Airbus UK Broughton were able to overcome adversity after going down to 10 men to earn all three points on the road against Llandudno.
At one point it felt as though it just wasn’t going to be Airbus Broughton’s day after Mr. Reliable Adam Davies blazed his spot kick over the bar but thankfully, Jake Eyre stepped up for the second penalty on the day and managed to get the Wingmakers firing. Ollie Lanceley scored three minutes from time to make sure all three points would be coming back to Broughton.
The opening stages of the game was very much stop start, with both sides failing to get going in the match. It seemed both teams had to face an extra opponent on the day with the heavy winds becoming as big an obstacle as the opposition XI.
The hosts had the first big chance of the game as Shaun Cavanagh found himself with an acre of space inside the area, but the 23-year-old fired wide of Lewis Dutton’s goal 8 minutes into the game.
Joe Palmer received his first yellow of the afternoon ten minutes later after the aggressive high press saw the defender caught out by the opposition attack.
The Wingmakers very nearly edged in front from a killer set-piece as Palmer’s inch-perfect delivery was met by the head of Oli Lanceley whose effort crept wide of the woodwork.
On the half hour mark, Palmer received his marching orders after referee Aaron Jones showed the 23-year-old a second yellow following a sliding challenge in the middle of the park, leaving The Wingmakers a man down for the next hour of proceedings.
If anything, Airbus showed true resilience to group together against the 11-men of Llandudno and fight against the momentum the hosts had built following Palmer’s dismissal.
Gareth Edwards started his first game in over a month and the 38-year-old was a man mountain at the back, clearing ball after ball with head or foot to ensure Airbus went into the break on level pegging.
Whatever manager Steve O'Shaughnessy said at half-time worked wonders as Airbus came out after the interval and started to play some superb one-touch intricate football despite being a man down.
The relentless pressure from the league leaders soon paid off as top scorer Adam Davies was able to swivel in the box and beat his man before being taken down by Lee Thomas. The reckless challenge gave referee Jones no choice other than to point to the spot and give the visitors a massive chance to gain the advantage.
Davies stepped up to the plate in the hope of bagging his 22nd goal of the season but unlike in previous weeks, he hit the ball high and over the Llandudno goal much to the delight of the home side.
The penalty miss was not enough to derail the ever-growing Airbus pressure and just after the hour mark, Lee Thomas was caught out again, this time for handling the ball in the penalty box.
Two minutes after entering the field of play, Jake Eyre stepped up and made no mistake as he fired the spot kick past the Llandudno keeper to give the Wingmakers the lead.
Most sides, with a man down and a lead to hold, would have sat back and tried to rely on the experience of the likes of Gareth Edwards and Steve Tomassen to see out the game but not this high-flying Airbus Broughton outfit.
The visitors stepped on the accelerator and went to double their lead and very nearly did so but a simply mesmerising stop from Shaun Pearson in the Llandudno net denied Davies’ redemption after his penalty miss.
The 10-men of Airbus showed their class three minutes from time as 20-year-old Oli Lanceley passed the ball into the net from point blank range to secure all three points on the road against the Wingmakers title rivals.
Steve O’Shaughnessy’s team will next be in action in a fortnights time against 2nd placed Guilsfield FC. All three points against the Welshpool side will put the Wingmakers 7 points clear at the top of the table while a defeat will put the 2nd placed side a point behind Airbus UK Broughton.
You can watch the full highlights from the game via the link below.
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