On a very wet and windy afternoon, Flint Mountain made the journey to Wrexham to face Rhostyllen in the first round of the Horace Wynne Cup. The Mountain Men were looking to replicate the cup run of last year, which saw the team reach the final, only to be beaten by a high flying Cefn Albion side. Flint Mountain were able to welcome captain Craig Jones back into the starting line up after being unavailable last week, as well as Shane Owens. Jones slotted into his usual central midfield role, alongside Alex Millington and Mountain debutant Lewis Evans. Owens returned to the side on the left wing, in place of the missing Keiron Moore.

Rhostyllen began the half very determined and took advantage of sloppy defending from the whole Mountain side to open up a three goal lead inside the first ten minutes. Firstly, right back Ryan Bradley was beaten before the striker coolly rounded Mountain goalkeeper Ricky Bennett and slotted into the empty net. Just minutes later, Mountain two down, as Rhostyllen fired home from the edge of the area after the ball was not cleared, before they made it 3 minutes later.

The early goal blitz had destroyed the spirits of the Mountain side, but they could have been level, if not for the Rhostyllen goalkeeeper, who made two good saves to deny Mountain. On the half hour mark, it looked as though Mountain had found their rhythm, but Rhostyllen pounced again to make it four. Ryan Jones, at left back in this game, beat two men before his wayward pass was intercepted by Rhostyllen and they drove into the penalty area and beat Bennett. Mountain were still fighting and with time running out in the half, had pulled a goal back. After winning the ball in the Mountain half, Ryan Jones played a ball in the channel for striker Lee Messham to chase. After collecting the ball, Messham then beat his marker for pace and smashed the ball past the keeper and high into the net.

Rhostyllen started the second half in much the same way as the first, as the capitalised once more from Mountain's sloppiness by grabbing a fifth goal. At this point, Mountain introduced Aaron Austin in place of Ryan Bradley, in a switch to a 4-4-2 formation. This change was swiftly followed by the introduction of James Tapley and Mountain manager Stuart Buxton, in place of Alex Millington and Shane Owens. These changes initially made no difference, as Rhostyllen made it six. With ten minutes to go, Mountain suddenly sprung into life. The ball was played to Austin, who turned a played the ball to strike partner Messham. Messham ran at the defence, where a defender looked to have won the ball. The ball fell kindly to Messham, who then coolly slotted the ball past the goalkeeper. Within a minute, Mountain had their third. After the ball was won on the left hand side, it was played across field to winger Chris Layne. Layne used his pace to drive from his own half up to the byline, where his cross found Messham. Messham controlled the ball before tapping home to complete his hat trick.

The comeback was not to be, however, as Rhostyllen then added a seventh goal late on to condemn Mountain to defeat and put them out of the Horace Wynne Cup. Next up for Flint Mountain is a rematch against Rhostyllen, this time in the league. Mountain will be hoping for a better result on this occasion, to kick start their faltering league campaign.

Man of the Match: Lee Messham. Messham's tireless running was eventually rewarded with a well taken hat trick, in an otherwise forgettable game for Flint Mountain.

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