After a morning pitch inspection, Airbus travelled to the Hops & Barley Community Stadium to take on CPD Y Rhyl 1879 FC on a cold Saturday afternoon.

After a very good comeback against Newtown AFC last weekend in the WBS Cup, Mark Allen named an unchanged starting XI as the WingMakers looked to record their sixth consecutive victory in the JD Cymru North.

Airbus got us underway in the first half with Danny Warren starting the first half.

Kaiden Cooke in the 6th minute collected the ball in the middle of the park and ran at the Rhyl defence. His cross was searching for Danny Warren, but he couldn’t quite connect as the ball rolls wide of the post.

12 minutes on the clock, the hosts won their first corner of the game, but Nath Williams was there with a headed clearance to clear the danger.

Shortly after, Airbus saw their corner headed away and it was collected by Rhyl for a breakaway, George Peers pulled on the shirt of the Rhyl midfielder and his efforts to stop the break resulted in him picking up a yellow card.

27’ Rhyl were starting to get involved in the game and this time a dangerous break by the hosts abled them to run at the Airbus back line and win a corner. The resulting corner was eventually cleared by Nath Williams.

Just after the half hour mark, Rhyl had a really good chance. A dangerous cross from Jack Parry looked perfect for Morgan Murray, but the Rhyl No.7 was unable to find a good connection and sent his effort over the bar.

It was Airbus’ turn to hit Rhyl on the break and get themselves into a dangerous position. The ball arrived at the feet of Peers and his effort crashed against the post and was cleared by the hosts.

This break caused a shift in momentum, and it was Kaiden Cooke with an effort this time, but his shot was just wide of the mark.

A wayward pass from Airbus was picked up by Rhyl on 38’ but they were unable to take advantage of the mistake. With a quick turnaround Airbus picked the ball up and attacked the Rhyl half, Cooke’s pass found Danny Warren whose shot rolled wide, but the offside flag was raised by the official.

With the 45-minute mark approaching, George Peers found Jordan Evans in the middle and the No.9 had a shot from range and a deflection made it easier for Alex Swindell in the Rhyl goal.

A couple of minutes injury time were added by the referee for the first half, Warren collected the ball on the edge of the box and slotted his shot home, only for the linesman’s flag to host his celebrations.

After a quiet opening half hour, both teams had great chances, but both were unable to break the deadlock as they headed into the half time break.
Rhyl got us underway for the second half, with both teams looking to find that opening goal of the game.

Airbus started the second half on a mission. They applied some early pressure to the Rhyl defence with a series of crosses from George Peers and Tyler McManus. The ball then fell to Danny Warren, and he forced a fingertip save from Swindell.

Four minutes into the second half, Airbus did have the opening goal as Danny Warren found Mason Blackwell-Jones, and the winger’s strike was calmly slotted into the goal to break the deadlock.

53’ The visitors had their first chance of the second half. The ball fell to Murray inside the box and he chose power over precision, and his effort was blazed wide.
Airbus replied with a chance of their own, a well-worked move saw Peers deliver a cross into the box, which Warren made contact with, but his effort was over the bar.

As the game approached the hour mark, Airbus were the team on top, with many chances being created, but the WingMakers were unable to find the finishing touch to extend their lead.
63’ on the clock, Airbus were awarded a free kick. Cooke cut inside and ran towards the Rhyl box, and he was brought down to win the visitors a free kick in a dangerous position.

Jordan Evans took the resulting free kick and skilfully curled the ball around the wall and into the top corner, giving Swindell no chance in the Rhyl goal.

With just over 20 minutes remaining, Airbus made a double substitution with James Davies and Jake Roberts replacing Danny Warren and George Peers.

72’ Rhyl reduced the deficit and created a nervy last quarter for Airbus. Sam Duffy converted to get the hosts back into the game.

The goal gave Rhyl the confidence and their tails were up. Another shot from that man Duffy was taken, but he dragged his effort wide.

Keighan Jones’ name was in the referee’s book with 10 minutes remaining for an adjudged time-wasting incident on a goal kick.

86 minutes on the clock and Airbus had their third goal and Jordan Evans had his second of the game as the visitors looked to have secured the three points for the WingMakers.

The ball was won in midfield by Airbus and played down the line to James Davies, his cross into the box where they found Jordan Evans and he pounced on the ball to slot the ball into the back of the net.

Airbus made their final substitution of the game with Blaine Hudson replacing Kaiden Cooke to sure the game and three points up.

With 8 minutes of injury time added to the second half, Davies had a great chance to make it 4. He found himself some space in the box and on the turn his shot was just wide of the target.

With the last minute of injury time approaching, Rhyl were awarded a free kick on the edge of the box, but the execution of the set piece finds it safely into the hands of ‘keeper Jones.

The ref blew time on a hard-fought victory on the road for Airbus, with a goal from Blackwell-Jones and a brace from Jordan Evans, as they extended their unbeaten run to 7 games.