Llandudno
Junction 3 Denbigh Town
2 (after extra time)
FA Wales
Cup – 2nd Round
It was late
November 2008 when Mark Jones of Prestatyn Town thought he’d try a new
attendance
boosting concept for his club.
With a home
game against GAP Connahs Quay on the Friday night unlikely to send the North
Wales football followers into a frenzy, he advertised the fact that if any
neutrals (groundhoppers) wanted to visit the game, just drop him a line in
advance and you could have free admission.
Quite a
good number took him up on the idea, boosting the attendance, and not one to
miss out on a freebie, I thought it would be really sensible to drive from
Sheffield to Prestatyn on a Friday night, knowing I was also at work the
following morning!
I met Mark,
he was doing various roles at the club, tannoy announcer, press officer,
programme editor and club shop manager, and it was while he was manning the
shop that I caught up with him and purchased a few wares.
I’m a
programme collector, but I’ve taken it more seriously in the last couple of
years thanks to sorting out a new storage system which allows much easier
access to them. Consequently I’ve gone out and bought more, while I’ve also
spent more time searching items out on the internet. Searching the web also
takes you to places that you didn’t know existed, one of which that I stumbled
across was Seaside Programmes from Prestatyn, and they traded out of a High
Street shop called The Beautiful Game. It turned out the proprieter was Mark
Jones, of Prestatyn Town fame.
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| Llandudno Junction's Arriva Stadium |
I had
Llandudno Junction on the radar for this season thanks to their promotion to
the Cymru Alliance, so it was always my intention on the day of the game to
call into the shop, so with that day approaching, I dropped Mark an email, he
remembered me (he says!), and the good news was that he was going to be open as
I was passing through.
Wow, what a
place he has. Located in a perfectly central spot on the High Street, its set
out really nicely, with half of the shop dedicated to club and country
memorabilia and fashion items, the other half is devoted to what I would call
some of the more ‘anoraky’ stuff such as programmes and books.
I homed in
on the programmes, and it was clear Mark knew what the discerning collector was
looking for, fifties, sixties and seventies league, Internationals and Finals,
rare non-league, British clubs in Europe with Welsh clubs a specialist subject,
it was a goldmine, you could spend hours browsing despite how well set out it
was, and in fairness the prices were very reasonable indeed. I picked up a fair
few, the kind of things I could spend years looking for without success, so I
would urge anyone passing the area who has an interest in not only programmes
but any sort of football memorabilia, to get in touch with Mark and pay a
visit.
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| Great View From The Decking! |
I reached
Llandudno Junction just after 1pm for a 2pm kick off. Now here’s a question,
most railway stations are named after the places they are located in, but is
Llandudno Junction the only place that’s named after the railway station?
It’s not
been a great season for Junction, they sit bottom of the league with ten
defeats and a draw so far, the transition to the second tier of Welsh football
has been a tough one. But today it was the Welsh FA Cup and it gave them the
opportunity for some respite. Not only that, today’s opponents Denbigh Town
were also the visitors a couple of weeks ago in the League Cup, and that saw
Junction record a fine 4-0 victory.
The Arriva
Stadium is located just off the roundabout that leads down to the railway
station, a mere stones throw from the A55 that leads to the Conwy Tunnel to the
West and Chester to the East. They have had to invest in the ground to achieve
promotion, which came about when last season’s Welsh Alliance Champions,
Glantraeth, turned it down, so second placed Junction were given the option.
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| Conwy Castle |
As you approach
the ground down a narrow driveway you come to the tea bar, committee area and
dressing rooms, while just beyond that is the pay box. You enter behind the
goal which has seen a small covered area erected. The ground has had to be
fully enclosed while a small seated stand has been dropped in on the half way
line between the two dugouts. One end is inaccessible while the final third of
one side is also out of bounds. Looking out West from the stand side, you can
see Conwy Castle in the distance, and the mountains, it’s an impressive
backdrop.
As for the
game, Denbigh took the lead inside the first three minutes but Junction rallied
and were level by half time. Denbigh took the game to the hosts in the second period
and took the lead from the penalty spot, and had it not been for some wayward
finishing they had the chances to put the game out of sight.
That was to
prove costly and in the closing moments through some late Junction pressure,
they equalised with a cheeky lob over the goalkeeper. This brought extra time
into the proceedings, as the light began to fade and the cool air got colder.
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| Up The Junction |
However,
Junction bundled the ball home from close range in the first period, and
despite some fierce pressure from Denbigh, it was the hosts who had the chance
to increase their lead from the penalty spot but the Denbigh goalkeeper made a
great save low to his right.
Denbigh’s
pressure continued but Junction hung on to make it through to the next round,
and I for one was pleased for them because they came across as a very friendly
club, and they do need some good results to boost confidence going into an
important spell of league games.
A really
entertaining game, and a really good day out thanks to Mark and Llandudno
Junction FC. I would recommend a visit to see both, and as for Llandudno
Junction, it’s much more than just a railway station, but which came first is
still anyone’s guess!
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| Penalty - About To Be Missed |
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