A good crowd had made their way to Halkyn Road for the local derby, and after an impeccably observed minutes silence for Supporter Denys Davies who passed away last month, the game got underway and the visitors won an early free kick within the first few seconds of the half. From the resulting free kick, disaster ensued for the wellmen as Jake Roberts put the visitors ahead, the ball bouncing at his feet before firing it into the goal. This wasn’t the start the Wellmen wanted and a couple of minutes later, Town had their first chance of the game. Mark Winslade released Steve Lewis, and his run in to the box, he twits and turned and his shot was saved by Makaruk and partially cleared, Buckley then fouled Paul Williams and from the resulting free kick, James Graham’s shot was saved by the keeper.
15 minutes played, Aaron Williams fires the ball over the bar, then minutes later, Williams runs down the right, his low cross is cleared for a corner by James Graham, and from the resulting corner, Callum Humphreys gets up but his header falls wide of Tyler French’s goal.
The Wellmen had a good spell of pressure looking for the equaliser, a good move involving Mark Winslade and Tony Roebuck saw Winslades cross cleared out wide, and the ball was picked up by Lewis and his cross come shot was gathered by the goalkeeper. A few minutes later, the ball came out to Rob Jones, he controlled the ball well but his shot went wide of the post.
The Wellmen lost Mark Winslade through injury and were forced to reshuffle with Jon Jones coming on and slotting into the back 4 with Dan Dobbins pushing up into the centre of the park.
The final few minutes of the half saw Buckley get back into the game, and put the Wellmen under a bit of pressure looking to increase their lead but the Wellmen rear-guard held firm and the visitors still held their one goal advantage at the half time interval.
The second half began and Town looked to get straight back into the game, The Wellmen had good possession but were unable to test the keeper. Buckley absorbed whatever the Wellmen threw at them and were dangerous on the break with Town pushing up looking for the leveller. Town’s task got harder with an hour played as the Wellmen were reduced to 10 men, Steve Lewis sent off the field of play for a 2nd yellow card. Shortly afterwards, Town fell further behind. With Town pushing forward, this left us vulnerable at the back, and it was a quick break upfield by Buckley Town saw the visitors finding space on the left, and a low cross into the box found Shaun Tinsley on the right hand side of the penalty box and he fired into the net past French to increase the visitors lead.
Town kept pressing but it wasn’t coming, Sam Jones had an effort blocked for a corner, then in injury time, Ketley breaks into the box and is felled by the Buckley Town defender, but the referee waves away the penalty appeals and a corner is given which is cleared by the defence when it is whipped into the box. Town sub Aubrey Rogers fired a shot over the bar in the final minute of injury time and soon after, the referee blew for full time and the points were Buckley Town’s.