CERRIGYDRUDION 0

CAERWYS 4

NEW-LOOK Caerwys made the short trip to Ruthin on Saturday for a morning friendly against Vale of Clwyd and Conwy League Premier Division outfit Cerrigydrudion.

The villagers made a bright start and 16-year-old Lewys Thomson was called into action straight away in the Caerwys goal.

He made a great save down to his right after a defensive mix-up. Caerwys were starting to threaten when Elgan Hughes was brought down on the edge of the Cerrig box.

Up stepped Deiniol Bower to blast the free kick into the top corner of the net seven minutes in.

Hughes was causing the Cerrig backline a host of problems and some intelligent hold-up play allowed him to release Matty Palin down the left.

Palin delivered a pin-point cross for Bower to volley home from close range in the 12th minute.

Josh Richardson and Theo Woolford were starting to assert themselves in midfield and a good switch from Woolford played in Ruari Wood down the right wing.

Wood cut inside and squared the ball for Hughes to tap in his first goal of the day in the 15th minute.

Hughes was almost on the scoresheet again two minutes later as a through-ball from Bower split the Cerrig defence.

He rounded the keeper to shoot from a tight angle, only to see his effort being superbly cleared off the line by a back-tracking Cerrig defender.

Hughes didn't have to wait much longer for his second goal.

A well-timed run from Richardson allowed him to square the ball for Hughes to slot a well placed effort into the bottom left corner of the net in the 38th minute.

Jon Edmonds went close to extending the Caerwys lead just before the interval, but his shot went inches wide.

The second half saw Cerrig start the better of the two teams and they saw more of the ball.

A well-struck shot from distance was comfortably dealt with by Thomson in the Caerwys goal.

Murray Hughes, making his first appearance for Caerwys, was looking to make things happen, but the impressive Elias Jones in the Cerrig goal was quick off his line and dealt with several promising through balls.

Palin was in fine form and some good footwork on the edge of the box saw him beat two men before rounding the keeper to fire his shot goalwards, but he was denied as a Cerrig defender hacked the ball off the line.

Ruari Wood was unlucky not to add another goal for Caerwys in the final minutes as his effort went narrowly wide.

Joint Caerwys manager Jordan Hadaway said: "We were very impressed with the performance, we showed signs of improvement from last week's game versus Lex.

"It was good to have four U-19s in our squad too, who all performed very well.

"We were disciplined and fought well. I am very impressed with how we have started pre-season, in both games we have showed principles that we want to see in our team."