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SOCCER ROUND-UP

Friday, 22 January 2010

While the snow may have melted away, the weather gods failed to relent in their quest to make this the most disjointed football season of all time as they unleashed a torrent of rain upon the county’s grounds to show us once again who is boss.
We may be able to scrape away the white stuff, cover our grounds in tarpaulin to put a halt to the frost, but there’s no getting away from the rain. If those above us want to put a stop to our fun they will and last weekend was no exception.
Although the league organisers were spared the irritating prospect of yet another postponement to the whole league programme, a few games were called off. No games at all were played in the Senior Cup, while games in other divisions were also affected.
We did have some games played though and in Division Two, Pendine played their first game in eight weeks against highly-fancied Johnston. As if it wasn’t bad enough playing your first game back for a while against one of the division’s best teams, the Seagull’ ’problems were compounded by the fact they had to play away.
This didn’t seem to bother them so much at the start of the game as they took the lead through a Rob Waters goal, but as the game wore on, lack of match fitness told and the home side took control.
As conditions underfoot resembled more of a quagmire than a football pitch, the Tigers were able to equalise just before the break and added their second just minutes into the second half.
Pendine battled to stay in the game, but once the third went in, the writing was on the wall as the home side went on to win 3-1.
“I don’t think we would have lost if we were match fit,” said Pendine’s Paul Langdon. “It was hard to pick it up after eight weeks out and tiredness definitely cost us in the end.”
In Division Three, Manorbier United showed no signs of rustiness as they romped to a 6-1 win away at Fishguard.
Gavin Evans and Jamie Bradfield were the stars of the show as they finished with a brace apiece, while Jamie Hawkes and David Blackmore scored one each.
Carew Seconds enjoyed a bumper crowd for their home game against Milford United in Division Four and they gave their supporters cause to smile as they too won 6-1.
James Buckle, playing his first game of the season for Carew after re-signing from Tenby, showed his worth to the club with a magnificent hat-trick, while Sam Harts scored twice and Nathan Hughes the other with a fine free-kick.
They led 3-0 after 15 minutes, with Buckle netting the first two and Hughes the third, before Harts nipped in with the fourth just before half-time.
Their dominance continued as Buckle completed his hat-trick, before Hughes finished the rout with the sixth, leaving Barry Evans a delighted man.
“We played very well and there were good signs for us. Everyone played brilliantly and to do it in front of such a good crowd was even more pleasing.”
Meanwhile, in Division Five, St Clears’ reserves had a fabulous home win against their counterparts from Neyland as they strolled home 6-1.
Simon Bancroft was the star of the show yet again as he contributed three goals to the home team’s cause, while Julian Tucker added a brace and Lloyd Evans the other.
Despite conceding so many, Neyland took the lead in the first half, although it was short-lived as the Saints re-grouped to score four before the break.
Bancroft scored the first and the fourth, while Evans grabbed the second and Tucker the fourth.
In the second half, it was all one-way traffic as the home side’s dominance told, with Bancroft grabbing the fifth and Tucker the sixth and final goal in one of the Saints’ best displays of the year.
“We started slowly, then took control,” beamed Lloyd Evans. “After the fourth went in we knew another would kill them off and we could have scored more really.
“It didn’t matter so much in this game, but when we play closer games we’ll have to improve our finishing or it could come back to haunt us,” he added