Ardal North West – Denbigh go nap in eighth league victory on the spin

ARDAL NORTH WEST – MARCH 22, 2023

Denbigh Town 5 (S Jones 19, Fleming 21, Worrall 35, Brown 43, Walker 49)
Saltney Town 2 (Lloyd 12, Flatman 51)

Report: Iwan Jones

An eighth straight league win ensured Denbigh remain well in sight of the top three.

Still 13 points behind leaders CPD Y Rhyl 1879, but with five games in hand, the free-scoring Town have also now recorded 12 victories on the bounce in all competitions, amassing 57 goals in that run.

Five more net-busters were added at the expense of Saltney on Wednesday evening.

Fresh from their dynamic 8-1 Dragon Signs FAW Trophy semi-final victory at the weekend, Denbigh manager Dewi Llion Jones changed his starting line up last night, resting some of the starters from last Saturday’s triumph. Jacob Edwards, Sam Haddon and Matthew Worrall all came in for Craig Pritchard, Ben Lockley and Jason Foulkes.

In a scrappy start from the reds as they took time to adapt to the awful wintry conditions, Saltney took the lead on five minutes.

The ball was played into the Denbigh penalty area by George Davies from the left wing and Dan Lloyd was well positioned to clinically fire home from close range.

This early shock stirred Denbigh onto action. The constant home pressure had to tell and on 20 minutes came a wonderful goal from Sion Jones.

The full-back picked up the ball in the middle of the Saltney half, shrugged off a defender’s challenge and weaved his way around another two opponents before unleashing a venomous shot into the bottom left corner of the net.

A minute later and Denbigh had the lead as a Nathan Brown corner fell to Paul Fleming on the six-yard box and he fired home.

It was 3-1 after 38 minutes when Sam Haddon won a 50/50 challenge on the edge of Saltney’s penalty box and the ball fell into the path of Matthew Worrall, who scampered past keeper Alex Swindell to score for the sixth successive league game.

Denbigh added a fourth just before the interval and it was another exquisite strike from Brown, who picked the ball up deep into the Saltney half and sent a superb chip over Swindells’ grasping arms and into the net from outside the penalty area.

Three minutes into the second half, Jake Walker slammed the ball high into the roof of the net for 5-1.

Another bit of complacency just after this allowed Saltney to nip one back on 50 minutes as Leon Flatman was allowed to tap in from close range after Denbigh failed to clear their ranks.

More substitutions followed from the hosts, who pushed for more goals but had to settle for the 5-2.

Harvey Bennett forced a great stop from keeper Swindell, who produced other superb late saves, and Brown struck the goal post.

Next up for Denbigh is an away trip to Nantlle Vale on Saturday with a 2.30 pm kick off.

LEAGUE GOALS FOR DENBIGH TOWN IN 2022-23

Nathan Brown 11
Matthew Worrall 10
Paul Fleming 9
Jake Walker 6 (19 goals all comps)