GLAN CONWY 1

DENBIGH TOWN 2

THERE was a sense of deja-vu for Denbigh Town over the weekend.

Seven days after beating FC Queens Park 2-1 to reach the next round of the FAW Trophy, Denbigh Town achieved an identical outcome in their Lock Stock Welsh Alliance League trip to Glan Conwy.

Two early goals from Jake Walker helped Town to success versus Queens Park, while it was club captain Mark Roberts who struck twice early on to support Denbigh's push for victory at Glan Conwy.

The success takes Denbigh back to the top of the Division One rankings.

Denbigh boss Dewi Llion chose an unchanged starting XI from the FAW Trophy tie, with new loan signing Jacob Barratt, from Connah's Quay Nomads, on the bench.

Glan Conwy have a formidable record at Cae Ffwt, having lost only one game last season and one so far this season.

The compact narrow pitch meant Denbigh had to adjust their tactics accordingly and the early stages saw these changes pay off.

From the start, Denbigh took the game to their with Mark Roberts going close after three minutes.

The hosts responded after some sloppy Denbigh defending when Sarnowski was forced to palm the ball away for a corner.

From the set piece, Will Ashley cleared to Mark Roberts on the halfway line.

Roberts turned his defender and headed for goal with strength and pace, and on reaching inside the area, he slid the ball under the advancing Jarvis to give Denbigh a 1-0 lead on five minutes.

Denbigh continued to put Glan Conwy under pressure and they played some intricate football on the heavy pitch.

On 17 minutes, left back Dan Lloyd floated a ball from his half up to Roberts just inside the Glan Conwy half.

Roberts headed the ball over his defender and sprinted towards goal, before chipping Jarvis from 20 yards to give Denbigh a two-goal lead.

Minutes later and Roberts nearly completed his hat-trick.

His shot from 20 yards out clattered and Chris Bennett tucked in the rebound, only to be flagged for offside.

As the half progressed, Denbigh continued to dominate.

Moses Barrett was unlucky to see his header go just wide from a Stu Vernon corner, while Jake Walker's shot was deflected wide by keeper Jarvis’ fingertips.

Vernon played a great ball in, which Walker headed powerfully just wide of the goal.

Half-time came with Denbigh well on top, but Glan Conwy made two substitutions, which helped change the game in their favour.

From the restart, Glan Conwy dictated the play and Sarnowksi had to be on his toes to gather safely from a dangerous cross.

Denbigh could not reach the standards they had set in the first half and before long, they succumbed to the pressure.

Jamie Jones floated a corner into the box and Tom Rooney headed home from six yards to halve the deficit.

Denbigh responded and a minute later, Mark Roberts broke free to fire home what he thought was his hat-trick strike.

As the Denbigh players celebrated with Roberts, referee Trigg awarded Glan Conwy a free kick for Roberts being offside.

With Denbigh’s players now all out of position, a desperate tackle from John Terry thwarted Glan Conwy’s attack which could have led to a controversial goal.

Antoni Sarnowski came to the fore to pull off two brilliant saves.

From a corner, the ball fell to a Glan Conwy forward and his shot forced the keeper into diving to his right to palm the effort wide and stop what was a certain equaliser.

From the ensuing corner, a header from six yards was goalbound until Sarnowski palmed the ball onto his crossbar and away to safety.

Denbigh were just hanging on to their lead thanks to their keeper.

Miles Todd and loan signing Jacob Barratt were introduced off the Town bench, but still the hosts continued to threaten Denbigh’s goal.

However, with Sarnowksi’s defenders putting up some stern challenges, Denbigh were able to hold out and claim the three points.