RHYL 3 LLANELLI 3

(Llanelli win 5-4 on penalties), Welsh Cup – 4th Round.

The Reds were fully expecting a difficult afternoon at Belle Vue, and they were not disappointed as they were pushed to the limit in a thrilling Welsh Cup tie in which fortunes swayed first one way and then another, and the home side will be bitterly disappointed not to have prevailed, taking the contest to a penalty shoot-out with the unlucky Shaun Dowling being the sole player to fail from the spot.

With Ashley Morris suspended, the Reds goalkeeping duties were taken over by youngster, Craig Richards, and he did nothing wrong, and in fact played his part in keeping his side in a contest which could have gone either way.

What made the Rhyl performance even more impressive was the fact they had to do it with only ten men as early as the eighth minute with the dismissal of Neil Coverley for a two-footed lunge on Craig Williams who fortunately emerged unscathed.

Even with this handicap the home side looked the better of the two teams from the outset, pinning the Reds back with some neat moves, and they deservedly went ahead on 13 minutes following a cross from Mike Pritchard across the box which was not dealt with capably, allowing Tom Rowlands to meet it at the far post before driving it past Richards from close range.

Reds manager Andy Legg’s response to this setback was to replace Martyn Giles with Jordan Follows six minutes later, and they gradually began to get a grip on proceedings with an offside flag denying Rhys Griffiths who netted past Ben Jones in the home goal, and who then pulled off a brilliant save to claw out a Chris Venables header when he met a far post cross by Williams.

The Rhyl keeper was in action again, this time pushing clear a shot from Williams on the edge of the area, with Mark Powell just beating Venables to the loose ball and effect a clearance.

Another Venables header drifted just wide of the far post, and with the interval approaching it appeared as if the hosts would go on with their slender lead intact, until two minutes from the break their opponents were thrown a lifeline with the award of a penalty.

It stemmed from a ball by Griffiths to Williams who dummied cleverly, allowing Chris Thomas to gain possession and get into the box where a clumsy tackle from Steffan Halewood brought him down, leading to the spot kick which Griffiths converted with aplomb.

The Reds striker then had a further chance when he met a Williams cross, but this time could only fire into the side netting, and early in the second period Williams drove narrowly over when Thomas set up the chance.

Rhyl were far from finished and the numerical disadvantage hardly seemed to bother them, wile they were also taking full effect of the Reds failure to keep possession for any length of time, allowing them to launch some dangerous sorties.

From one of these attacks Dave Forbes set up a glorious chance for Pritchard who wastefully shot wide when he really should have at least tested Richards.

Legg made another change, replacing Scott Evans with James Secker, and within four minutes of this the visitors went ahead when for once the home rearguard failed to deal effectively with a ball in the box, allowing it to run loose, and Stuart Jones was positioned to meet it and drive low past Jones into the net in the 67th minute.

This success spurred on the Reds with Secker having two close range attempts blocked, while Follows lost his footing at a vital moment when the chance presented itself.

The home side were still posing a threat, forcing Richards into a fine save to keep out a well struck drive by Paul Mooney, and when Russell Courtney sent Forbes clear on a run which took him into the box, Jones did well to close him down before Richards gathered safely.

The Reds keeper then excelled himself by tipping over a goal bound attempt from Scott Beckett. but the visitors could well have put the result beyond doubt when Griffiths was set up by Williams for a strike on goal, but saw it rebound off the post before being scrambled clear, and this near miss proved to be crucial as with just three minutes remaining the home side hauled themselves level again.

Following a free kick, the ball bobbled about without being effectively dealt with allowing Forbes to set up Ryan Williams with a lay back which he accepted with a close range shot which gave Richards no chance.

The home side pushed forward in search of a winner with Richards diverting a Mooney strike for a corner, but the ninety minutes ended all square and extra time loomed.

Within three minutes of the restart of the half hour, the Reds went ahead for the second time in the contest with a well worked goal, with Griffiths heading down a Williams cross into the path of Venables who swept it past Jones with some style.

Chris Holloway replaced Secker twelve minutes into the action, but it was Rhyl who showed their durability in again drawing level through the award of a penalty, the second of the afternoon.

Pritchard it was who caused the problem by making a strong run into the area and was brought down for his efforts by Jones, and Williams stepped up to drive the award past Richards with only seven minutes of extra time left.

Both sides strived for a winner in the remaining time left, but despite some close calls either end the tie had to be decided on spot kicks.

The first three kicks for both sides were successful before Dowling had his attempt saved by Richards, and with the final Reds penalty by Williams sealing a perfect five, they progressed somewhat fortuitously into the quarter finals where they face another away trip to meet Bala Town.

MATCH STATS.

RHYL; Jones; Dowling; Coverley; Courtney © (Strong, 97(McManus, 108); Halewood; Powell;

Williams; Mooney; Forbes; Pritchard; Rowlands (Beckett, 72).

LLANELLI; Richards; Thomas; Giles (Follows, 19); Jones ©; Surman; Venables; Grist; Corbisiero;

Griffiths; Evans (Secker, 63 (Holloway, 102).

SCORERS; Rhyl – Rowlands, 13; Williams, 88, 113 (P).

Llanelli – Griffiths, 43 (P); Jones, 67; Venables, 93.

YELLOW CARDS; Rhyl – Dowling; Halewood; Courtney;

Llanelli – Giles; Thomas; Evans; Venables; Jones.

RED CARD; Rhyl – Coverley.

LLANELLI STAR MAN; Lee Surman.

REFEREE; Mr. Lee Evans (Llanllechid).

ATTENDANCE; 423.