Tuesday 5th August 2025 ko 18:30

Ardal North West

MYNYDD ISA 3 (Mendonza 35 Beck 64 Lambert 64)

ST ASAPH CITY 0

D Hayes sent off 69 (2nd booking)

Att 90

Entry £3

Programme- online

I found myself in North Wales for work but as ever it really wasn’t any trial me being there- assuming we forget about the 5 hour drive! As ever I scanned the fixtures to find something on my way home afterwards and spotted a club I’d wanted to visit for a while- 20 years to be exact!

At the end of the 2004/5 season I watched Llangollen play Mynydd Isa in the old Wrexham Area League. I was new to the hobby, and to Welsh football in general and had no idea as to how to pronounce the away team’s name. I found another groundhopper who was positively convinced it was “Minford ISA” the second word as in the acronym for a kind of savings account!

It wasn’t and isn’t, “Mun-ith Issa” would be closer and the village lies between Mold and Buckley and I do wonder whether that hopper still thinks his pronunciation is correct! The name means “Lowest Mountain.” Mynydd Isa won that game 20 years ago 5-0 and won promotion to the second tier Cymru Alliance, but sadly folded in 2009.

Today’s club dates from 2017 and had the suffix Spartans- that seems to have been dropped for this season. They re-entered the Wrexham Area League which metamorphosed into the Ardal Leagues on Welsh club football’s restructuring in 2020. But let’s not overthink things, after a day’s work it was a pleasure to plonk myself in the stand at the Argoed Sports & Social Club and take in both the views of the foothills of Snowdonia, and a darned good game in Wales’ 3rd tier.

I’ll always remember St Asaph City as a friendly club who were the second-last host club on the 2014 Welsh Alliance Hop. They were great hosts, but what followed at Kinmel Bay wasn’t and part of me will always wonder whether after enjoying St Asaph’s company we shouldn’t have simply gone home. Still Kinmel Bay will always be a tick in the book, but not much else!

I digress slightly though! In the here and now this was a highly competitive game which, yes did spill over a little towards the end. I note with some sadness that St Asaph are currently bottom of the table with -2 points. But the evening, and this piece belonged to Mynydd Isa- why did I take so long to pay them a visit?