Llwydcoed get back to winning ways
CAR SALES WELSH FOOTBALL LEAGUE DIVISON TWO AFC LLWYDCOED ........ 4 CROESYCEILIOG .......... 0
LLWYDCOED returned to winning ways after three consecutive defeats with goals from Jonathan Mason (2), Liam Price and Adam Butler.
Llwydcoed manager Lee Williams rotated his squad with Jonathan Mason, Jordan Ellis and Correy Roberts making his debut.
Croesy started the match in commanding fashion, the movement and passing was evident from the off with Jordan Jones, Ryan Hayward and Matthew Edmonds causing problems for Llwydcoed who in turn lost possession regularly. Croesy were winning the early stages of the midfield playing their strikers into some dangerous situations.
It took some excellent defending by Llwydcoed defenders Adam Butler, Scott Walters, Stuart Evans and Gabriel Williams to stop the attacks. The hosts’ goalkeeper Ryan Griffiths was called into action with two brilliant saves to thwart Croesy, a goal at this time of the game for the visitors would have made things very difficult for the hosts.
The opening 15 minutes saw the Llwydcoed defence busier than Croesy’s when Llwydcoed had possession the aerial threat saw the Croesy defenders Tom Doidge and Tom James win the battle.
Then gradually Llwydcoed began to use the ball better through Jordan Ellis, Jonathan Mason and Rikki Evans. The Croesy defence cleared the threat after more good play by Croesy. Llwydcoed started to gain more possession through Scott Walters, Luke Garthwaite and Correy Roberts.
The latter began to create danger for the Croesy defence and it looked as if he had won a penalty but the referee waived it away.
The first half had seen Croesy use their possession better than Llwydcoed but they had worked their way into the game and they opened the scoring just before halftime they won a free kick a few yards inside the touch line, Adam Butler fired the ball up to his strikers and the ball landed in the back of the net.
The second half started with Llwydcoed in the driving seat totally different to the first half. It was the Croesy defence under pressure and they remained a solid unit with Tom Doidge and Aaron Harris defending and moving the ball through to their midfield of Dan Pritchard and Jordan Jones.
The attacking prowess of Croesy was evident but the Llwydcoed defence/midfield were solid covering the movement and they began to build through the excellent Morgan Andrews and Correy Roberts.
Chances began to be created with the movement of Jonathan Mason and Rikki Evans bringing players into play.
Llwydcoed were then forced into a substitution with Jordan Ellis injured so the elusive Ioan Evans came on. He began to benefit from the amount of possession the hosts had gained, he forced the Croesy goalkeeper James Peckham into a top save and it looked as if Correy Roberts would score but he fired wide, but they were not to be denied, a majestic pass from Rikki Evans found Ioan Evans, he raced clear and picked out Jonathan Mason with a top pass to score.
The introduction of substitute Liam Price gave the team more attacking options. Luke Garthwaite and Morgan Andrews became more and more into the game bringing Correy Roberts into space. The movement of the Llwydcoed players saw them create space and Jonathan Mason exploited it finding space and hit one into the top corner. A similar situation arose and this time Jonathan Mason picked out Liam Price to score with a top finish. Croesy had not been given any chances in the second half, the best one fell to Nicky McGrath who shot wide.
The match ended with Llwydcoed gaining the victory in an excellent attacking match.