Fresh from the disappointment in the President's Cup last week, Flint Mountain returned to league action this week against league new boys Ewloe Spartans. The Mountain made two changes from the evening fixture last week, as Tom Smith and Lewis Powell returned to the starting line up in place of the missing Ryan Jones and Sean Wilkes. On the substitutes bench was Paul Hughes, who recently signed for the club from Flint Town United.

The game started in the worst way possible for the Mountain. After conceding an early free kick in a central position, Ewloe took the dead ball quickly, catching the entire squad off guard and firing the ball into the net before the side had got set. Things quickly went from bad to worse, as Ewloe doubled their lead, still inside the opening ten minutes of the game. Ewloe played a long ball forward towards their striker. Mountain goalkeeper Ricky Bennett quickly raced out to clear the ball, reaching the ball before the striker. Bennett, however, missed the ball and was then forced to try and retrieve it. Despite the ball reaching the penalty area, he did not collect it, allowing the striker the easiest of opportunities to score into his open net. The opening minutes also saw an early yellow card for Scott Forrester, who was penalised for a late challenge, whilst out of position and Ewloe attacking.

Mountain then tried to fight back and took control of the game. Keiron Moore, standing in up front, drilled a low shot towards goal which was well saved by the Ewloe goalkeeper. Mountain were getting joy down the wings and forced several free kicks and corners as Ewloe struggled to cope. Despite this, nobody was able to capitalise on these as several headed chances only flew wide of the posts. Midfielder Alex Millington also saw a headed effort cleared off the line. As Mountain were dominating, Ewloe managed to further their lead, against the run of play. From a corner, Bennett's punched clearance was poor, falling straight to the Ewloe striker, who again had an open goal to easily tap home into.

After half an hour, Flint Mountain finally found the breakthrough they were looking for and pulled a goal back. From a throw in, winger Lee Messham delivered a teasing ball to the far post which was met by right back Tom Smith, who managed to get the ball over the line, despite the goalkeeper getting his hand to the ball. Not long after, Mountain had a second just before half time. After Messham had won a free kick on the corner of the penalty area, Lewis Powell delivered a ball into the penalty area. The Ewloe defender could only head the ball backwards and into the path of Messham, who made no mistake from close range.

As the second half started, Flint Mountain could have found an equaliser but the chance was not clear cut. The chance must have shocked Ewloe, as they began to put pressure on the Mountain defence. Ewloe had strong shouts for a goal turned away by the referee, as a shot cannoned off the Mountain crossbar and onto the line before bouncing away from goal. Their disappointment was short lived though, as they took advantage of poor defending to score a fourth goal. After breaking down the right, the striker evaded several players before firing low into the corner.

Despite Ewloe increasing their lead, Mountain were still not done and quickly found a third goal to keep within reach. Left back Shane Owens played a through ball into the channel where Craig Jones chased through into the penalty area. Jones then played the ball across to Keiron Moore, who kept his composure with a placed shot into the bottom corner. After Lewis Powell had then complained of picking up a slight injury, Paul Hughes was then introduced to replace him, making his debut in the process.

With time running out and Mountain applying masses of pressure, Ewloe again caught Mountain against the run of play with their final goal. After running into the corner to close out the game, Ewloe somehow managed to get into the penalty area and fire home another low shot, in a similar way to the first, just before the final whistle.

Next up for Flint Mountain sees another encounter against GAP Connah's Quay Reserves, who have triumphed in both of the previous games this season. The game will also see both sides look to progress into the next round of the Premier Cup.

Man of the Match: Lee Messham. The winger was a constant threat to Ewloe, bagging a goal and an assist in the first half of the team