Mike Wilde grabbed a brace as Flint Town United battled back from a goal down to beat Caernarfon Town at The Oval in the Cymru Premier.
In a five-goal thriller at The Oval, it was Flint who take all three points after a last-minute winner through veteran striker Mike Wilde. Flint had gone into the half one goal down however bounced back in the second half with Wilde himself scoring two goals and Conor Harwood the other.
Rob Hughes had opened the scoring with a fantastic solo goal and sub Mike Hayes was also on target for Caernarfon. However, it was Flint who took all three points back to Cae-Y-Castell.
The away side started the game well and dominated possession in the early goings. Mark Cadwallader should have scored after five minutes. The 33-year-old pounced on a mistake in the Caernarfon defence, rounded Tyler French but couldn’t direct his strike towards goal, and found the side netting. The first 10 minutes went the way of the away side.
That was until Rob Hughes had something to say. An interception from Josh Bailey found the midfielder 30 yards from goal. Hughes went past three Flint defenders and calmly cut inside on his weaker right foot and slotted coolly past the advancing Ryan Woods. A quite fantastic goal from Hughes, who scored against his former side. He is certainly building himself to be a firm fan favourite at The Oval.
The rest of the half continued as it started. Flint enjoying prolonged spells of possession but Caernarfon looking dangerous on the break. Particularly with Noah Edwards, Darren Thomas, and Rob Hughes. Noah Edwards got himself booked, while Jake Phillips, Daniel Roberts, and visiting captain Alex Jones also found their way into the book. Caernarfon themselves enjoyed spells of possession in the first half. However, weren’t troubling Flint with a second. The first half came to an end with Flint making plenty of half-chances, but not troubling Tyler French. The half-time whistle came and it was 1-0 to the home side.
Mark Cadwallader started the second half in the same form as the first. Sam Hart’s cross find his head however he headed wide minutes into the half. With an hour gone Cadwallader was replaced by Callum Bratley. Minutes later Caernarfon nearly made it two. Rob Hughes from range with a rasping drive on his right foot which just escaped the far post. Mike Wilde had been a mere spectator for most of the game with Steve Evans getting the better of him.
However, with 20 minutes left, the striker had his moment. Hart had been providing delightful service all night. It was about time someone got on the end of one. Wilde was that man as his header beat Tyler French and Flint were lever at one apiece.
Five minutes later and the turnaround was complete. Conor Harwood, found himself in space, and from 12 yards out his shot just had enough on it to escape the clutches of Tyler French and Neil Gibson’s side found themselves in the lead. From being behind, Flint now had a lead to protect. They didn’t protect that lead for too long. Six minutes later, substitute Mike Hayes pulled Caernarfon level. A cross from the left-hand side from Rob Hughes found Hayes unmarked and his header was too powerful for Ryan Woods in the visiting goal and we had a level game at 2-2.
However, Caernarfon weren’t able to hold on to a deserved point. In the last minute of normal time, Ben Maher’s cross found Mike Wilde’s head. It seemed to all that a simple save would follow for Tyler French. However the keeper wasn’t able to hold on and the ball escaped his clutches and trickled into the goal sending the Flint players and fans into celebration.
Flint saw out a 3-2 victory and took all three points after a pulsating last 20 minutes which saw four goals. Neil Gibson would have been delighted with how side reacted after a poor first half. Wilde’s two goals takes him top of the goal scorer’s charts and that victory takes Flint into second place. Caernarfon had a few absentees and worked their socks off for a point. However, Wilde had different ideas and showed all present that he doesn’t have to have a good game to steal all the headlines. Flint are back in action on Friday night as they host Connah’s Quay in the Welsh Cup. Caernarfon are also in cup action and face a trip to Penybont on Saturday.
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