Flashback – 5 years ago: Conwy triumph as Flint slump to sixth home loss on bounce

Flint Town United 1 (Chris Rowntree OG 55)
Conwy Borough 2 (Ross Rule 14, Joe Chaplin pen 38)
Cymru Alliance League – April 13, 2016

Five years ago today Flint slumped to their sixth successive defeat and third consecutive home loss against a Conwy side which recorded a straight win.

An unfamiliar Silkmen line up took the field, player unavailability meaning the starting eleven had a very unbalanced look about it.

Consequently, it took the home side a long time to get into the game, and by the time they managed to get things together, they were 2-0 down and staring defeat in the face.

Conwy raced into the lead after 14 minutes, when a static Flint defence allowed Derek Taylor to waltz through before finding Ross Rule, who ran clear and rounded Ross Dalton before slotting home.

The Flint defence were found wanting again on 19 minutes, as they were taken apart by a nice 1-2 between Joe Chaplin and Lee Davey, which resulted in Dalton having to make a fine save to deny the latter.

The Silkmen’s first real effort on goal arrived just before the half-hour, when Jack Abraham hit a speculative long range effort that cleared the bar.

Flint crafted their best chance of the half on 37 minutes, when Paul McManus found Joe Culshaw with a good long ball.

Culshaw produced a deep cross that picked out Joe Palmer, but he couldn’t get his effort on target at the far post.

Barely a minute later, Flint’s task became that much more difficult when they conceded a second. Peter Martin pulled back Conwy captain Leigh Craven in the box, and Chaplin converted the spot kick.

Half-time: Flint 0 Conwy 2

A very disjointed and disappointing half from the home side meant they had given themselves a fair size mountain to climb in the second period.

Emotions started to run high as the second half commenced, and nine minutes in, Conwy manager Jason Aldcroft was sent to the stands for foul and abusive language, aimed at the referee.

His mood would not have improved when very shortly after an Abe Dobson cross was turned into his own net by Conwy defender Chris Rowntree, to give Flint a lifeline back into the game.

To their credit, though, the Musselmen upped the tempo once more, and could have extended their lead on 67 minutes, when Taylor hit a 20 yard snapshot that Dalton could only parry, before recovering in the nick of time to prevent an incoming Conwy player forcing the ball over the line.

Taylor caused more problems with 17 minutes left on the clock, when he was allowed a free run right into the danger area, before hitting a shot just wide of the target.

Flint had Dalton to thank once again in the 85th minute, when Davey turned two opponents before unleashing a shot from the edge of the box that the home stopper did well to keep out.

Although they had more possession of the ball in the second half, Flint yielded very little with it.

Flint Town United – R Dalton, J Culshaw, S Carroll, C Jones (c), J Hill, P Martin (P Djan 86), J Abraham, A Dobson, A Rey, P McManus, J Palmer.
Conwy Borough – J Lynch, J Smith, M Barnett, C Rowntree, J Dures, M Beech, L Craven (c), D Taylor, J Chaplin (J Atherton 46), L Davey, R Rule.

Report: Will Price – many thanks