Match analysis: FAW Amateur Trophy R2 – CPD Y Rhyl 1879 1 Lex XI 2

MATCH ANALYSIS

FAW AMATEUR TROPHY LAST 64

CPD Y Rhyl 1879 1 (A Jones 70)
Lex XI 2 (Massey 14, Griffiths 48)

It’s been a pretty good season so far for tier 4 club Lex XI.

The Wrexham outfit are top of the North East Wales Premier Division and today reached the last 32 of the FAW Amateur Trophy with a notable giant-killing.

Buoyed by sealing ownership of their famous Belle Vue stadium in midweek, Rhyl 1879 of tier 3 Ardal North West went into today’s Trophy clash at home to the lower league Lawmen on a real high.

However, by around 4 pm, the mood around the ground was pretty sombre.

Lex had secured a surprise 2-1 victory – and were good value for it.

From the first whistle, the Stansty Park men, managed by former Rhyl FC midfielder Ricky Evans, whose brother Steve Evans, the 45-year-old former Wrexham and Wales centre-back featured among the defence, were very fired up.

They allowed the Lilywhites very little time on the ball, and it was no surprise when the visitors took a 14th minute lead courtesy of goal machine Harry Massey.

Rhyl had their attacking moments in the first half, with Jonny Bravo always a danger, but with Lex keeper Joey Jones in fine form the equaliser rarely looked imminent.

Indeed, Lex could have been more than one ahead at half time, with Adam Griffiths heading over from point blank range.

The first half was quite a fiesty affair and this played into Lex’s hands. They wanted to play at a fierce tempo and hassle their opponents into mistakes. It worked.

The incident as the players came off the pitch which led to former 1879 striker Jonny Taylor, now a Lex man, getting a red card, only added to the frustration and anger in the air.

However, any anticipated ‘afters’ or overspill in the second half never really materalised.

The next goal would be crucial and it came from the visitors. Again, Massey was given too much space to supply the scoring pass for Griffiths with 48 on the clock.

It could have got worse, only for some fine stops by Adam Reid in the home goal.

Eventually, Rhyl got on top and dominated the possession, yet the Law remained a constant danger on the break. Massey, Finley Dyer and Tom Huxley carried real menace, while second goal scorer Griffiths was also a true livewire.

Rhyl did get one back through Alex Jones, but in the main the Lex defence coped with the home attacks very well.

It perhaps also needs to be said that the Lilywhites’ final ball constantly let them down, as did their reluctance to shoot.

So often the passing was wayward, and although some promising attacks were built down the right, the end product was lacking.

Rhyl will need to improve on this display if they are to remain live title contenders this season. Perhaps new players need time to settle in, that’s understandable.

As for Lex, they were a credit to tier 4 and if they can repeat today’s performance they might well progress through a couple more rounds in the Trophy.

With the Evans brothers at hand offering experience, and the great behind the scenes work of Matt Oddie, Lex are a team well with watching over the next couple of seasons.

TEAMS

CPD Y RHYL 1879

Adam Reid
Calum Proctor (James Stevens 46)
Jason Foulkes
James Jones
Reece Fairhurst (c)
Daniel Wright (Elliott Turner 64)
Tom Kemp
Alex Jones
Jonny Bravo Pinto (Dylan Proctor 56)
Callum Parry
Leigh Craven (Sam Ashton 56)

LEX XI

Joey Jones
Jason Edwards (Adam Liddy 82)
Adam Williams
James Rogers
Steve Evans
Adam Griffiths
Liam Collo
Josh Betteley (Cameron Thomas 71)
Harry Massey (Alex Palmer 88)
Finfley Dyer
Tom Huxley