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I would have loved to have done the whole weekend of this years Welsh Groundhop but unfortunately I was only free on Bank Holiday Monday. I made an early start, picking up north-east celebrity Groundhopping couple Lee and Katie in Houghton-le-Spring at 6.45 on route for the drive to north Wales . The journey went smoothly with no heavy traffic so we made good time, arriving in Holywell at 9.30. The early arrival meant we had time for a pre-hop drink in the local Wetherspoons before the 11 o'clock kick-off, but unfortunately our day didn’t get off to the best of starts, as Katie was stung in the eye by a wasp. She bravely soldiered on, although Lee suggested that she can only count the other grounds on the hop if she gets a wasp sting!412.Halkyn Road
Holywell Town 3v0 Llandyrnog United
Welsh Alliance Division 1
11am ko
The day began in the market town of Holywell (Welsh: Treffynnon) which is the fifth largest town in Flintshire, lying to the west of the estuary of the River Dee. Holywell takes its name from the St Winefride's Well, a holy well surrounded by a chapel, which has been known since Roman times. The well has been a pilgrimage since about 660 when Saint Winefride was beheaded there by Caradog who attempted to attack her. Pilgrims worldwide visit the well, which is one of the Seven Wonders of Wales and the town is known as The Lourdes of Wales.![]()
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Matchday StatsHTFC 3(Jones 4 Tyson 47 Williams 69) LUFC 0Att.377Top Bloke - Sam Jones(Holywell Town)Programme413. Roe Plas Meadows
St Asaph City 3v1 Mochdre Sports
Welsh Alliance Division 2
2.15pm ko
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We arrived in the birthplace of former Liverpool, Leeds United(cannot really count Newcastle) and Welsh international Ian Rush with a good hour to spare before kick off. With a population of just under 3,500 and built around its ancient cathedral, St Asaph(Welsh: Llanelwy) is the newest city in Wales, giving its status as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. According to some historians the Roman fort of Varae sat on the site of the Cathedral, but it’s believed to have developed around a sixth-century Celtic monastery founded by Saint Kentigern, and is now home to the small fourteenth century St Asaph Cathedral. This is dedicated to Saint Asaph (also spelt in Welsh as Asaff), its second bishop. After finding a good parking space we visited the cathedral, which is the smallest in Britain, measuring just 182ft long and 68ft wide.
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Matchday Stats SACFC 3(Midgley 21,61 Evans 62) MSFC 1(Phillips 75)Att.254Top Bloke - Duncan Midgley(St Asaph City)Programme
414. Y Morfa View Leisure Centre
Kinmel Bay Sports 2v2 Glan Conwy
Welsh Alliance Division 2
5.15pm ko
For our finally game and the last of ten matches over the Welsh Hop weekend, we headed up to the coast to Kinmel Bay (Welsh: Bae Cinmel) in Conwy county borough, which is a suburb of Rhyl and lies across the River Clwyd in the neighbouring county of Denbighshire.Kinmel Bay Sports FC is a relatively new club, originating from the relocation of Abergele Rovers in 2011. The club won the Clwyd League treble of league, cup and Challenge Cup two years running and joined the Welsh Alliance, where they won their first trophy at this level just last season in the Lock Stock League Cup.![]() |
| KBSFC "Proper ground" |
Considering the atrocious conditions this was the best game of the day, so top marks to both teams for producing a good open contest. Glan Conwy raced into a two goal lead in the opening twenty minutes, the first through Richie Orme who picked the ball up in midfield before racing in on goal and firing the ball under the ‘keepers body. The lead was doubled when Luke Fountain robbed the ball off a defender to run on and score, but the hosts halved the deficit on 32 minutes with a well taking free kick on the edge of the box by Kyle Luffman. The second half began with the heavy pissing rain, pissing everyone off, but an early goal by Ryan Woods, nodding in at the near post from a corner had the game all square at 2-2. The pitch held up well during the game and both teams continued to battle for the winning goal, but it wasn’t to be and overall a draw was a fair result.![]()
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Matchday StatsKBSFC 2(Luffman 32 Woods 48) GCFC 2(Orme 8 Fountain 19)Att.221Top Bloke - James Jones(Kinmel Bay)Programme
Due to my comedy sat nav, heavy rain,poor visibility, fog, 50 mile an hour stretches on the M62/A1 and dropping off Lee and Katie, I finally got home at 11.30. It was four and a half hours since we were at the match but my legs and feet we still soaking wet, so when I got home it was a hot bubble bath, cup of tea and a bottle of Old Peculiar in that order. It was a long eventful day where apart from getting soaked to the skin, being part of the greatest half time raffle rip-off and one of us getting stung in the eye by a wasp, it was quite an enjoyable day out in north Wales.
Spondoolicks
Matchday ticket for all three matches including programme £14
@Holywell
Pin badge £3
Nicey spicey sausage sandwhich £1.50
(Courtesy of Chris Berezai - cheers!)
Bubble & squeak £1
Coffee 80p
@St Asaph
Pin badge £3
Chocolate brownie £1
Tea 50p
@Kinmel Bay
Pin badge £3
Chicken and mushroom pie £2
Bovril £1.50
Foetoes (64 pictures from all three matches)
I would have loved to have done the whole weekend of this years Welsh Groundhop but unfortunately I was only free on Bank Holiday Monday. I made an early start, picking up north-east celebrity Groundhopping couple Lee and Katie in Houghton-le-Spring at 6.45 on route for the drive to north Wales . The journey went smoothly with no heavy traffic so we made good time, arriving in Holywell at 9.30. The early arrival meant we had time for a pre-hop drink in the local Wetherspoons before the 11 o'clock kick-off, but unfortunately our day didn’t get off to the best of starts, as Katie was stung in the eye by a wasp. She bravely soldiered on, although Lee suggested that she can only count the other grounds on the hop if she gets a wasp sting!
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Matchday Stats
We arrived in the birthplace of former Liverpool, Leeds United(cannot really count Newcastle) and Welsh international Ian Rush with a good hour to spare before kick off. With a population of just under 3,500 and built around its ancient cathedral, St Asaph(Welsh: Llanelwy) is the newest city in Wales, giving its status as part of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee. According to some historians the Roman fort of Varae sat on the site of the Cathedral, but it’s believed to have developed around a sixth-century Celtic monastery founded by Saint Kentigern, and is now home to the small fourteenth century St Asaph Cathedral. This is dedicated to Saint Asaph (also spelt in Welsh as Asaff), its second bishop. After finding a good parking space we visited the cathedral, which is the smallest in Britain, measuring just 182ft long and 68ft wide.
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