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DATE	OPPONENT	COMP	F-A	REPORT & PICS
9th Oct	Cefn Druids	HGA	1-4	Today saw Rhos come up against local rivals Cefn Druids at their new purpose build stadium aptly named 'The Rock'. The match began with Rhos attacking from the first second with Josh Russell getting down the left side and his cross almost found the unmarked Aaron Edwards in the centre. The home side from that moment onwards started to dominate proceedings with theie style of play of utilising the strength of ex Rhos player Richard Williams-Cooke at every opportunity causing the Rhos back line numerous difficulties. This method of play took only 6 minutes to pay off when Williams-Cook took control of a high ball to release the left winger free and his threaded through ball found the home striker who struck home past the advancing Pierce on the Rhos goal. This early setback failed to get the Rhos lads going and looked to be second to every ball over the field and were fortunate not to go further behind when the offside trap was broken which saw the attacking player chip the ball narrowly over the crossbar. The home side managed to double there advantage on 37 minutes when a dubious free kick was awarded to the home side when many thought the kick should have been awarded the other way was delivered into the box and with the blazing sun in his eyes, Pierce in the Rhos goal was forced to tip over his crossbar, from the resulting corner a Druids defender rose unmarked to power home giving Pierce no chance. Rhos then realised that they needed to raise there game and that is what they done and managed to do and that pressure saw Rhos pull a goal back after some excellent work by Aaron Edwards found Mike Burke in the six yard box to head home. HT 1-2 The second half saw Rhos buoyed by the fact that they had managed to grab the late goal in the first half and spent the majority of the early period of the second half camped in the Druids half but without really testing the home custodian. The home side soaked up this early pressure and broke away to regain there two goal lead on the hour mark when the Rhos defence again failed to deal with the strength of WIlliams-Cooke who found his fellow strike partner who smashed the ball past Pierce via a slight deflection. This goal was a massive blow for Rhos and equally a huge shot in the arm for the until then nervous looking home side. Again ten minute late the home side sprung away after defending to complete the scoring when again WIlliams-Cooke raced clear and after rounding Pierce saw his goalbound attempt blocked on the line only to fall to his fellow strike partner who finished with ease. Rhos almost reduced the arrears with ten minutes remaining with what would have been the goal of the day when the tireless Mike Burke smashed a rasping drive from the edge of the area againt the home sides crossbar giving the keeper no chance. In summary a very dissapointing result against a very well organised and strong Druids team. The loss itself is hard to accept with it being our 1st of the season but the fact that it took 9 games to come has been an excellent achievement by the squad. We must now dust ourselves down and show the character that is required to get the right result next week against Llandudno town who like Druids have another ex Aelwyd player in their ranks with Tony Cann.
2nd Oct	Coedpoeth United	WC2	2-1aet	TODAYS MATCH WAS KINDLY SPONSORED BY CAPPELL HAIR STUDIO This afternoon saw unbeaten Rhos come up against local Welsh National League club Coedpoeth United who themselves before today were previously unbeaten in the second round of the prestigeous Welsh Cup. From the 1st minute the home side struggled to get a grip of the game with the visitors the first to almost everything with their physical style of play causing Rhos numerous difficulties, though the half was played with very few chances to note, Coedpoeth did almost manage to take a deserved lead on the half hour mark when a drive from the edge of the area whizzed inches wide with home keeper Gavin Pierce well beaten. HT 0-0 The second half saw Rhos under strict instructions to be more competitive and match the visitors desire to win. With this now happening it had an adverse effect on the flow of the game with the game continuously being stopped by the match officials. Though chances were very few and far between the majority of play was played in the visitors half. A similar pattern of play was seen for the remainder of the half with the visitors starting to tire but Rhos were unable to work the visiting keeper. FT 0-0 Rhos started extra time very a very high tempo and pinned the visitors back and finally broke the deadlock on 95minutes when defender Ricky Wright smashed in a left footed free kick that took a wicked deflection and wrong footed the visiting keeper on its way to the back of the net. This goal seemed to spur Rhos on and the doubled there advantage four minutes later when the excellent Steve Powell went on a powerful run to convert from the edge of the area. The visitors now looked shell shocked as their chances of a cup shock looked to be over and Rhos almost extended their lead in the early minutes of the second period of extra time when Mike Burke smashed the ball againt the crossbar from 10 yards out, at that point it looked like Rhos were going to end up winning by a larger margin but with five minutes remaining the visitors broke away and scored with a drive from the edge of the area to give a tense finish to the extra period. The visitors did push numbers forward in search of the leveller but failed to really work Pierce in the Rhos goal. In summary the level of performance from the team was not what we have seen so far this term but cup games are all about getting into the hat for the next round which we managed to do. Special mention to an excellent energetic display from Steve Powell who seemed to single handedly pull the entire squad through the extra 30 minutes. We now look forward to the draw which is scheduled for Tuesday aftrenoon. * Highlights of todays match can be seen on S4C's Sgorio program on Monday night at 10pm
25th Sept	Caersws	HGA	1-0	TODAYS MATCH WAS KINDLY SPONSORED BY MALCOLM RANDLES AEIRAL & SATELLITE SERVICES After the cup exploits of the previous two weeks Rhos were today pleased to welcome Caersws to Ponciau banks for what many called the Huws Gray Alliance fixture of the day. With the home side thus far unbeaten in all competitions and the visitors winning every game since losing on the opening game of the season at big spenders Rhyl. The match began with Rhos almost taking the lead in the 1st minute when a long punt up field from defender Ricky Wright was totally misjudged by the visiting keeper who allowed the ball to slip through his grasp and as he chased it back as it looked to be heading towards the net, unfortunatly for Rhos it drifted narrowly wide. Apart from that early chance the remainder of the half had no real opportunities to note with both sides failing to get a firm grip of the game and with numerous blood and thunder tackles coming in it seemed the officials were constantly stopping and starting play for one thing or another with the yellow card coming out on no fewer than 5 different occasions. HT 0-0 The second half started with the visitors creating a chance in the first minute when a ball whipped in from the left avaided the Rhos defence and fall the the Forward and an instinctive block from Rhos keeper Adam McGee kept the scores level. This early scare seemed to knock the Rhos lads into gear and finally started to play the high paced attacking football we have shown so far this season. With Rhos forwards Aaron Edwards and Mike Burke looking a real handfull both on the deck and in the air the visiting defence had there hands full and finally cracked in the 77th minute when Burke raced through to slot under the advancing keeper only to be denied a deserved goal by a late lineswomans flag, Burke though was not the be denied moments later when the same ball saw him out-muscle the visiting defender and smash the ball home to give Rhos a deserved lead. The visitors then had to push forward more in search of a leveller but the Rhos defence looked solid despite being reduced to 10 men with 5 minutes remaining with Dave MacIntyre being shown a red for 2 bookable offences. The visitors did almost snatched a leveller deep into injury time only to be denied by another excellent save from the ever reliable McGee in the Rhos goal who's fingerlip save ensured another victory for the Aelwyd. In summary another excellent victory which was based not only on a hard work ethic again from the lads but we are now showing that we have many dimensions to our game. We are the only club at this level now to be undefeated in all competitions so far but it is important that we keep our feet on the ground and don the old cliche of 'Taking every game as it comes' as everyone now will be trying that bit harder against us.
18th Sept	GAP Connahs Quay	LC1	3-2	TODAYS MATCH WAS KINDLY SPONSORED BY MALCOLM RANDLES AEIRAL & SATELLITE SERVICES This visit by the current League leaders was eagerly awaited, and it proved how far we have come in just a short time. The game got off to flying start when Gap took the lead as early as the second minute, however, this did determine Rhos to "up their game", and this they did. The equaliser came after 20mins when AARON EDWARDS raced clear to clinically finish. The remainder of the half created no more chances with both teams settling down. The second half saw a more open game and the Rhos defence were tested, but held firm. Rhos took the lead keeper when the impressive JOSH RUSSELL raced clear to smash the ball into the far corner of the net. Connahs Quay then fell two goals behind when MIKE BURKE was unmarked in the box and coolly lobbed the advancing keeper after 15mins of the half. The Quay then through everything at Rhos, but shear determination, hard work and class defending reduced the visitors to a consolation goal to make it 3-2. A fantastic performance by the team against a very good side, I'm sure when we visit them soon we will have to be on our game once more.
11th Sept	Borras Park	WC1	8-0	With a completely changed side from previous weeks, Rhos proved they were two divisions above, against a very physical Borras side. Rhos started the game with an early goal from MATTY HOLMES following a superb cross from Ricky Wright. WAYNE PHILIPS scored the second from the penalty spot, Wayne added his second direct from a free kick. BEN JONES & JON RUSH made it 5-0 at Half Time, A good first half with some excellent football played by the Aelwyd. The second half was a bit scrappy with Rhos kicking against a strong headwind, having said that Borras made it difficult to play our passing game with some strong tackles which on another day would have seen more bookings. Rhos went on to score another three goals, MATTY HOLMES with a brace to complete his Hat-Trick and AARON EDWARDS. A very competent performance which once again gives Steve a selection problem because of the quality of the squad. The second round of the Welsh Cup has given us a very chance of progression with a home draw against Coedpoeth.
4th Sept	Ruthin Town	HGA	1-0	Today saw Rhos play their 1st away game of the season after seeing us collect two wins and one draw in our opening league fixtures which saw manager Steve Walters named Huws Gray Alliance Manager of the month for August, with the added pressure of this on the lads and teams now more than aware of the threats we may now cause many though todays match would give us more of an indication of how far we have really come in recent months. The match began with Rhos almost taking the lead within the first 30 seconds with Ricky Wright crossing for Ben Jones to fire over when shooting under extreme pressure. The game then settled down a little but unfortunatly Rhos were forced to make an early change when centre half Andy Torrance picked up a foot injury, with no recognised defenders on the bench the entire team had to be reshaped, this allowed the home side to get on top of play and forced McGee in the Rhos goal into a number of fine saves. Rhos then on 20 minutes suffered another blow with captain and another centre half Mike Parry pulling up with a hamstring injury and unable to continue, again a major reshuffle was required with many players now playing in positions that are normally alien to them. Again the home side pushed to take advantage of this but the Rhos defence was excellently marshalled by Craig Hughes who was the sole survivor of the initial back three that started the match and Rhos almost took the lead themselves when Barry Torrance found space in the area to head narrowly wide. HT 0-0 The second half began with Rhos making most of the interval as this allowed them to take stock of the injurys susstained in the 1st half and reset up with all players knowing what was expected of them, this was evedent from the 1st minute with the shape of the squad having a more solid look than the first half. The early periods of the second half had limited chances for both sides but as the half went on it was Rhos who looked the most likely and almost took the lead on the hour mark when Aaron Edwards turned his defender inside out only to hammer his shot into the side netting when a ball accros the area would have allowed Barry Torrance to tap into an empty net. Then against the run of play the home side almost broke the deadlock when the striker collected the ball on the edge of the area and unleased a great strike which smashed against the Rhos crossbar. With 15 minutes remaining Jamie Jones broke through down the left only to also hammer the side netting with the frustrated Torrance again looking in a better position to break the deadlock, but Rhos were not to be denied on 80mins with Mike Burke racing clear after an execllent through ball from debutant Jon Rush to slot home past the advancing keeper with what proved to be the winner. In summary an fantastic result considering all the tactical upheaval the management team had to deal with throughout the match which also included stand in centre half Mike Pugh having to play the final 15minutes up front due to suffering from blurred vision. Today on its own could have been enough to deserve another manager of the month award.
28th Aug	Rhayader Town	HGA	2-0	Today saw the Aelwyd complete the 3rd of our opening home league matches against fellow league newcomers Rhayader Town who were promoted to the league from the Spar Mid Wales league. Rhos unlike last week started the game really well and were unlucky not to take a first minute lead with the visiting keeper pulling off a world class fingertip save to deny Mike Pugh, Rhos continued to add the pressure and were again denied by the overworked keeper on five minutes when he blocked a Dave MacIntyre volley and managed to grab the loose ball before the advancing Rhos strikers were looking to convert. This high tempo of play continued and the home side must of won at least ten corners in tthe first 15minutes but failed to take the all important lead. The visitors after weathering the initial storm managed to get a foothold in the game and looked to build a few attacks themselves without really working McGee in the Rhos goal. HT 0-0 The second half began with the Rhos looking to repeat the high tempo play the 1st half brought but with the end product to improve. This is exactly what the lads did and took the lead on the 50minute mark when Mikey Burke capitalised of a goalkeeping error to pounce and slot the ball home. That goal saw Rhos grow in confidence and continued to put the pressure on which soon paid off again when Aaron Edwards raced through to convert with a neat finish from the edge of the area on 54 minutes. Though being two goals to the good Rhos still looked hungry and pressed the visiting defence back for long periods of play and also looked comfortable at the back. The visitors on a rare attack almost pulled a goal back with 10minutes remaining when the visiting striker found space in the six yard box only to head wide when he really should have scored. In summary an excellent performance by the lads who made the periods of play when we were well on top make the difference and a special mention to the performance of new signing Ricky Wrigh who never put a foot wrong all day. Seven points now from a possible nine puts us though early in the season sitting in 3rd place in the table, long may it continue starting next week with our 1st league away match against Ruthin Town.
21st Aug	Guilsfield	HGA	1-1	TODAYS MATCH WAS KINDLY SPONSORED BY THE MORETON INN,JOHNSTOWN This afternoon saw Rhos play there second home match on the trot with the squad looking to build on last weeks impressive start with another victory against a Guilsfield side who have been unbeaten in the last ten league games and ended last season as the leagues form side. The match began with Rhos struggling to really get going with the previous weeks tempo and pace lacking. The visitors on the other hand looked at the races from the first minute. Rhos though still unable to really get into the game were awarded a penalty on 15minutes when Mike Pugh who was making his first start for the club was upended in the box. Up stepped Wayne Phillips to slot home. This goal seemed to spur the visitors on and a number of quality passages of play were finally awarded on the half hour mark when they broke with pace down the left for the winger to find the striker in acres of space who smashed the ball home to level the scoring. Within a minute the visitors had breached the defensive line again with the centre forward racing clear only to be denied by an outstanding save from McGee in the Rhos goal. HT 1-1 The second half started with the home side given strict instructions to raise the tempo and that is exactly what the did. Rhos looked a shadow of the team that played the first half with the visitors pinned back for long periods of play but without really working the visiting keeper. Wiith 15minutes remaining Rhos almost regained the lead when captain Mike Parry powered a header against the crossbar. Numerous chance were created in the remainder of the game with the visitors playing deeper and deeper. Rhos were then reduced to ten men with five minutes remaining when youngster Josh Russell was dismissed for arguing with the officials but though being a man down it was still the home side who pinned the Guils back and numerous balls punted into the box in the final minutes were unfortunatly not converted. In summary this match was definatly a 'game of two halfs' which could and probably should have been won given the chances we created in the second period. We now need to continue our second period performance from the 1st minute next week when we are again at home to fellow league newcomers Rhayader Town.
14th Aug	Flint Town United	HGA	2-1	TODAYS MATCH WAS KINDLY SPONSORED BY WISHY WASHY Finally after 13 long years the club this afternoon played there 1st league match in the 2nd tier of Welsh football with the visit of the much fancied Flint Town United to Ponciau banks. Rhos began the match with no fewer than eight out of the starting eleven players making their league debuts and looked more hungry all over the park from the very 1st minute. Rhos deservidly took the lead after 5 minutes when Aaron Edwards stooped to head home from close range following an excellent corner delivered by youngster Josh Russell. Rhos could have doubled there lead soon after only for Mikey Burke to be denied by a neat save from the visiting custodian. With Rhos continuously pumping the ball into the Flint area seemingly at ease in search of the second goal they were caught on the counter attack but the ever alert Adam McGhee in the Rhos goal was mor ethan upto the task in hand when bravely collecting at the visiting strikers feet, this scare was an early warning that at this level you only need to switch off for one minute and you will more often than not get punished for it. The remainder of the half was played with the majority of play in the Flint half with numerous chances created but without really working the visiting keeper at all. HT 1-0 The second half started with the visitors obviously under strict instructions to raise there tempo in the game but the Rhos defensive line which was excellently mashalled by captain Mike Parry stood firm. Rhos almost doubled there lead on a number of occasions with the visitors now over committing players to get back into the game with both Jamie Jones and Mike Burke going close. With 15 minutes remaining a long punt up the field by the Flint defence paid off with the prolific Shaun Beck racing onto the ball to give home keeper McGhee no chance with a delightful chip, this setback could easily have knocked the hoem side for six but it was not the case as the players dusted themselves down rolled there sleeves up and regained the lead almost immediatly when Josh Russel raced down the left side and delivered an excellent ball into the Flint area which saw defender Simon Thelwell divert the ball into is own net as he attempted to prevent Aaron Edwards from a simple headed goal. With Flint now forced to throw caution to the wind the remainder of the game was virtually all played in Rhoses defensive third with a number of crosses being pumped in but were excellently dealt with by the solid looking McGhee and his defensive quartet, Flint almost grabbed an undeserved point in the last minute when a free kick from the edge of the area was deflected and just flew wide of the post. In summary an excellent display of quality, fitness andgrit from each and every member of the squad with it being virtually impossible to name a man of the match as every player played their part. To start the league season with a win and more importantly with the manner of the victory but no doubt we will need to take this level of performance and desire into every match for the entire season.