TT No.196: Andrew Gallon - Sat 16th February 2008; Prestatyn Town v Lex XI; Cymru Alliance;               Res: 5-0; Att: 120 (h/c); Admission: £3; Programme: £1 (64pp); FGIF Match Rating: 3*

Let there be light! That's the fervent hope of everyone connected with Prestatyn Town as they look to secure a coveted place in the Welsh Premier League for next season. The runaway Cymru Alliance leaders are seeking  planning permission from Denbighshire County Council for the floodlights they need to meet the ground grading requirements of the principality's blue riband competition. Problem is, some of the residents of the semis which fringe the ground's Bastion Gardens touchline aren't happy about the idea. It's an action replay of the Marske United affair. To add insult to injury, the ringleader of the objectors is an embittered former Town committee member. All, however, is not lost. The club do not expect to meet the WPL's May grading deadline and have formulated a cunning contingency plan. The Seasiders have approached both Colwyn Bay and Flint Town United with a view to groundsharing until the planning fight over lights is won. A temporary move to Bay's Llanelian Road home looks the most likely outcome, though even that is not a foregone conclusion. As everyone reading this will know, Colwyn Bay have a bit of previous with the Football Association of Wales, who may need a good deal of  sweet-talking before they accept the proposal. On the plus side, the council, possibly mindful of the good publicity to be garnered from having Prestatyn's football club in the high-profile WPL, is keen to do its bit.    Town have played at their present ground since 1970, when the old one, also on Bastion Road, was razed to make way for houses. Since then, it has evolved - slowly, but surely - into a pleasant enclosure. Located a quarter of a mile from the high street and a couple of hundred yards from the seafront, the ground is in the corner of a broad, grassy sward. Access is down Bastion Gardens and then sharp left through a small, unmade car park. A wooden pay hut guards the main entrance. Foundations are in place for the turnstile block Town also need to meet WPL requirements. The buildings at this near end have been extended considerably over the years. The dressing rooms are to the immediate right. The players access the pitch down a flagged diagonal path separated by a fence of white concrete posts and red railings, mirroring the barrier round the pitch. A deep, propped cover extends out towards the playing surface. The other buildings contain the bar, social club and refreshment hatch. There are a number of fascinating old black and white team photographs and press cuttings on the walls. A mixture of roof lines might have spoiled this end, but liberal use of red and white paint on the fascias ties it all together very nicely. Behind this end is Pontin's Holiday Village, complete with a children's abseil tower and some rather drab looking blocks of flats which are in reality holiday chalets.    The sole stand is on the seaward side of the ground. This runs between the penalty areas, and the near two-thirds are given over to three rows of blue plastic tip-up seats. These boast some history because they came from the old Maine Road stadium of Manchester City. The far third of the stand, which is fashioned from blue corrugated metal sheeting and has a breeze block front wall painted white, shelters hardstanding. The club want to extend this stand to fill the length of the touchline, and footings are already in place at the near end. Behind the stand is an area of grass and then the ground of the town's cricket club. The rest of Bastion Road comprises open hardstanding. The troublesome semis (which came after the footballers pitched up here) run along the left-hand touchline, with their back gardens hard up against the club's land. There simply isn't any room to develop this part of the ground. There are two neat dugouts either side of the halfway line. Beyond this side, and the flat coastal strip on which the town is built, the terrain rises steeply to Prestatyn Hillside, a wonderful vantage point which affords view across the Point of Ayre and out to an offshore wind farm. A narrow area of grass, used for training,  lies beyond the western end. Strangely, in view of the difficult situation in which Prestatyn find themselves, this is floodlit. Another football pitch leads the eye up to Bastion Road, which links the town centre with the beach. Overall, it's a tidy, lovingly tended set-up - to be frank, just what I've come to expect from non-league clubs in North Wales. Not a sign of the sort of railway poster vandalism depicted in Philip Larkin's infamous (but amusing) poem about 'Sunny Prestatyn'!    Today's game, top versus bottom, has the look of a home banker. But for 43 minutes, Wrexham-based Lex XI give as good as they get. You can tell Prestatyn are the leaders because they move the ball around at speed and with confidence. The Lawmen, however, compensate for what they lack in technique by displaying grit and bloodymindedness. The result is a fascinating clash of styles. The visitors should have gone ahead in the 15th minute. Skipper Gary Penlington gets hold of a long ball from the back and flicks it through for Dale Hill to race clear, only for John Dunt to come out and make a good block. Prestatyn produce some nice one-touch stuff and a particularly cogent move ends with Jon Fisher-Cooke getting a clear sight of goal from 10 yards, but Gavin Pierce, down quickly, makes an excellent save. Penlington throws himself full length to head a good chance straight at Dunt before Prestatyn undo all Lex's hard work with a brace in the last two minutes of the half. Player-manager Neil Gibson lays the ball off to top scorer Steve Bowes and the 'Brummie Bomber' rams a firm 16-yarder high into the net. In stoppage time, Steve Hoult crosses low from the left and Bowes feeds Fisher-Cooke, who can't miss from 10 yards. And doesn't.    The second half is all Prestatyn who, given much more time and space, sparkle with the brilliance of the glorious February sun in its cloudless sky. Boss Gibson ends the game as a serious contest five minutes after the restart when he sweeps on to a Fisher-Cooke pass to prod the ball past the exposed Lex keeper, who gets a touch but can't prevent it crossing the line. From this point, it's merely a case of how many the Seasiders can score. Not, in truth, as many as they should have. Bowes (67) cracks in the fourth - his 24th goal of the season - with a sublime drive from just outside the penalty area and substitute Gareth Davies (86) does even better from the other side of the box with an angled effort which finds the top corner. In addition, Jamie Duffy clips the outside of a post, Pierce saves brilliantly with one hand to deny Fisher-Cooke and substitute Steve Harris sees an effort strike an upright and then roll agonisingly along the line. Lex, hopelessly outgunned and totally demoralised, are reduced to arguing among themselves. It's a humiliation. Even taking into account the quality of the opposition, Prestatyn, now 17 points clear after Llandudno were held at home by lowly Ruthin Town and needing five more wins to secure the title, look very good. And if there are two better players in the Cymru Alliance than Hoult and Bowes, I'd like to see them.    Crowds are a constant source of frustration for the Seasiders. Experienced press officer Mark Jones, who edits the club's excellent programme and will give any traveller the warmest of welcomes, says Prestatyn simply isn't a football town. An elderly population doesn't help. Of 17,000 souls, some 8,000 are OAPs. But Town don't have any problem running three teams (two open age, one youth), with nearly all their players living within three miles of the ground. That's quite a contrast to big-spending neighbours Rhyl, most of whose squad is made up of expensive imports. Jones, who also looks after the informative club website, is determined to see the floodlights battle through to the bitter end. Marske United, now in the Northern League, got there eventually and if singleminded  determination is any guide Prestatyn will, too. They deserve a break. Ground grading is the curse of the non-league game and if Town are denied a richly deserved promotion they run the risk of their star players seeking pastures new; looking for other clubs where they feel their ambitions can be realised. And that really would be a tragedy.

contributed on 17/02/08