Despite a strong performance against a superior opponent, in terms of divisions, Airbus were forced to settle for a 1-0 loss away to Flint Town United in yesterday's JD Welsh Cup fixture.

Regardless of competing in the league below the hosts, the Wingmakers were more than a match in the first 45 with the half’s best chance coming from Danny Warren in the final moments which he just failed to steer home.

Mark Allen was pleased with the performance of his lads as he said: “I thought we matched Flint, out of possession especially, I thought we were very secure. We had to accept not having the ball as often as usual, but the best chance of the first half was ours”.

The game's only goal saw a controversial decision when referee Alex Livesey decided not to award a penalty for what appeared to be an Airbus player being dragged down inside their opponent's half. This allowed for a quick counter from which Flint found their winner.

Allen said: “It's a tough job and from my point of view it would be nice if they could explain why it wasn't a penalty, and a rhetorical question would be, is it a foul anywhere else on the pitch?”

His side was missing a number of key players with his two top scorers: Kaiden Cooke and George Peers both absent through injury and being unavailable, as well as captain Joe Palmer unable to be used in the first team squad.

This meant opportunities for minutes for a number of squad players including Sam Baker, who made his first start since July and grabbed the opportunity with both hands, key to almost everything positive in the first spell.

Mark said: “We knew in the week what the team was going to be as we knew early who was going to be available. It meant we could work with the starting 11 early in the last two sessions and credit to them and James Davies when he came on, as well as the two young lads. Everyone ran and worked hard but unfortunately it just wasn't to be”.

There's no rest for the wicked though as focus will be fully on another tough fixture, away at Mold next Saturday. Airbus currently sits two points from the summit however league leaders do still have a game in hand. With Holywell a point ahead and Newtown level, the fight for the divisions only promotion spot is going to rage on all season.

“You’ve got to dust yourself down. We want to get up this season that's the main focus. So, when we go to Mold, we are expecting a battling performance but hopefully we can come away with the three points”.