CORWEN RESERVES 8

CHIRK AAA RESERVES 3

WHAT a gr-eight midweek it turned out to be for Corwen Reserves!

Their second Wrexham Area League midweek tussle of the spring was a clash versus Chirk AAA.

This game was due to to be played at War Memorial Park, but heavy rainfall made the pitch unplayable, so it was instead switched to the 3G surface at Bala Town's Maes Tegid ground.

Corwen had the first attempt of the evening, but Scott Evans sent his shot over the bar.

Soon afterwards and the hosts had to contend with a change in personnel.

Iorwerth Jones suffered an injury and he was replaced by Tommy Mutton.

Chirk threatened in the 20th minute when Matthew Cooke's great cross eluded everyone in the box.

Four minutes later and it was Corwen's turn to pose a threat.

Kian Harrison pinged a ball over to Tommy Mutton, who could only send his shot from the edge of the box over the bar.

The deadlock was eventually broken in the 27th minute and it was Corwen who were celebrating.

A quick ball was played forward to Andrew Roberts, who just about stayed onside and he left his marker for dead before slotting into the net.

Back came Chirk, though, and they levelled things up within two minutes.

When a pinpoint cross was played into the area, Sean Morris' bullet header found the back of the net.

Chirk keeper Jack Cox was called into action twice in quick succession to deal with Corwen threats.

Firstly, he did well to punch a cross clear and this was closely followed by Cox saving Andrew Roberts' shot.

At the other end, Chirk were awarded a free kick in a dangerous position.

Thomas Owen saw his effort clip the wall and go over the bar.

The game was turned on its head when Corwen scored three goals in just four minutes shortly before half-time.

They regained the lead in the 41st minute.

Andrew Roberts played a brilliant ball to Ryan Billington, who got one-on-one with Cox and he supplied a great finish to put the hosts back in front.

A minute later and Mutton played a great ball to Andrew Roberts, who fired home to make it 3-1.

Roberts then completed his hat-trick just before the interval.

With Kian Harrison in support, Roberts fired home to put his side well in control.

Chirk could have pulled a goal back in bizarre fashion just before the break.

A clearance from keeper Nathan Roberts hit Sean Morris and went towards the goal, but it ended up just wide of the post.

Turning to the second half and Corwen soon gained their fifth goal.

There was an assist for Paul Jones, who played a great cross into the danger area, and a Chirk defender sent the ball into the back of the net while attempting to clear.

Chirk continued to battle and with Corwen appealing for offside, Matthew Cooke's shot was saved by Nathan Roberts.

On the hour-mark, Chirk were handed a glimmer of hope when Thomas Roberts pulled a goal back.

Any hopes of a comeback were extinguished a minute later when Corwen hit their opponents with a lightning quick attack.

This ended with Andrew Roberts making no mistake in front of goal as he scored his fourth goal of the evening.

As the game entered the final quarter-of-an-hour, Nathan Roberts was called into action twice in as many minutes.

Firstly, he kept out an effort from Cooke and he made another good save a minute later.

Andrew Roberts sensed further goals and his 81st minute effort went narrowly wide of the target.

Corwen made it a magnificent seven goals for the evening when Scott Evans unleashed an unstoppable shot into the top corner of the net.

Three minutes from time and Chirk took the evening’s tally of goals to 10 as William Newell got free to slot the ball into the corner of the net.

The scoring wasn’t yet over, though, and Corwen won a penalty in the third minute of stoppage time,

Sixteen-year-old Kian Harrison was given the responsibility of taking the spot kick and he made no mistake to score his first goal in senior football.