The NEWFA Horace Wynne Cup Final
played at Brymbo on Friday 21st May
Well, well, nothing ceases to amaze me now - don't tell me there is no such thing as global warming, as for the first time in living memory spectators arrived at The Crick in T-shirts and shorts and didn't get cold - even when the sun went down!!
On a glorious evening at Tanyfron a sizeable crowd turned out to watch the last of this season's NEWFA Final's. It was certainly expected to be a close call between these sides, and that's exactly how it turned out, although the score-line does not tell the whole story.
The first twenty minutes of the game was certainly explosive. In the eleventh minute, a towering header from Penyffordd's Marcus Davies was heading goal-wards until a terrific "save" from an Airbus defender stopped the ball crossing the line. Referee Mr. Ottley had no option but to produce the red card and award a penalty to Penyffordd. Davies stepped up and struck the ball home for a 1-0 lead. It was going to be a huge task now for Airbus to play out the rest of the match with 10 men, but just seven minutes later they were thrown a life-line by Penyffordd keeper Stephen Hollyoak who inexplicably took out Airbus attacker Josh Parry on the edge of the area when it looked easier to clear the ball. He totally mis-timed his clearance and caught the Airbus player, again leaving Mr.Ottley no option but to produce the red card. We now had ten-a-side after just 18 minutes. From the resulting free-kick, the stand-in Penyffordd keeper Sam Richardson was not troubled, and that set the tone for the rest of the game as quite amazingly he never had a save to make throughout. This was due in no small measure to the work ethic of his team-mates but especially defensive duo of captain Rob Salisbury and Phil Clark, who were immense throughout the whole game. When Airbus did get through invariably it resulted in an offside flag being raised. Penyffordd on the other hand created a couple of good scoring opportunities, but Airbus keeper Matthew Wintle pulled off a string of excellent saves to keep the score at just 1-0. Penyffordd's Nathan Lavender was the main architect of their attacking play and was ably assisted by full-back Mike Shaw who was always a willing runner. Airbus had the bulk of possession during the game but never really threatened to level the scores and that one Penyffordd goal proved decisive in the end, and in fairness they just about deserved their victory.
The presentations were made by NEWFA President Mr, Peris Jones and Council Member Mr. Keith Spencer and it was appropriate that the Cup was presented to the games outstanding player Rob Salisbury.
For those left wondering why there were no ribbons on the Cup at the end, I blame my son - and able assistant - for not being at the game (I can't remember everything on my own!!).
Airbus UK Broughton: Matthew Wintle, Dan Calvert, Mark Atkinson, Rhys Nash, Mark Heneghan, Craig Mayers, Dominic Williams, Josh Parry, Damian Wilkins, Jamie Meacock, Scott Skeen.
Subs: Ben Donovan, Paul McKinlay, Tom Little.
Penyffordd: Stephen Hollyoak, Mark Emberton, Mike Shaw, Rob Salisbury, Phil Clark, Gavin Matthias, Marcus Davies, Ryan McHugh, Sam Richardson, Gareth Lloyd, Nathan Lavender.
Subs: Gary Emberton, Mark Galagher, Paul Jones.
Referee: Mr. K. Ottley, Assistants: Mr. C. Jones and Mr. T. Roberts. Fourth Official: Mr. M. Keegan
