RHYL 1

DENBIGH TOWN 2

BRILLIANT Denbigh Town showed themselves to be the Rhyl deal over the weekend.

The side from Central Park earned a well-deserved Huws Gray Alliance League Cup victory at near rivals Rhyl in a captivating game at the Corbett Sports Stadium.

This was an eagerly awaited fixture as both clubs had seen managers and some players swop teams during the close season.

Only a few months ago, Matty Jones was manager at Rhyl with Eddie Maurice-Jones the boss at Denbigh.

Now, Jones is at Denbigh as joint-manager with Dewi Llion, and Maurice-Jones is in charge at Rhyl, with another ex-Denbigh manager Richard Williams Cooke as one of his assistants.

Rhyl named five ex-Denbigh players from last season in their starting line-up, with Denbigh naming two former Rhyl players in the shape of Sam Downey and Tony Davies.

Rhyl went into the game as firm favourites having had the better start to the season.

Denbigh welcomed new keeper Gwydion Owen to their ranks, as regular custodian Craig Vernon was unavailable for the tie.

It was Denbigh who started the brighter of the two teams and they were ahead within two minutes.

Sam Jones made great headway down the left wing, beat his man and fired a low shot, which hit the far post.

The ball bounced out to Sam Downey, who fired into the net from 10 yards.

Rhyl responded pretty much immediately and Cai Owen crossed to bring out a fine stop from Gwydion Owen.

James Stead had the next opportunity for Rhyl, with his shot going well over the Denbigh crossbar.

Town responded well to this spell of pressure and Tom Jones had a shot blocked, before Lewis Sirrell hit over from 12 yards.

The tie was flowing from end to end and Rhyl equalised after 18 minutes.

Mike Pritchard turned a defender just inside the penalty area and shot low across the Denbigh goal.

Despite Owen’s efforts, the well placed shot went into the corner of the net.

Buoyed by the goal, Rhyl now enjoyed their best spell.

Pritchard was proving to be a handful, ably assisted by Owen.

Refusing to be bullied, the Denbigh defence remained strong, with Tony Davies and Curtis Langton making some tremendous interceptions.

Sam Downey and Ross Weaver enjoyed good spells in the middle of the park and they both covered acres of ground during the evening.

Up front, Denbigh continued to make chances and after being set up by Jake Walker, Sam Jones shot was saved by Jon Hill-Dunt.

The Rhyl keeper’s quick long clearance found Pritchard and his shot was well saved by Gwydion Owen at the other end.

Denbigh went close to regaining the lead after half-an-hour.

Jake Walker went around Hill-Dunt and his goal-bound shot was blocked by Reece Fairhurst.

Minutes later and Hill-Dunt thwarted the hard working Walker again, this time with a fine stop.

At the other end, Rhyl’s James Murray thought he had given his side the lead, but his weaving run ended with a shot that hit the post and bounced back into the arms of Gwydion Owen.

With a pulsating first half going into injury time, Denbigh regained the lead.

Tony Davies played a pinpoint ball over the Rhyl defence for Sam Jones, who ran through and blasted past a despairing Hill-Dunt.

The second half started with Rhyl putting the visitors under pressure again, however the Denbigh defence coped well with this.

Scott McHarrie made a stunning block as James Murray seemed through on goal.

At the other end, Jake Walker was challenged heavily by Joe Culshaw in the box, with Denbigh players and supporters screaming for a penalty.

The officials waved away these claims.

Denbigh went close to stretching their lead in the 63rd minute.

Lewis Sirrell’s corner found Tony Davies running at speed and his header rattled the crossbar with Hill-Dunt well beaten.

Rhyl pressed for an equaliser in the closing stages, with Denbigh sitting deeper and deeper.

Curtis Langton foiled one attack and broke through for a great run of 40 yards into the Rhyl half, only for his shot to go just wide of the goal.

Rhyl's hopes of forcing extra time were foiled when they were reduced to nine men.

With all substitutes used up, Joe Culshaw had to leave the field due to an injury and seconds later, Mike Pritchard was sent off after receiving a second yellow card.

Denbigh played out six minutes of added time to achieve a cracking triumph.