Cymru North: Arek hat-trick as Rhyl win 4-1, Flint triumph at Guilsfield

Tuesday night football – Cymru North

Rhyl 4 Buckley Town 1

Arek Piskorski was a hat-trick hero for a Rhyl side which comfortably overcame Buckley at a wet Educate Group Stadium on Tuesday night.

The first home goal arrived in the 10th minute.

A powerful run from Cai Owen brought a strong penalty claim as the defender was brought down, but the ball fell to Piskorski who delivered to the far post for James Murphy to finish from close range.

The visitors looked set to level in the 25th minute but Cai Owen produced a great block close to the goal-line.

A minute later Rhyl were able to extend the lead from nowhere. A cross to the edge of the box by Murphy was met by Lewis Hone, but he lost control of the ball and it fell to Piskorski who made no mistake as he fired low past keeper Joe Makaruk.

Only a couple of good stops from Makaruk denied the Lilies a bigger lead at the break.

A fine individual goal made it 3-0 in the 63rd minute. Piskorski was able to advance towards the Buckley defence down the Rhyl right and then after cutting inside applied a low finish into the bottom corner.

The response from the visitors was swift as Jake Roberts was able to create space close to the edge of the penalty box and his low shot left Rory Crowther stranded to give the visitors hope in the 65th minute.

Murphy’s shot crashed against the crossbar and the ball looked to spin close to the line, but the officials waved play on in the 73rd minute.

Ben Nash went close with a header from close range and then substitute Aaron Hassall was unlucky to see his shot hit the post.

The Lilywhites finally grabbed the fourth they deserved when Piskorski was able to take advantage of hesitancy in the Buckley defence and advance on goal before slotting past Makaruk for his hat-trick.

Guilsfield 1 Flint Town United 3

In very difficult conditions, Flint gave the sort of battling, gritty performance that must have delighted manager Niall McGuinness, as every player delivered what was asked of them, reports Nigel Sheen.

Skipper Richie Foulkes led the way with the opening goal on three minutes, before Mark Cadwallader applied a spectacular finish to make it 2-0.

The home side replied through Andy Ford on 21 minutes, and shortly after, Flint lost Cadwallader through injury, with Alex Titchiner coming on to replace him.

The scoreline remained 2-1 at the interval.

In the second half, Flint had to withstand quite a bit of pressure from the home side, but withstand it they did, and their resilience was rewarded when Titchiner scored their third on 76 minutes, to give them a thoroughly satisfying and hard-earned victory.

Flint’s line up: John Danby, Kyle Smyth, Tom Hartley (Tom Kemp 46), John Davies, Tony Davies, Brandon Burrows, Chis Chung-Li, Richie Foulkes (c), Andy Brown (Jacques Welsh 83), Mark Cadwallader (Alex Titchiner), Callum Bratley