NWCFA Women’s Challenge Cup: Seven-up for Felinheli, but Kinmel Bay put up good show

NORTH WALES COAST FA WOMEN’S CHALLENGE CUP FIRST ROUND

CPDM Y Felinheli 7 (Huws 13, Greenough 27 & 58, Fflur Williams 67, Wellings 69, Gwilym 74, Ffion Williams 90)
Kinmel Bay 0

Holders Felinheli netted a magnificent seven goals in a Challenge Cup tie which was far more competitive than the scoreline suggests.

Weather conditions made it difficult for both teams to get a foothold in the match and keep their footing on the pitch.

Felin fielded new signing Hana Wellings who has made the step up from Llanystumdwy and slotted into a midfield three of Fflur Williams and the returning Beca Dafydd after a long lay-off due to injury.

In the first half, the hosts played some good football in parts and were trying to mount offence while at the back the ever-reliable Llio Henshaw and captain Kelly Jones snuffed out any danger.

The breakthrough came in the 13th minute with some great work from Felin left-back Nel Huws driving down her wing and putting a great cross in, The ball was cleared but it fell straight to Huws’ favoured left-foot on the edge of the box and she calmly slotted into the back of the net.

Huws was again involved in the second goal, having a lot of joy down the left due to her technical ability and the endless running and creating of space from Ffion Williams in front of her.

Wellings broke things up in midfield and she and Huws played some lovely football between them. Huws then whipped in a superb delivery straight to the path of the onrushing Jordanne Greenough who timed her run to perfection and she finished emphatically, making it 2-0 after 27 minutes.

Felinheli should have stretched their lead but due to some questionable offside calls it finished 2-0 at the break.

Home team manager Aaron Jones-Evans made a change at half time, bringing on new signing Catrin Evans into the No 10 role with Fflur Williams pushing up front. Catrin Evans replaced Elain Llwyd, a promising young player who had a good first half.

The substitute seemed to change the complexion of the game – no surprise given the quality of Evans,

What Felin were missing in the first half – composure – Evans brought with abundance,

Kinmel Bay got a chance early in the second half when a big goal kick from their keeper Shelby Wild got caught in the wind and the rain and bounced through to Jasmine Kepil, who tried a lovely half volley from outside of the box which crept just wide.

With the introduction of Catrin Evans, the tenacity of Wellings and endless work rate of Beca Dafydd everything seemed to come through that midfield second half.

Wellings put on a masterclass in front of her old team-mates who had made the trip to Seilo to support her on her debut – a touch of class from Llanystumdwy.

The third home goal came in the 58th minute, Greenough on the right using her pace to beat a couple of players, crossing into the box and then being at the right place at the right time to pick up the pieces and make it 3-0.

On 67 minutes, Ffion Williams picked up the ball in midfield and raced past three players to pick out Fflur Williams, who struck a lovely looping shot over the keeper from the edge of the box to make it 4-0.

Wellings nearly got her debut goal, beating a couple of players in midfield, playing a one-two with Catrin Evans only to be denied by Wild, not only once but twice with a fantastic double save.

However, it was in the script for the new girl to score and on the 69-minute mark Wellings got her debut goal – and what a strike it was!

Ffion Williams was again at the heart of things, picking out Wellings just on the edge of the box. She calmly beat a player and powered a shot straight into the bottom corner.

Greenough was replaced by Erin Gwilym, another promising youngster with bags of pace and it not take long for her to get in on the act and score her first senior goal for the club.

Again some great work from Ffion Williams, Fflur Williams and Catrin Evans combined to set up Erin Gwilym for a back-post finish.

And finally, for all the work she had put in and all the assists she had provided, Ffion Williams finally got on the scoresheet. And she did it all herself – power, pace and a devastating finish to round off the win.

CPDM Y Felinheli send their best wishes to Kinmel Bay’s Jess Hall, who suffered a nasty injury right at the end.

Winning manager Jones-Evans said: “I am happy with the performance. First half was a bit scrappy but it is to be expected as it is our first competitive game of the season with a lot of new faces in the squad so it will take a bit of time for the squad to gel, but I’m sure that will come.

“Very promising signs from Hana Wellings and Catrin Evans, the quality they bring to this squad is undeniable and only add to our squad. We have players returning from long lay offs as well, Anest Roberts and Beca Dafydd, the latter completing her first 90 minutes for over a year and Anest set to make her return in the coming weeks, so things are looking good at the club.

“All In all it was a good start to our campaign and we hope to keep improving over the coming weeks.

“Good luck to Kinmel Bay for the rest of the season. It’s nice to see clubs back in the fold in North Wales football.”