Cymru Premier: Skipper Owen wins the day for Flint, draw specialists Bala do it again

JD CYMRU PREMIER LEAGUE – NOVEMBER 23

Flint Town United 2 (Burke 57, Owen 81)
Briton Ferry Llansawel 1 (Williams 61)

After four straight league defeats Flint lifted themselves out of the bottom two with a great win over a Briton Ferry side which beat champions The New Saints in midweek.

It was also just a second home win in the Cymru Premier in nine attempts for Lee Fowler’s men this season.

Llansawel threatened first when Kian Jenkins crossed low from the left and home keeper Jack Flint somehow bundled Ricky Owen’s shot behind for a corner.

The Silkmen responded when Florian Jonsian was released down the right via a long ball and found himself one-on-one with keeper Will Fuller, who managed to keep out the Ivory Coast attacker’s strike.

Spaniard Sidi Fofana then headed wide from a great position following a pinpoint Jake Phillips free kick.

Josh Jones and Jonsian were then frustrated by desperate Ferry defending as the half ended goalless.

Ten minutes into the second half Flint manager Fowler was red-carded by referee Iwan Griffith, presumably for disputing a decision where the official let a blatant foul on Jonsian go unpunished.

In the 57th minute, however, the Silkmen were ahead.

Ben Hughes magnificently left his marker standing before playing an accurate low cross into Michael Burke, who finished into the bottom left-hand corner.

With 61 on the clock, a corner was whipped into the Flint box and Keiran Williams was left completely unmarked to score with the easiest of headers.

Tom Price’s free kick into the area was spilled by keeper Flint and Jasper Payne should have done far better, but miskicked badly from close range.

Harry Owen’s header from a Phillips corner was lashed off the line before Ben Hughes was obstructed by Alex Gammond in the box, but the referee took no action.

A magnificent cross from Phillips was sliced over by Joshua Jones – would Flint get a better chance to win it?

The answer was yes. In the 83rd minute Phillips delivered a superb quick free kick into the box which Harry Owen latched onto in ample space and finished well to make it 2-1.

The celebrations of the home supporters said it all.

Haverfordwest County 0
Bala Town 0

A fourth scoreless draw this season for seventh-place Bala who can feel more than satisfied with a point at a Haverfordwest side lying third.

This is Bala’s 16th season in the Cymru Premier and today brought their 37th 0-0 result.

Surely no other club with a similar length of stay in the top flight can match that.

The league is in its 32nd year, so no doubt one of the longer serving teams could beat 37 blank scoresheets, but the Lakesiders are certainly the 0-0 specialists of the more modern era.

This afternoon also delivered Bala’s 10th draw in 17 league matches this term.