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TT No.144: Mike Latham - Sat 7 Feb 2009: Huws Gray-Fitlock Cymru |
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Matchday images (12) >view>
Llanfairpwll have moved to a new ground this season at Maes Eilian and a visit to this friendly club was high on my agenda for the season after an enjoyable visit to their old ground last Spring. With I am of the opinion that the groundhopper forms an instant opinion of a club based on the response from the home secretary on making a check call. Llanfairpwll score full marks with long-serving secretary Alun Mummery’s wife being ever so helpful as I rang in mid morning. Due to circumstances beyond my control I was in charge of my three collie dogs for the entire day and I was able to ascertain that I would be able to park the car close to the ground to enable me to keep an eye on them during the game either side of bracing walks on the beach. There was plenty of snow on the fields, hills and mountains of North Wales but the A55 was unusually quiet and The new ground was long in the making- around 15 years or so-but finally the funding was achieved to move here during the summer. As can be expected the facilities here are fairly basic at the moment but there is obvious potential. As an added bonus the new ground has much better drainage and there is a far better chance of getting games on, avoiding the late season back-log of games that has plagued the club in recent years. There are welcomes and there are welcomes- imagine my surprise on rolling up to be greeted by a friendly steward who collected my gate money, sold me a programme and said: “Ah, you must be the bloke from So the dogs had an added bonus- as well as two beach walks they had a dog’s eye view of this Cymru Alliance game while savouring a meat and potato pie apiece that I had bought en-route as a special treat. How good is that? Mr Mummery came over for a friendly chat and several other club officials were only too happy to talk about the club and their plans for the future. As things stand Llanfairpwll have erected the structure for a seated stand on the near-side but are currently awaiting for a contractor to install seats- the original contractor apparently went out of business. As a result they have to pay a fine each home game to the league. Behind the goal to the left-hand side is a metal structure that provides shelter from the elements. The rest of the ground is open standing, with grass banking providing an elevated view behind both goals. Llanfairpwll own the ground and in time hope to continue the improvements by installing permanent dressing rooms and a committee room instead of the current temporary buildings and install floodlights. After recent frost damage the tea bar was out of action- sad news on such a cold afternoon. The game itself was an exciting one, full of incident- Lex XI missing an early penalty and then taking a 2-0 with two goals in as many minutes from their impressive no7 Simon Smith. Though Richard Owen replied with a penalty Gareth Rhys Roberts’ superb lob over the ‘keeper five minutes after the re-start, appeared to have guaranteed the visitors from Wrexham all three points. But in an astonishing finale Llanfairpwll pulled back a goal through Kevin Frazer after a sweeping attack in the first minute of added-on time. In their next attack Phil Williams grabbed an unlikely equaliser to end the game in dramatic fashion Within half-an-hour of the final whistle I was enjoying a lovely walk amidst the windswept beauty of
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contributed (v2) on 07/02/09 |
