Sunday, 29 April 2012

Rhewl Vets v Halkyn Vets 28/04/12

Rhewl Vets 2 v Halkyn Vets 5
A depleted Halkyn team met Rhewl in the last game of the round robin stage of the Sealand cup with both teams needing a win to secure a place in the semi finals. Halkyn were missing five players from their last game against Wirral Vets and some players were asked to play out of position.
Rhewl fielded a strong squad and had the majority of the early play leading to a goal following a defensive mistake by the player manager of Halkyn ( he is too old and fat - his words not the players!!!)
Having gone behind Halkyn were inspired and were awarded a penalty following some excellent play by Stilly which was cooly converted by Andy Beck. Despite losing a further player to injury and now only having eleven players who could actually run Halkyn took the lead when a slick move was converted by Franny.
Following a motivational half time talk which consisted of identifying which players  were not carrying an injury(four uninjured players!!) Halkyn resumed the second half strongly and scored two quick goals. Praise again for Stilly and Neil for their excellent running which meant the Rhewl defence were always being tested. Halkyn suffered a further setback when Mickey Roberts fell awkwardly but he gallantly finished the game despite fracturing his arm!!! Rhewl did not give in to their credit and pushed strongly scoring a goal with a looping header at the far post but almost immediately Halkyn responded with Stilly scoring the goal of the match.
Man of the match ( as voted by the Denbigh mafia) went to Glyn Davies for his stirling work in the centre of midfield  but it was an excellent team performance and a richly deserved victory

Sunday, 22 April 2012

Wirral Vets v Halkyn Vets 21/04/12

Wirral Vets 2 v  Halkyn Vets 6

The two teams met as part of the Sealand Cup group matches and on the back of a poor defeat against Liverpool Convocation the away team needed a good result. Both teams fielded strong squads and despite the recent poor weather the game was played on a dry but blustery day. The pitch was unfortunately rather bumpy which at times made ball control somewhat precarious!

Despite the testing conditions Halkyn started well and played controlled football which eventually led to the opener for the away team. As usual Halkyn then switched off and having lost Dewi to a hamstring injury the reformed defence appeared to tread water allowing the Wirral winger to run through almost unchallenged. As a result Neil Hewitt is now on a fitness programme (his own words) having had a week of all inclusive beer in Egypt. Not sure whether he realises he is nearly 50 but god loves a trier!!

Halkyn regained the lead shortly before half time when the Wirral centre back headed into his own goal. We were also assisted by Glyn Davies winding up one of the opposition which resulted in Glyn being placed in a choke hold until we could draw the refs attention to the the miscreant.

Our half time team talk was full of Fergie positivety including the usual ' you cant polish a turd' and 'im packing this shite in' but we began the second half well and scored a number of good goals. Special mention goes to Mike Davies for his hatrick and also his helpful anecdotes with the ref!

The final result was well deserved by Halkyn and even the opposition acknowledged that on the day they had been outplayed. Man of the match was Mike Davies for a cracking all round performance
   

Monday, 2 April 2012

Chester Nomads 5th v Halkyn Vets

Chester Nomads 1 v Halkyn Vets 3

The two teams met at the Garrison ground with Halkyn bringing 15 players to the match. Unfortunately Nomads had some late notice cry offs so the away team gave them a player at the start. In a closely contested first half both teams played some attractive football and early on Halkyn were awarded a penalty which surprisingly Speedy put wide so ending his 100% record. Halkyn took the lead through their debutant Dewi who steered the ball home following a corner. Nomads quickly levelled the match and as the teams changed halves it was still anyones game.
 Unfortunately both teams then suffered a number of injuries and by the end of the match both teams were down to ten players each. The spaces created by the absent players was fully exploited and goals from Martin Gaskell and Andy Beck resulted in victory for the away team.
Back in the Halkyn changing room it was like a scene from casualty with players hobbling around but we all managed to drag ourselves back to the pub for suitable refreshments and the usual banter.
A big thank you to Franny and Dewi for turning up for the match although both players were anticiapting aching limbs the following day.