Greenfield 2-3 Rhos Aelwyd – Scott Reeves free-kick sends Rhos into FAW Trophy final
Rhos Aelwyd progressed to the final of the FAW Trophy, having beaten Greenfield in an all North Wales affair.
Aelwyd will now play Conwy Borough in the final of the Trophy, after they beat South Wales Alliance League side Penydarren in the other semi-final.
It was Greenfield who looked the stronger side out the blocks, keeping the ball inside Rhos’ half and getting a well-positioned free kick as Rhos keeper Steffan Parry handled the ball outside his box leading to him having to hack away a low free kick from the side of the box from Greenfield striker #10
However, in the eighth minute, on their first attack of the game, Rhos opened up the scoring. Looking to cross the ball towards the back post, the first went for a corner, from the headed away corner a second cross was cleared but only as far as the corner of the box.
Winger Scott Reeves gathered possession on the edge and put the cross towards the back post onto the head of the centre-back Tomas Davies, still up from the corner who headed across goal and into the net.
Following the first goal, the game became a lot more with Aelwyd finding themselves being slightly dominated but Greenfield were struggling to create good goal scoring opportunities with a clearance from Parry despite pressure from two Greenfield attacker being the highlight of the period.
Jake Simms’ shot, set up as a product of striker Jamie Rogers’ cross, was deflected wide then Rogers was played through one on one with the keeper but his lob attempt went too far across the goal and wide again.
On the stroke of half-time, they played a through ball to striker Sam Jones who was brought down by Rhos’ goalscorer Davies, who was booked for the challenge.
Greenfield left-back Darren Johns stepped up to take the free kick on the edge of the box and curled the ball around the wall with his left foot, placing it to Parry’s top right to make it all square heading into halftime.
The second half started slowly as both sides looked to establish dominance early on, the skill and quickness of Greenfield’s right wing Tom Carney’s beginning to put the Rhos defence under great pressure.
A through ball played to Carney in the 59th minute required a risky, well-executed slide tackle from Rhos’ defender Ryan Jenkins and shots from Carney the edge of the box from counter attacks both found themselves placed a couple inches away from the bottom corners.
Haynes sent a high corner into the box towards the back post where Tomas Davies was yet again waiting to get his head on the ball this time planting it more towards the near post to secure a brace and his side the lead once again.
A pass into the box was not dealt with well by the Rhos defence and the ball ricocheted off substitute Piliner going into the net for an own goal and Greenfield equaliser in the 83rd minute.
Johns, who had been pushed up on the attack looked to get the ball on the edge box but made a mess of his attempted tackle, completely taking the Rhos defender out and being sent off for it in the 85th minute.
Both teams were looking for a good opportunity to win the game in the last five minutes and it came under lucky circumstances for Rhos. A free kick 45 yards out was taken by Scott Reeves looking for a head in the box.
Greenfield keeper Danny Stanton came off his line to grab the ball out the air but misjudged the ball’s height and only got fingertips on the ball as he jumped for it, tipping it over his own head and into the goal behind him causing Reeves and his teammates to celebrate ecstatically as they once again took the lead.
The ecstatic celebrations were saved for later though. As a desperate Greenfield tried to create a goal to no avail and Ian Hughes had a one on one chance saved in his effort to extend Rhos’ lead to 4-2, shortly later the full-time whistle blew.
Rhos Aelwyd (3-5-2):
- Steffan Parry (GK) 2. Ryan Jenkins 3. Tomas Davies 5. Aled Robertson (C) 4. Aled Parry (12. Aled Dodd 70′) 6. Jake Simms, 7. Dan Harrison (15. Dennislave Piliner 80′) 8. Dafydd Robertson 11. Scott Reeves 9. James Haynes 10. Jamie Rogers (14. Ian Hughes 83′)
Greenfield (4-4-2):
- Danny Stanton (GK), 2. Leon Hughes 4. Ryan Jones 5. Danny Henley 3. Darren Johns 7. Tom Carney 6. Sion McHugh 8. Ashley Durham (15. Liam Robinson 61′) 11. Conor Hughes (14. Josh Parry 80′) 9. Sam Jones 10. Danny Clavert (16. Gareth Henley 69′)
(Featured Image: Gareth Webb)
