Archive Classic: Rhyl produce sensational comeback three days after record 10-0 defeat
Having covered North Wales football for close on 40 years. I’ve attended and reported on hundreds if not thousands of games across the pyramid.
Here’s another in a series of classics from the archives
WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE 2016-17
RHYL 3 (Buckley 25, Lamb 26, 43)
ABERYSTWYTH TOWN 1 (Blake Davies 10)
Aug 31, 2016
Three days after a record 10-0 league defeat at The New Saints, Rhyl bounced back in style with a 3-1 home win over Aberystwyth.
Here’s how Dave Jones’ report was written 10 years ago…..
Football can occasionally be a cruel game, other times it makes the world seem like a wonderful place.
Rhyl’s players must have felt rock bottom after last Sunday’s WPL record 10-0 defeat at The New Saints, yet three days later they were on cloud nine after a tremendous 3-1 triumph over Aberystwyth.
One of the big pluses of the beautiful game is that when you get a major setback, the chance to put things right usually comes along pretty quickly.
It’s not like boxing, where a fighter wanting to bounce back from a defeat sometimes has to wait months, or even years, for a shot at retribution.
Rhyl’s powers of recovery this week were nothing short of phenomenal.
The Lilywhites did not beat a poor Aber side, they overcame a team which had won their previous two away matches at Airbus and Llandudno without conceding a goal.
After the visitors took the lead early on through Blake Davies, many home fans must have feared the worst, yet one moment of magic turned everything.
Oliver Buckley, a local lad who until this season had not played higher than Welsh Alliance standard, suddenly went on an amazing run which was rounded off with an exquisite finish to make it 1-1.
No sooner had Buckley scored, than the returning Carl Lamb was outjumping Aber’s keeper in the box to make it 2-1.
And there was more. Rhyl discovered they had a second dead-ball specialist too, when Tom Hartley stepped over a free kick and Lamb lashed in number three.
At 3-1 before half time, all Christmases had come at once, and even more impressive was the way Rhyl hung on to their lead in the second period, and indeed could have added to it.
Every player deserved praise, but apart from Lamb and Buckley, keeper Owen Evans was also magnificent, producing four great saves and a goal-preventing tackle just three days after conceding 10 against TNS.
Not only was it magical on the park for Rhyl, the fans also got their mojo back.
It was like being back in 2003/04 when John Hulse reigned supreme, as the second-half signing among the supporters – led by Elvis (Gary Vaughan) – really did revive memories of the “good old days”.
However, just like the 10-0 loss at TNS did not end Rhyl’s season, neither did the win over Aberystwyth suddenly make everything in the garden rosy.
There is still a lot of work to do, but now they have proved just how well they can play under the heaviest of pressure, and with so many key players missing, surely the Lilywhites can build something good from here.
RHYL: Owen Evans, Daniel Collins, James Brewerton, Tom Hartley (Ryan Jones 79), Rakim Newtown, Jordan Miller, James Bell, Alex Jones, Oliver Buckley, Carl Lamb, Kristian Pierce Subs:
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Chirk AAA 2 Penlan Club 1 (8.4.2017)
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Holywell Town 4 Penrhyndeudraeth 2 (19.4.2015)
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Rhyl 5 Goytre United 2 (4.3.2006)
Prestatyn Town Reserves 2 Gwalchmai 1 (30.4.2010)
Bethesda Athletic 3 Rhyl 2 (9.2.2008)
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