HOLYHEAD HOTSPUR 2

DENBIGH TOWN 1

THREE points would have gone a long way to ensuring Denbigh Town's Huws Gray Alliance survival.

However, as it turned out, the Central Park lads suffered a 2-1 reverse at basement side Holyhead.

There was a minute's silence before kick-off out of respect for former Denbigh player Joel Darlington, who sadly passed away last week.

The crucial match started so well at a fast and furious pace, with opportunities at both ends of the pitch.

The best early chance went the way of Denbigh inside less than five minutes.

After good work by Lewis Sirrell on the left, the ball found Kristian Pierce, whose shot was blocked by the keeper and rebounded to Scott McHarrie, with this effort being blocked on the line.

There was some good football on show with both sides working hard.

Bailey Jackson did well in the middle of the park with some strong tackling and nice passes.

A long punt at goal nearly put Sirrell on the scoresheet and it was clear that a goal was looming.

Unfortunately for the visitors, it was Hotspurs who found the net after a lucky 13 minutes.

Following a possible misunderstanding in the Denbigh defence, centre forward Mel McGuinness found some space in the penalty area with the ball at his feet.

After a quick turn and a low left-footed drive, the home team were 1-0 ahead.

Denbigh did not panic at this stage and they did appear to be reasonably comfortable and confident of getting back in the match. Minutes later and they should have done just that.

Lewis Sirrell ran into the box between two defenders and drew others to him, before squaring the ball to Kristian Pierce, whose shot from 10 yards was well saved by keeper Carl Jones.

Shortly afterwards, an inswinging corner by Sirrell was met under the bar by Denbigh's Miles Todd, who delighted in nodding it home to make it one-apiece.

Minutes later and Holyhead went close to regaining the lead when Chris Jones was inches away from forcing a Dan McGuinness cross into the goal.

His brother Mel then put a header over the bar.

The game continued in this vein, but Denbigh probably had the edge as things progressed and they had the clearer chances.

After some very good build-up play, Pierce's shot went just wide and Miles Todd twice went close with headers from excellent Sirrell corners.

Centre forward Jake Walker was having one of his better games as a target man up front and Sirrell was showing what an important and creative player he is.

Everything was looking okay for Town when the half-time whistle sounded.

Denbigh started the second period well and they soon mounted a good attack.

Pat Hinchcliffe passed to McHarrie, who shot just wide.

Holyhead brought on substitute John Littlemore and as they switched to three at the back, the game turned.

Although both sides had players disputing almost every decision that went against them, some of the Denbigh players seemed to lose their composure.

Captain Tony Davies was booked for dissent and Holyhead soon reclaimed the lead.

Mel McGuinness kept the ball in play and crossed it in, where John Littlemore volleyed it past a diving Craig Vernon.

After Pat Hinchcliffe and Curtis Langton were booked, Denbigh were desperate for that equaliser as the clock ticked away.

The referee was looking at his watch when he gave a free kick which Miles Todd had a problem with.

There were only seconds left, but he had to be booked.

Todd disagreed and said something further to the referee and he was shown a second yellow card.

Holyhead have now won two matches on the bounce and Denbigh, although with a slight cushion between the teams below, have played more games than the likes of Holywell.