LILYWHITES MAKE HARD WORK OF IT

RHYL 4 (Connolly 17; M Williams 56; Strong 83; C Williams 90+3)
BRIDGEND TOWN 2 (Palladoni 47 pen; Wattleworth 60)
WELSH CUP ROUND THREE
WHAT looked like being a stroll in the park at half time for Rhyl ended up a real struggle as they needed two goals in the last 10 minutes to see off plucky 10-man Bridgend.
The match could not have started worse for the Welsh League underdogs as after just 15 seconds Atif Bashir was red carded when as the last defender he fouled Matthew Williams when the striker had a clear run on goal.
The resulting free-kick was fiercely struck by Martyn Naylor but Town hero Neil Collins produced a great reaction stop.
Rhyl were relentless and Mark Connolly was foiled by a fine Collins save before the in-form midfielder headed in his 15th goal of the season from a Chris Williams corner after 17 minutes.
Collins refused to be beaten again before the break, performing marvels to deny Naylor, John Leah, Connolly and Greg Stones, while a Matthew Williams screamer missed by inches and player boss Greg Strong fluffed a close range sitter.
The home fans were expecting a deluge from the Welsh Premier champions after the break, but they had a rude awakening two minutes following the restart when Stones brought down the pacy Mike Hartley in the area and Gianluca Palladoni coolly converted the resultant penalty.
Rhyl rallied and Leigh Pratt cleared off the line from Phil Doran, then substitute Gareth Owen drilled just wide seconds after coming on before in the 56th minute a great run down the right and byeline cross from Tyrone Kirk set up Matthew Williams to make it 2-1.
Owen's fabulous swerving volley was headed off the line by Palladoni before a rapid Bridgend counter attack saw Vinnie Wattleworth show tremendous pace to outdo Naylor and apply a great finish on the hour to level the tie.
The home team turned up the pressure again, Matthew Williams having a goalbound lob cleared before rattling the post with a right foot thunderbolt.
Pratt was yet again on the line to thwart Chris Williams, but on 78 minutes Bridgend could have taken a dramatic lead when Raith Plant left Stones standing and was one-on-one with keeper James Coates who saved well with his legs.
Another Pratt goal-line clearance frustrated the Lilies again before finally in the 83rd minute Strong's bullet header from a Naylor corner made it 3-2.
Matthew Williams flicked against the woodwork in injury time before setting up Chris Williams to notch Rhyl's fourth. It should have been an easy finish for Williams but he made hard work of it - firing straight at the keeper but the ball fortunately went in.
The general feeling from the Bridgend camp after the game was they were hard done to, but in all honesty they should have been dead and buried by half time.
The match stats tell the story - Rhyl had 37 goal attempts with 21 on target, including five cleared off the line and two hitting the woodwork, while Bridgend managed just eight efforts on goal.
However, it is only goals that count and that is why the visitors were able to stay in the tie and why Rhyl should not feel too good about themselves for failing to kill them off.

RHYL: Coates, Naylor, Doran, Stones, Strong, Leah, C Williams, Connolly, M Williams, Smith (Owen 54), Kirk. Unused subs: Horan, Heenan, Dowling, Pritchard.

MATCH FACTS
GOALS - Rhyl 4 Bridgend 2
ATTEMPTS - Rhyl 37 Bridgend 8
ON TARGET - Rhyl 21 Bridgend 3
CORNERS - Rhyl 13 Bridgend 2
YELLOW CARDS - Rhyl 1 Bridgend 3
RED CARDS - Rhyl 0 Bridgend 1
ATTENDANCE - 302
LO MAN OF THE MATCH
John Leah (Rhyl)
Never wasted a pass

RHYL FC RESULTS 2009/10
Aug 15 - Carmarthen Town (WPL - home) 2-1 (Strong, M Williams)
Aug 21 - Airbus UK Broughton (WPL - away) 2-2 (Hunt 2)
Aug 25 - Airbus UK Broughton (LC - a) 2-1 (Hunt, Owen)
Aug 29 - Port Talbot (WPL - h) 2-0 (M Williams, Hunt)
Sep 1 - Prestatyn Town (LC - h) 2-1 (Naylor, Connolly)
Sep 5 - Gap Connah's Quay (WPL - a) 2-0 (M Williams, Connolly)
Sep 11 - Bangor City (WPL - h) 5-1 (Hunt 2, M Williams pen, C Williams, Connolly)
Sep 19 - Newtown (WPL - a) 4-2 (M Williams 2, Strong, Connolly)
Sep 22 - Airbus (LC - h) 4-0 (Connolly 2, Kirk, Doran)
Sep 26 - Porthmadog (WPL - h) 4-0 (Connolly 3, Kirk)
Oct 3 - Llanfairpwll (WC-a) 3-1 (Connolly 2, Smith)
Oct 6 - Prestatyn Town (LC-a) 3-0 (Connolly, Hunt, C Williams)
Oct 9 - Bala Town (WPL-a) 4-0 (Smith, Doran, Horan, Hunt)
Oct 17 - Neath (WPL-a) 0-2
Oct 23 - Elements Cefn Druids (WPL-a) 1-1 (M Williams)
Oct 27 - Porthmadog (LCQF-a) 4-1 (Connolly 2, M Williams 2)
Oct 31 - Bridgend Town (WC-h) 4-2 (Connolly, M Williams, Strong, C Williams)

GOALS: 15 - Mark Connolly; 10 - Matthew Williams; 8 - Lee Hunt; 3 - Greg Strong, Chris Williams; 2 - Tyrone Kirk, Paul Smith, Phil Doran; 1 - Gareth Owen, Martyn Naylor, George Horan.

RECORD (all competitions):
PLAYED: 17 WON: 14 DRAWN: 2 LOST: 1 GOALS SCORED: 48 GOALS CONCEDED: 15