Last minute Eyre goal secures 3 points

Denbigh Town 3-2 Penrhyncoch
A late kick of 8.00pm on a wet and windy night at Central Park was moved to 8.15 pm due to the Penrhyncoch team being held up by a traffic accident at Bala.

Denbigh’s keeper Jon Hill-Dunt was unavailable so manager Eddie Maurice-Jones drafted in Reserve keeper Rhys Crowther. Crowther was looking forward to his opportunity to impress in the first team, but unfortunately suffered a hand injury in the warm up. This meant a frantic few minutes searching for another keeper and Jamie Clayton, the Reserves central defender came to the rescue by volunteering to step between the posts.

Town played the first half with the advantage of a strong wind behind them. On 3 minutes a hopeful ball forward by Denbigh’s midfield should have been easily cleared by the Penrhyncoch defence, but a defensive slip enabled in form striker Andrew Swarbrick to latch onto the ball, round keeper Jenkins and slot the ball home to give Town a 1-0 early lead.
Penrhyncoch looked to come back straight away and their striker Dafydd Carruthers was played in off a free kick only for his shot to go across Clayton’s goal and out for a goal kick

Denbigh then began to take control of the game and full back Jack Riley crossed for the Penrhyncoch defence to clear only as far as Aaron Hassall whose shot was blocked and Gareth Partridge shot the rebound over the bar. Just after a cross from Craig Pritchard came out to Alan Bull whose shot went just wide of Jenkin’s right hand post.
Swarbrick thought he had scored his second as a Matt Cook shot was deflected his way and fired home only for the assistant to flag for offside
Penrhyncoch responded when a loose Denbigh throw in to Liam Smith put him under pressure and he lost the ball to Antonio Corbisiero who found Jonathon Evans who fired a shot that was well saved by Jamie Clayton in Denbigh’s goal.
Whilst Town had the majority of the possession in the first half they could not make the pressure tell and extend their lead. Just before the interval Alan Bull showed great strength and control in the Penrhyncoch box and turned his man to fire a dangerous ball across the goal which Nathan Williams just failed to make contact. Seconds later Matt Cook was fouled just outside Penrhyncoch’s box and Aaron Hassall’s free kick went wide of the goal.

During half time Denbigh were forced into a substitution as full back Jack Riley was complaining of dizziness following a challenge towards the end of the half. Local youngster Sam Tate came on in midfield with Gareth Partridge dropping into Riley’s position
Penrhyncoch looked to pull back the lead now with the wind behind them and they pressed forward and on 49 minutes Towns’ Liam Smith was yellow carded after a heavy tackle just outside his penalty area. From the resulting free kick, Penrhyncoch’s Mark Cornell shot low and hard which skimmed across the wet surface and flew past Jamie Clayton’s outstretched arm to make it 1-1.
Three minutes later on 52 minutes Town were given the chance to regain the lead when Gareth Partridge found himself in space in the box and fired at goal only for Penrhyncoch’s captain Antonio Corbisiero to deliberately block the shot with his hand and referee Mr Harms had no alternative to give him a red card and award Denbigh a penalty.
Craig Pritchard had scored from the spot last week at Holyhead and he stepped up again. His shot was straight at keeper Jenkins who saved the ball and the rebound fell to Matt Cook to fire in for what Town thought was a legitimate second goal. However Mr Harms had blown prior to the save for an encroachment into the penalty area by Penrhyncoch’s Sion Jones and he ordered the kick to be retaken. Pritchard claimed the kick again but this time his shot ballooned over the bar and Penrhyncoch breathed a sigh of relief.

Town now looked to put pressure on the 10 men and at this time the weather abated to make the task a bit easier. On 66 minutes a cross field ball found Aaron Hassall on the left wing. He sent in a low hard cross that Penrhyncoch’s Sion Jones got his foot to and deflected the ball past his own keeper to give Denbigh a 2-1 lead
Jake Eyre was introduced for Alan Bull and then Andy Thomas came on for Andrew Swarbrick. Thomas had a great chance to put the game to bed when he broke through the tiring Penrhyncoch defence only for his fierce drive to go inches wide of Jenkin’s right hand post.
This was to prove costly as on 79 minutes, Jenkins long goalkeeper clearance eluded the Denbigh defence and allowed Jonathon Evans to run onto the ball in Denbigh’s penalty area and coolly slot the ball past Clayton in the Denbigh goal . 2-2 and Penrhyncoch’s spirits were up as they looked for the winner.

Town piled the pressure on Penrhyncoch’s goal and had several chances within minutes of each other to win the game. Sam Tate’s dangerous cross was collected by Jenkins as was Nathan Williams’ cross. Penrhyncoch’s defence was playing deeper and deeper into their own half as the 10 men looked to hold onto a well-earned draw.
But their hopes were dashed on 90 minutes when some excellent work by Aaron Hassall on the left wing saw him cross for Jake Eyre to collect with one touch on 10 yards from goal. He controlled the ball instantly and hit an unstoppable shot to beat Jenkins and give Town a 3-2 lead.
Penrhyncoch were not finished just yet and attacked again only to fire wide of Clayton’s goal before the referee’s whistle went for the end of an engrossing encounter.
Denbigh made hard work of claiming the three points and did not play as well as they had done in their last three games against higher placed opposition. They could not break down a resolute Penrhyncoch defence who must take so much credit for keeping Town at bay for so long in the game and with only 10 men. Town’s finishing was below par and manager Eddie Maurice-Jones was relieved to have taken three points right at the end and continue an excellent run of four wins in the last four games.

With only two fixtures remaining for Denbigh this season, they have their last home fixture next Wednesday 22nd March against another mid Wales team Llanfair Utd. Kick-off is at 7.45pm

Teams
Denbigh Town – Jamie Clayton, Jack Riley, Nathan Williams, Ben Nash, Liam Smith, Craig Pritchard, Gareth Partridge, Mathew Cook, Alan Bull, Aaron Hassall, Andrew Swarbrick. Subs; Andy Thomas, Jake Eyre, Sam Tate, Liam Roberts.

Penrhyncoch ; Lee Jenkins, Eilian Evans, Mathew Moseley, Sion Jones, Liam Jones, Mark Gornall, Jonathon Evans, Antonio Corbisiero, Dafydd Carruthers, Sam Meredith, Gareth Mansell Subs: Aaron Josh Shaw, Liam Doherty

Referee – A Harms
Attendance – 80