckley’s best chance of the match came on 67 minutes as Eden was put through on goal, he beat the challenge of Dafydd Griffith and Eden’s shot was brilliantly saved by Mike Platt before Matty Roberts cleared the ball to safety.

Phil Lloyd was then booked as a loose ball in the box saw him attempt an overhead kick but the on rushing Jack Jones got in his way and both players collided, and the result saw the referee blow for a free kick and Jones had to go off for treatment. Tom McElmeel, who was having a great game in the middle of the park thread the ball through to Sam Jones but his shot was blocked before Buckley’s Adam Eden saw his effort flew wide of Platt’s goal. Buckley substitute Phil Molyneux then chased a ball through but before he could get to the ball to shoot at the edge of the area, Matty Harvey was on hand to clear the ball to safety, much to the delight of the Town’s supporters. Buckley were putting more pressure on the Wellmen’s back four and Eden again had a shot saved by Platt. Sam Jones then passed the ball through to Tom McElmeel who was brought down on the edge of the box but the referee saw nothing wrong with the challenge before Paul Williams had a chance to wrap the game up as he broke clear and ran into the box from the right and his shot was palmed away by Ben Jones for a Holywell corner. From the resulting corner, Matty Harvey saw his header hit the crossbar before the last chance of the game fell to Danny Sullivan who shot wide of Platt’s goal.

The Referee blew for full time and the Wellmen saw themselves in the hat for the 4th round, and everyone connected with the club can’t wait for Monday’s draw. The club would also like to thank the large contingent of Holywell Town supporters who made the trip up to Buckley this afternoon, and after two excellent turnouts in the past two Welsh Cup away game, we are praying for a home tie to reward the fans for their support of late! Great win lads..........and on we go!!