WHEN SCROOGE BECAME SANTA

RHYL 3 (Stones 42, N Roberts 60, Horan 83)
NEWI CEFN DRUIDS 4 (Stewart 29 & 47, Evans 62, Holsgrove 70)
WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE - DEC 12, 2008
THE meanest defence in the Welsh Premier tonight showed true Christmas spirit by gift wrapping four goals to a Druids side which pulled off one of the shock victories of the season.
In terrible conditions at Belle Vue, the Ancients made the most of their counter attack opportunities to take all three points against the odds.
No doubt Llanelli manager Peter Nicholas will be rubbing his hands with glee. If his team win at Connah's Quay tomorrow, they will go level on points with the Lilywhites but with a game in hand.
Rhyl had shown vulnerability at home last month in suffering a shock home loss to Port Talbot. No-one expected lightning to strike twice in the shape of Druids - but it did.
In between, the Lilies had hammered Welshpool 7-1 and coasted to a 3-0 victory at TNS.
It seems Allan Bickerstaff's side could be developing a consistency problem; they are either magnificent or indifferent and will need to be more of the former if they are to sustain a title challenge.
Tonight's match started promisingly enough for the home side with Gareth Owen drilling inches wide within seconds of the kick-off.
Druids defended for their lives as Greg Stones' goalbound shot was blocked by Aled Rowlands and keeper Chris Mullock palmed a Josh Johnson 20-yarder behind for a corner.
Stones then flicked on Greg Strong's chip and Matthew Williams nipped in ahead of Mullock to steal the ball but from a very acute angle hit the woodwork.
Strong's shot was saved by Mullock and Williams did a 180 degree turn on the rebound but sliced wide.
Football can be a cruel game, though, and in the 29th minute the Druids grabbed a goal from their first clear-cut chance. A controversial free-kick given for a challenge on Ricky Evans was played quickly by Chris Marriott down the right into the path of unmarked danger man Mark Stewart who beat the advancing Lee Kendall with a cool finish.
Mullock dropped a Johnson cross but made amends by heroically blocking at the feet of Williams as Rhyl strove for an equaliser.
Finally, on 42 minutes the leveller came.
Craig Jones left Waynne Phillips on his backside down the left, his powerful run was halted by a well-timed tackle, the ball ran to Owen whose attempted chip over the defence was cleared, but Stones pounced and beat Mullock all ends up with a 20-yard left foot pearler which went in off a post. Half-time: 1-1.
Playing into the strong wind in the second period, Rhyl needed to be wary of an early Druids storm but the Lilywhites conceded within two minutes of the restart.
From a Mark Powell corner, Kendall kept out a Lee T Jones volley, but the ball ran free for Stewart to tap in his second.
Connolly drove just wide with a right footer before Rhyl squared the match on 60 minutes, Neil Roberts heading in an Owen corner.
Was this the platform for Rhyl to go on and win the match? No.
Druids came right back at the hosts and slack defending allowed Evans to find Stewart in acres of space. Stewart was denied his hat-trick by a Kendall save, but the ball ran to Evans who volleyed gleefully into a gaping goal. It was hard to believe what was going on.
The Lilies rallied and Craig Jones was twice foiled by fabulous Mullock saves, then.....disaster.
On 70 minutes a dreadful error from Connolly allowed substitute Kevin Holsgrove through and he showed great composure to make it 4-2.
At the other end, Mullock continued to be the hero, producing a double save from Williams and Johnson, the former's third attempt on the volley rolling agonisingly wide.
Druids could have had a fifth when Stewart was clean through again but this time Kendall produced a good stop.
The last 10 minutes were virtually one-way traffic as Rhyl laid siege to the Cefn goal.
The deficit was reduced to one in the 83rd minute when George Horan headed in an Owen corner, but heroic defending from numerous goalmouth scrambles in the closing stages ensured Druids held on for a vital win.

RHYL; Kendall, Connolly, Stones, Horan, Strong, Wilson, G Owen, M Williams, N Roberts, Johnson (C Owen 79), Jones. Unused subs: O'Neill, Heenan.

MATCH FACTS
GOALS - Rhyl 3 Druids 4
ATTEMPTS - Rhyl 24 Druids 13
ON TARGET - Rhyl 14 Druids 8
CORNERS - Rhyl 15 Druids 3
YELLOW CARDS - Rhyl 2 Druids 4
RED CARDS - Rhyl 0 Druids 0
ATTENDANCE - 584
LILYWHITES ONLINE MAN OF THE MATCH
Gareth Owen (Rhyl)
Class performance, gave his all for the cause.

RHYL FC RESULTS 2008/09
Aug 16, 2008 - Newtown (h-lge) 3-0 (Stones, N Roberts, Reed)
Aug 19, 2008 - Airbus UK Broughton (h-LC) 6-1 (C Owen 2, Jones 2, N Roberts, D Williams)
Aug 23, 2008 - Caernarfon Town (a-lge) 1-0 (Horan)
Aug 30, 2008 - Llanelli (h-lge) 5-1 (Strong, Reed, N Roberts 2, Johnson)
Sep 02, 2008 - Welshpool Town (h-LC) 1-2 (Jones)
Sep 05, 2008 - Porthmadog (a-lge) 3-0 (Reed, N Roberts, Jones)
Sep 13, 2008 - Haverfordwest County (h-lge) 2-0 (Reed 2)
Sep 21, 2008 - Neath Athletic (a-lge) 2-2 (Reed, Stones)
Sep 23, 2008 - Airbus UK Broughton (a-LC) 4-0 (C Owen 2, C Roberts, Johnson)
Sep 27, 2008 - Aberystwyth Town (h-lge) 0-0
Oct 04, 2008 - Castell Alun Colts (h-WC R2) 8-0 (Jones, Strong, Johnson, O'Neill, C Owen 2, M Williams 2)
Oct 07, 2008 - Welshpool Town (a-LC) 2-0 (C Roberts, C Owen)
Oct 10, 2008 - Connah's Quay Nomads (h-lge) 2-0 (Horan, O'Neill)
Oct 18, 2008 - Carmarthen Town (h-lge) 3-0 (G Owen, N Roberts 2)
Oct 28, 2008 - Bangor City (a-LC) 1-3 (aet) (Strong)
Nov 1, 2008 - Haverfordwest County (h-WC) 4-0 (Horan, M Williams, N Roberts 2)
Nov 8, 2008 - Caersws (h-lge) 3-1 (Wilson, Williams og, Johnson)
Nov 11, 2008 - Bangor City (a-lge) 2-0 (Reed, N Roberts)
Nov 15, 2008 - Port Talbot Town (h-lge) 2-3 (M Williams, G Owen)
Nov 21, 2008 - Airbus UK Broughton (a-lge) 3-1 (N Roberts, Strong, Jones)
Nov 29, 2008 - Technogroup Welshpool (h-lge) 7-1 (G Owen, M Williams 3, 1 pen, Stones, Wilson, Johnson)
Dec 6, 2008 - The New Saints (a-lge) 3-0 (N Roberts, Horan, Stones)
Dec 12, 2008 - NEWI Cefn Druids (h-lge) 3-4 (Stones, N Roberts, Horan)
GOALS (70): 13 - Neil Roberts; 7 - Matthew Williams, Carl Owen, Jamie Reed; 6 - Craig Jones; 5 - Josh Johnson, George Horan, Greg Stones; 4 - Greg Strong; 3 - Gareth Owen; 2 - Gareth Wilson, Chris Roberts, Paul O'Neill, 1 - Danny Williams, 1 own goal.