Taking a break from league action this weekend, Flint Mountain were back at Wat's Dyke Way as the away team, with local rivals CPD Sychdyn the opposition in the first round of the Queensferry Sports President's Cup. With Richie Hughes and Tom Heppleston unavailable this week, manager Rob Thelwell welcomed Jake Williams back into the starting line up, whilst Dylan Roberts was rewarded for his performances from the bench in the last two weeks with his first start. The only other change saw sixteen year old George Jones make his full debut, in place of Kieran Farr, who dropped to the substitutes bench whilst recovering from injury. Also on the substitutes bench was Ryan Worrall, who recently signed for the club after several injury plagued years.

It was Sychdyn who enjoyed the better of the play in the opening exchanges, but Flint Mountain dealt them an early blow with a goal from their first attack in the sixth minute. Picking the ball up on the left, left back Shane Owens delivered a teasing ball into the penalty area, where Jake Williams was able to direct the ball back across goal with his head and past the Sychdyn goalkeeper.

Sychdyn continued to threaten from their set pieces, but goalkeeper Ryan Roberts was not forced into any noteworthy saves after solid defending from all of the Mountain backline. The referee also made life difficult for both sides, not allowing play to flow and punishing any small infractions. The half continued without too much incident, before Sychdyn missed a golden opportunity to equalise just before half time. From another set piece, Sychdyn lofted the ball into the area, but the effort on goal trickled just wide of Roberts' left hand post.

At half time, manager Rob Thelwell made a change, replacing the energetic Dylan Roberts with the returning Sean Evans. Evans moved into his usual central midfield role, with goalscorer Jake Williams taking Roberts' place on the wing. Sychdyn again started the half with intent, but once again Flint Mountain struck early in the half as Jimmy McGlone pulled a goal out of nowhere. Picking the ball up outside the area on the right, McGlone got past his marker before curling the ball past the stranded Sychdyn goalkeeper, with the outside of his boot.

On the hour mark, Sychdyn got themselves into the game after winning a penalty. Left back Shane Owens tracked his man but brought him down as he burst into the area. From the resulting spot kick, the ball struck the cross bar, before falling to a Sychdyn player, who had easy task of tapping into the empty net. The penalty also signalled the end of the game for Ryan Roberts, who was forced off with an injury. Taking the place of Roberts between the sticks was Ricky Bennett, who has proved to be a versatile player this season, playing both in goal and outfield. Bennett was quickly called into action, beating away a low shot towards the bottom corner.

As the game entered the final stages, Flint Mountain put the final nail in the coffin of Sychdyn's cup ambitions with a decisive third goal. After clearing a long ball forward in the Mountain area, the Sychdyn defender missed his clearance under pressure from Lee Messham, who then raced clear. One on one with the goalkeeper, Messham composed himself and calmly slotted past him and into the net. With time running out, there was still time for a cameo debut appearance for Ryan Worrall, who replaced Jimmy McGlone, who was suffering from the effects of a clash of heads.

Elsewhere, there were wins today for Aston Park Rangers, Offa Athletic, Halkyn United, Mynydd Isa Spartans, Mold Town United and Cefn Mawr Rangers, whilst Tanyfron received a bye. Flint Mountain will now look forward to the draw for the next round, which will be made in a couple of weeks time.

Next up for Flint Mountain is the visit of Offa Athletic to Wat's Dyke Way in a return to league action. This will be the first time the clubs have faced off since the controversial Halkyn Cup semi final in May. Offa have had a mixed start to the season, with three wins from their opening six games. We hope you can join us.

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