FIVE-STAR LILYWHITES CATCH FIRE

RHYL 5 (Pearson 10, C Williams 14, Connolly 19 & 32, Turner 36)
BALA TOWN 2 (Toner 37 & 64)
WELSH PREMIER LEAGUE - FEBRUARY 24, 2010
ONE of the finest goals seen at Belle Vue in this and many a season put Rhyl on their way to a brilliant win over in-form Bala tonight.
Defender Andrew Pearson, who has made a major impression since joining the Lilies in January, broke at pace from the back, played a slick one-two with Mark Connolly, then lashed into the roof of the net with a finish any striker would have been proud of.
Goals of this quality in the Welsh Premier are extremely rare, indeed how many defenders at any level of football are capable of scoring such a stunner!
Pearson's 10th minute wonder effort sparked a five-goal spell in 26 minutes which saw Rhyl play their best football since taking Bangor apart in the first half at Belle Vue last September.
And make no mistake - Bala are no mugs. There are a few who fancied the Lakesiders to cause an upset this evening, especially as they had recorded five wins in a row and fielded their strongest available team - contrary to rumour beforehand that manager Colin Caton might put out a weakened side with a Welsh Cup tie coming up at the weekend.
In the 14th minute the Lilywhites went 2-0 up when Pearson delivered a low centre from the right into Rob Turner whose shot was blocked, but the ball ran to an unmarked Chris Williams who fired in at the back post.
Five minutes later Connolly broke from midfield and the Bala defence backed off as the home side's top scorer advanced and struck an absolute beauty from 20 yards which dipped in under the crossbar. What a way to reach 50 competitive goals for Rhyl.
It was not just the goals, but the quality of the goals and the classiness of the attacking play which had the home crowd in raptures.
Rhyl should have made it four on 21 minutes when Connolly somehow headed wide from a Tyrone Kirk cross, then only an heroic stop from Town keeper Leon Bimpson denied Chris Williams from point blank range.
Bala finally managed to break out just past the half-hour when midfield wizard Ricky Evans picked out John Toner in space, but the veteran striker's shot flew straight at keeper Jack Cudworth.
A minute later Rhyl were rampant again, Turner slipping a lovely ball to Connolly who lifted the ball over the advancing keeper with the aid of a deflection to record his 24th goal of the campaign.
It was soon 5-0 when that man Pearson linked brilliantly with Chris Williams before hitting the low cross which saw Turner notch his fourth goal in six starts.
Within a minute Toner reduced the deficit for Bala and it could have been 5-2 prior to the break but for Cudworth's fantastic acrobatic save from an Evans volley.
HALF-TIME: 5-1.
It was always going to be difficult to match the tempo of the first half after the break and as a result the quality of play deteriorated and chances dried up at both ends.
Cudworth again pulled off a brilliant tip over from a Toner header on 51 minutes as Bala upped their game.
The Lakesiders did notch a second in the 64th minute when Warren Duckett's pass released Toner to score, but play should have been brought back for a foul on Connolly.
There were just a few flutters in the home hearts, but for all their possession Bala could not create another clear chance for the rest of the game.
Rhyl defended solidly, everyone did their jobs and in the closing stages the Lilies could have added to the total.
Substitute Greg Strong, who played the last 20 minutes up front with Russell Courtney, fired weakly at keeper Bimpson from a good position and there were calls for a penalty when Matthew Williams went down in trying to reach a deft Gareth Owen pass.
Rhyl moved back up to third and are now the top scorers in the Welsh Premier League!

RHYL: Cudworth, Pearson, Owens, Ojapah, Dowling, Owen, C Williams, Connolly, Turner (Strong 69), M Williams, Kirk (Courtney 46). Subs: Heenan, Pritchard.

MATCH FACTS
GOALS: Rhyl 5 Bala 2
ATTEMPTS: Rhyl 15 Bala 12
ON TARGET: Rhyl 9 Bala 6
CORNERS: Rhyl 4 Bala 5
YELLOW CARDS: Rhyl 0 Bala 1
RED CARDS: Rhyl 0 Bala 0
ATTENDANCE: 371
LO MAN OF THE MATCH:
Andrew Pearson (Rhyl)
One wonder goal, two assists, great defending.

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)
Nov 7 - Llanelli (WPL-h) 0-0
Nov 10 - Gap Connah's Quay (a-LCSF 1st leg) 1-2 (Connolly)
Nov 14 - Caersws (WPL-h) 3-1 (Connolly, Hunt 2)
Nov 17 - Gap Connah's Quay (h-LCSF 2nd leg) 4-0 (Connolly, Hunt, Smith 2)
Nov 22 - The New Saints (a-WPL) 0-4
Nov 29 - Haverfordwest County (a-WPL) 1-2 (Strong)
Dec 5 - Aberystwyth Town (a-WPL) 2-2 (Leah, Hunt)
Dec 12 - Technogroup Welshpool (h-WPL) 4-1 (Leah, C Williams, Hunt, Owen)
Dec 16 - Colwyn Bay (a-NWCC) 1-0 (Stones)
Dec 26 - Prestatyn Town (a-WPL) 0-0
Jan 2 - Prestatyn Town (h-WPL) 1-1 (Leah)
Jan 16 - Port Talbot (a-WPL) 1-2 (Turner)
Jan 23 - Gap Connah's Quay (h-WPL) 4-1 (Connolly, Horan, M Williams 2)
Jan 26 - Airbus UK Broughton (h-WPL) 2-1 (M Williams pen, Turner)
Jan 30 - Pontardawe Town (h-WCR4) 7-0 (Leah 3, Connolly 2, Turner, Kirk)
Feb 7 - Bangor City (a-WPL) 1-3 (M Williams pen)
Feb 14 - Newtown (h-WPL) 4-2 (Strong, M Williams, Owens, Kirk)
Feb 20 - Porthmadog (a-WPL) 2-0 (Strong, Connolly)
Feb 24 - Bala Town (h-WPL) 5-2 (Pearson, C Williams, Connolly 2, Turner)

GOALS (91): 24 - Mark Connolly; 15 - Matthew Williams; 13 - Lee Hunt; 6 - John Leah, Greg Strong; 5 - Chris Williams; 4 - Tyrone Kirk, Paul Smith, Rob Turner; 2 - George Horan, Phil Doran, Gareth Owen; 1 - Martyn Naylor, Greg Stones, Andy Owens, Andrew Pearson.