Flashback: John Clayton’s finest hour as Denbigh Ladies manager

Mari Edwards (red) struck twice for Denbigh as they sealed the title

Llanfair United 1 (Ellis)

Denbigh Town 3 (Edwards 2, Doherty)

North Wales Women’s Football League – April 5, 2015

Mari Edwards struck twice as John Clayton’s Denbigh Town side were crowned North Wales Women’s Football League champions after a convincing 3-1 win at Llanfair United.

In glorious conditions, but on a very testing pitch, both sides began the game well, each going close on a couple of occasions but not testing either keeper.

That all changed on 15 minutes when from a corner, a mix-up in the Denbigh defence allowed Nia Ellis to force the ball home from close range to put Llanfair 1-0 ahead.

The goal seemed to be the catalyst for Denbigh to up their game even more and they began to dominate.

After putting the home side under continued pressure, and forcing the keeper into a couple of good saves, they eventually equalised on 25 minutes.

Chelsea Doherty picked up the ball on halfway and threaded a superb pass for Mari Edwards to race clear and fire a low drive just inside the keeper’s left-hand post.

Llanfair were now struggling to contain a rampant Denbigh and it was no surprise when on 35 minutes they took the lead.

This time it was Lucy Morris who placed an inch perfect pass into the path of Edwards.
The fleet-footed striker raced away and slotted past the advancing keeper into the bottom right-hand corner.

Half-time: Llanfair 1 Denbigh 2

The second half began as the first had ended with Town dominating with their high tempo pressing game and passing the ball well despite the bobbly pitch.

The game was all but over on the hour mark when, after playing a couple of one-twos with Edwards, Doherty saw the keeper slightly off her line and produced a delightful chip from the edge of the area which finished up in the net.

The away side comfortably saw out the final 30 minutes to gain the points required to become champions with a record of: played 18 won 16, drawn one and lost one.

Coming on the back of the previous season’s Betty Pickering Cup win, it had been a fantastic 12 months for Denbigh Town.