Young Tommy James was cock-a-hoop when he scored his goal, Kilgetty's third, late in the second-half. He was so excited, he strutted his stuff, walked the walk, like the king of the farmyard. His goal, however, had no animal antics as he turned and struck a sweet ball across the Letterston 'keeper into the far corner of the net. This put a rather ordinary game beyond any doubt, giving Kilgetty a well deserved victory.
The slope of the Letterston pitch and the cold northerly wind icing its way down the slope had a major impact on the pattern of play in this pre-Christmas clash.
In the first-half, Kilgetty made the mistake of trying to play the ball over the top and found themselves chasing hopeless balls down the slope, which fell easily into the domain of the opposing 'keeper. He did not look too secure, however, and was fortunate to palm a few of the higher efforts out of danger.
On two such occasions, the Kilgetty defence, marshalled by the indefatigable Bobby Bevan, found themselves the wrong side of a very quick number eight. Speed is a great asset, but in this game it was not matched with enough skill to trouble Christian Phillips in the Kilgetty goal, although he did have to dive low to his right to scramble away the only other worthwhile Letterston attempt.
Kilgetty's spine was working effectively, however, with Paul (Mansy) Mansbridge back in midfield after a two-week absence and Ollie Griffiths, up front, causing havoc with his pace and tenacity, both helping Bobbie Bevan to anchor the team.
It was Ollie who achieved the breakthrough midway through the first-half when he latched on to a slick pass inside the box from the consistent Michael Scale to sidefoot the ball past the stranded 'keeper.
You would have thought that this would have settled the team into a controlling situation, but not so. Kilgetty continued to fall into the trap of too many players following the same ball, ending up on numerous occasions with 20 players occupying a quarter of the pitch and manager Alan Hurst wishing he had 10p for every time he encouraged his lads to pass and move. It appears that they can do one or the other, but not consistently combine the both.
As was expected, Kilgetty were more effective playing up the slope and into the wind. They took control of the midfield and the subsequent through passes put Letterston under greater pressure. Ollie Griffiths was presented with two golden opportunities early in the half - he squandered the first, putting it wide of the post, but made no mistake with the second. He is a forward who troubles defences with his pace and aggression and is worth a goal in any game.
His strike partner for most of the game was the energetic Paul Jones, who does not stop running. Putting himself into seemingly impossible situations, he inevitably escapes with the ball as he shoots out a long leg and charges forward hell bent on creating any sort of opportunity.
He had one such run late in the second-half, starting wide on the right and ending upon the left-hand side of the penalty area. His shot did not hit the target, but it created enough ricochets to cause defensive errors and when the ball landed at his feet again, he made no mistake, firing his shot into the right-hand corner.
This, of course, came after he had reverted to his normal midfield role - a cannie strategic move by the manager, who brought on Anthony Bevan to replace Duane Rossiter.
The other substitution was to rest the aging legs of centre-half Bobbie Bevan who was relieved by Paul Stone, recently transferred from Puerto Vallarta. Kilgetty's third sub, Curly Watts, declined the offer of replacing 'keeper Christian Phillips, who by now was feeling the cold, saying he wasn't sure if he could see the ball.
The travelling faithful were delighted with the early Christmas present and trudged their cold feet across the field at the final whistle with that warm glow of satisfaction that comes with success. Happy New Year lads.
Team: C. Phillips, B. Bevan, L. James, R. Griffiths, A. Prout, P. Mansbridge, M. Scale, D. Rossiter, T. James, O. Griffiths, P. Jones. Subs - A. Bevan, P. Stone, L. Watts.
KILGETTY U13s 7
GOODWICK U13s 0
The Kilgetty U13s, this year sponsored by Dils Services, were in no mood to hang around.
From the kick-off Goodwick were put under immense pressure. Josh Bevan and Robert Whitfield dazzled the visitors' defence with some superb touches.
Credit must go to the ground staff at Kilgetty, namely Kelly Rossiter, who prepared the pitch allowing both sides to play football with the ball on the ground.
The opener came when Jack Bevan picked up in midfield and sent his brother Josh on a run down the right wing; a lofted cross into the box found Dan Colley and with three to beat he powered his way through and slammed the ball into the net.
Jack Bevan had a role in most of the goals, masterminding the path of play from midfield. Rob Colley found himself on the end of a pin-point pass from Bevan just inside the box, where a clever dummy past one defender and a first-time strike put Kilgetty two up.
There were countless near misses as Dan and Rob Colley both hit the woodwork, Edward Merriman shot just over the top and Rob Whitfield shot just wide, but a third was never far away, clever interplay from Josh Bevan and Whitfield putting Dan Colley through for his second.
It was a credit to the Kilgetty defence that no goals were conceded. They remained solid throughout the game, and have done all season, with only eight goals getting through in 10 games. Adam Morgan has been a pillar of strength in his role as sweeper and with the likes of Sam Foster, Paul Hodge and Geraint Thomas in front of him, there are not many teams able to break this defensive line.
What crumbs Goodwick were allowed to have were soon safely swept up by 'keeper Jake Clarke who had a confident game.
There was always work to do at the back as the visitors were no pushovers and Foster, who had a particularly good game, took them on and continued the push forward with big accurate thumps upfield.
The game was put to bed early in the second-half when Dan Colley collected a hat-trick to take his tally for the day to five and Rob Whitfield bagged a well deserved goal after Paul Brookes found himself in space just inside the box.
Brookes himself has made his mark at Kilgetty this season and has become a valuable asset to Bobby Bevan's squad. This was a solid performance and a well deserved win.
Kilgetty squad: Rob Colley, Dan Colley, Josh Bevan, Jack Bevan, Robert Whitfield, Sam Foster, Edward Merriman, Geraint Thomas, Paul Brookes, Paul Hodge, Clarke Williams, Jake Clarke, Adam Morgan.