Llany were dependant on the outcome of Kerry Reserves against Morda, which was taking place at the same time and when Morda ran out 3-1 winners it became clear that a single point was enough to send the border side up.

Nathan Bartram made three changes from the side which lost heavily against Berriew Reserves the week before as Mike Edwards, Lewys Curteis and Callum Whyte returned to the starting line up. Matt Prince continued in goal, with Sam Roberts dropping back to right back and Simon Botley and Josh Hayward in the centre of the defence. Lewis Williams was left back, with Jack Roberts and Lee Rogers in central midfield. Curteis, Whyte, Edwards and George Jones formed a fluid and interchangeable front four which was given a licence to try and express themselves by their manager.

Llany knew what was required of them as the game got underway, but they were under pressure from their hosts early on and needed Botley to intervene when a corner threatened to swing directly into the goal. Llany’s skipper got his head to the ball from about a yard out and managed to clear the danger and he was soon involved at the other end when a corner was returned to Whyte on the left wing. He dropped his shoulder and beat his man before fizzing the ball across the goal. Botley had read it and stretched to meet it at the back post, but could only manage to put his volley a couple of inches past the post, when anything on target would have opened the scoring for his side.

However, Welshpool continued to pose a threat of their own, and went close when their striker latched on to a bouncing ball that was pumped over the top of the defence. He headed the ball over Prince who had charged out to the edge of his penalty area, but fortunately for the visitors the ball landed a few feet wide of the post. He had an even better chance minutes later when he had been played in for a one on one, but was unable to hit the target when it came to getting his shot away.

It was to be the home side that would open the scoring not long after these chances went begging and it was a goal which Llany contributed more than their fair share to. Prince rolled the ball out to Sam Roberts as they looked to launch a counter attack, but his touch let him down and allowed their left winger to steal the ball from thirty yards out. With Prince way off his line he smashed it goalwards with his left foot. The ball cannoned off the crossbar and down, before Prince flapped it away after it had bounced up and hit the bar again.

It looked to most people as though it had crossed the line, but there was no whistle from the referee and so the race was on for the loose ball between Hayward and a Welshpool striker. The striker won and Hayward brought him tumbling down and the referee was quick to point to the penalty spot and award Hayward a yellow card. The Welshpool player sent Prince the wrong way and Llany were left to come from behind, having started the game on the back of three straight losses.

Llany responded well with Jack Roberts slicing a free kick off target, before Whyte forced the goalkeeper to tip the ball over for a corner when he hit the target from his deep set piece when everybody was expecting to see a cross.

Their efforts were rewarded before half time as they grabbed themselves an equaliser of the highest quality to make it one all. Man of the match Williams picked up the ball on the left wing, before looking up and hitting a staggering cross field ball with the outside of his right foot. It dropped for Curteis in the penalty area and he watched it onto his right boot the whole way, taking the over-the-shoulder volley on and side footing it back across the goal and into the back of the net via a touch off the inside of the far post.

In the second half Jack Roberts saw a promising effort blocked and could only win a corner after an excellent burst down the right wing following a quick free kick from his brother, whilst Prince had Llany hearts in mouths for a few seconds when he fumbled a ball in the penalty area. The striker looked as though he was going to help himself to a goal if he could beat the defenders on the line, before Prince recovered and was able to gleefully pluck the ball back into his possession before the shot could be despatched.

Edwards saw a goal ruled out after the ball struck his hand in the scramble before he stabbed it in, and he was at the centre of the action once more when he raced in behind the defence before being crudely taken down by a defender who escaped with a yellow card. Rogers tested the goalkeeper with the resulting free kick, and the Welshpool number one did well to hold on the ball as Jack Roberts and substitute Scott Jones stormed in to look for the rebound.

Tempers flared when Welshpool’s striker missed yet another one on one and then reacted completely unnecessarily to a tackle from Jones where he went in hard but took the ball, sparking a brief melee before order was restored and the referee dished out another couple of yellow cards.

Bartram made a very defensive switch when he sent Ryan Leonard on in place of Edwards which hinted to everybody on the pitch that their current result would be enough for them to move ahead of Kerry and send them up, and it ramped up the tension as Llany’s defence was tested time and time again over the last fifteen minutes.

They were up to the challenge and remained as compact and secure as the situation allowed. The last chance of the game came when Botley was penalised for a challenge about thirty yards out. The free kick was superbly hit and was flying into the top corner before Prince intervened and tipped it around the post at full stretch. It was a brilliant stop, but still left one more corner to be dealt with, which Llany managed to do superbly as Jones and then Curteis combined to smash the ball to safety and leave the referee to blow the whistle and spark jubilant scenes as Llany secured a promotion which brings to an end a terrific league season.

Llanymynech Football Club

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