IT turned out to be a thrilling rollercoaster as Flint Town United managed to preserve their top-flight status in the Cymru Premier League. The Silkmen were involved in a battle with Bala Town to avoid the second relegation spot, and a 2-2 draw away to Cardiff Met proved to be sufficient in a dramatic finale. Despite being reduced to ten men due to two red cards, Flint managed to secure their place in the league.
Flint's survival was confirmed when Bala Town lost to Briton Ferry Llansawel, ensuring that Steve Fisher’s charges would remain in the Welsh Premier League. Flint head of football Lee Fowler told S4C’s Sgorio: “We found a way. Obviously, Briton Ferry have beat Bala and the two red cards are an absolute disgrace, absolute disgrace.
“But, yeah, listen, I’ll take whatever it is to keep Flint in the Welsh Prem. It's been hard work.”
Initially, things were going well for Flint as they went ahead in the 10th minute with a free-kick goal from Jake Canavan after home keeper Ewan Griffiths picked up a back-pass penalty. However, Cardiff Met equalised just before half-time through Jake Morris.
The game took a dramatic turn in the final 20 minutes. Bala Town regained the lead when Jacob Tarasenko scored with minutes left on the clock. Flint were staring at relegation but managed to regain their advantage with Ban Hughes’ goal in the 77th minute.
Flint’s hopes of survival appeared to be over when skipper Harry Owen was sent off and CJ Craven made it 2-2 from a deflected free kick with ten minutes left. Flint then had Hughes sent off with three minutes remaining, seemingly ending their chances.
However, Ricky-Lee Owen scored the winning goal in the 89th minute as Briton Ferry Llansawel levelled at Maes Tegid. From the restart, Sam Snaith found the target and secured Flint Town United’s place in the Cymru Premier League.
Bala boss Fisher expressed his frustration: “We’ve got ourselves in the lead, found out the other game was going our way and I honestly thought we’d done it... and we've shot ourselves in the foot.
