West Wales Intermediate Cup First Round
Carew 7 Cimla 1
Carew played some quality football and knocked the ball around well to create plenty of chances in both halves against the visitors from the Neath and District League. Haydn Shapcott gave Carew the lead after five minutes with a direct free kick into the top corner and the lead was extended with goals from skipper Dean Rossiter, Carl Wainwright and Jimmy Thomas before half time. In the second half Jimmy Thomas picked up his second and Wrexham trialist Mike Boswell made the Carew total six. Dean Rossiter kept the best until last with the goal of the match when he cut in from the left and rifled the ball into the top of the net. In the closing minutes the visitors had a consolation goal. It was an excellent all round team performance which will have put Carew in good heart for the first round of the Senior Cup on Saturday.
Narberth 8 Llandeilo Town 3
Narberth's fantastic start to the season continued on Saturday as they eased their way into the next round of the West Wales cup with a comfortable home victory over Llandeilo Town. The visitors were no match for the Bluebirds who displayed their attacking intent from the start, scoring four goals in the first 10 minutes. Charlie Smith got the ball rolling with a fine header and then Raff Barnett got the first of his three with a penalty after five minutes. Mike Beynon scored the third and fourth, before Barnett added his second just before the interval to give the home team an unassailable lead, even with another half to play. The visitors did pull one back before the break, but even that was scored by Narberth as Richard Henton managed to head the ball over Christian Philips who was left stranded in the home team's goal. After oranges, Narberth were on top once again. Morgan Preece scored the sixth, while Barnett completed his hat-trick with a simple tap-in. Harry Allen netted the eighth with a brilliant strike from 25 yards and, although many more chances were created, the Narberth players who, according to manager Paul Phillips were 'just lining up to score', just couldn't find the back of the net. A lack of composure allowed Llandeilo to score two more goals before the final whistle blew, but they were never in it and the goals were scant consolation in an afternoon to forget for them.
Kilgetty, with home advantage, started the brighter, but could not convert pressure into goals. In fact, it was Abergwili who almost took the lead, but a confident save by the Kilgetty 'keeper, Dai Lewis, kept the game level at half-time. Kilgetty's midfield worked hard to maintain control, but just failed to find the killer ball and, as the game progressed, it was Abergwili who looked the stronger, but neither team could find the net and the game went into extra-time. Some morale-boosting words from team manager Andrew Cope and assistant Barry Lewis seemed to do the trick and Kilgetty came out for extra-time with more confidence and again took the game to Abergwili. A shot from Cope required a good save from the 'Gwili 'keeper. Anthony Bevan worked some space, but could only watch despairingly as his shot skimmed past the far post.
It was inevitable that the game would go to penalties. During this period, Kilgetty's 'keeper Dai Lewis excelled, saving two of Abergwili's penalties. And Kilgetty progressed to the next round by a margin of four penalties to three.
St Clears 0 Burry Port 0 (St. Clears won 4-2 on penalties)
St. Clears were another team that progressed into the next round by virtue of their composure from the penalty spot. This was a game between two evenly-matched sides and it showed throughout as neither side, despite creating chances, could break the deadlock. In the second half, the Saints did go closer to scoring as Ollie Thomas's header hit the crossbar, while Ronan Grotty went close on plenty of occasions, but the visiting 'keeper held firm. Extra-time came and went and then it was down to the dreaded penalties. It's never a nice way to exit the competition, but if you've players like Eddie Wiggins, Steve Trivet, Ronan Grotty and Deian Glyn in your ranks, then you need not worry as you can always rely on them to put you through into round two. Steve Evans was voted man-of-the-match for yet another flawless display between the posts for the home side.
Pembroke United 0 Pendine 6
Pendine had few dramas to contend with as they made easy progress into the next round of the competition with a comfortable 6-0 win away at Pembroke United. Despite it being a scrappy first half, the visitors did manage to take an interval lead with a goal from Robbie Waters. He scored again soon after the break to make it 2-0 and quickly added another brace for good measure to make it 4-0 with another 20 minutes to play. Man-of-the-match Jack Morris scored the fifth with a superb solo effort, while Craig Hurst slipped one past the 'keeper for the sixth and final goal. Seagulls' player Justin Blewitt has cause to remember the game for reasons other than his team's excellent performance. The home team were reduced to 10 men during the second half and as the offending player made his way to the changing rooms for an early shower, he took umbrage to Blewitt's good looks and tried to alter them with a hefty punch. Fortunately for Blewitt, his team- mates were close by to halt the altercation and no permanent damage was caused.
Division Two
Prendergast Villa 4 Saundersfoot Sports 3
A mistake riddled game ended in defeat for Saundersfoot and a match that the Saundersfoot team would prefer to forget. Villa established a lead of two goals before Darren Umanee put Sports in contention with a cracking goal from 25 yards. Villa came back with another goal but a header from Tom Davies reduced the deficit to one goal at half time. In the second half both goals came from the penalty spot and after Villa had extended their lead again, Danny Caine was on target for the visitors with his spot kick. Joe John scored twice for Villa and the other goals were scored by James Scudder and James Green.
Division Three
Haverfordwest CC 3 Manorbier United 1
A weakened Manorbier team travelled to Haverfordwest and thought that they were in the windy city. Although the visitors had the wind at their backs in the first half, the ball control was something of a lottery and chances were few and far between. Simon Bolton did hit the cross bar with a free kick for Manorbier and with five minutes of the half remaining he did find the back of the net to give Manorbier the lead. In the second half Manorbier were under constant pressure but defended very well early on until the Cricketers equalised from the penalty spot. When the Cricketers went into the lead Manorbier pushed everyone up in an attempt to equalise. However the Cricket Club exploited gaps in defence to pick up their third goal. The Haverfordwest Cricket Club goals were scored by David Davies, John Ryan and Danny Potter.
St. Davids City 2 Lawrenny 1
Lawrenny started very well and were on top in the first 30 minutes. The visitors took the lead after 15 minutes with a well worked goal scored by Simon Cole. The move was started by Mike Howe who fed Mike Jolly who in turn released the ball for Cole to score in the bottom corner. Kim Harland also came close and the City keeper was tested with a number of shots. After 40 minutes City equalised with a header from a corner scored by David Price as the visitors were made to pay for their lack of concentration. In the words of Lawrenny manager Chris Buckle the visitors did not "come out in the second half." David Price put City in front when he stabbed the ball home from short range and although Lawrenny pressurised the City goal in the last ten minutes after Robert Williams had moved up front, no further goals were scored. Sion Allen did come close to scoring on two occasions for the visitors who had to leave St Davids empty handed. For Lawrenny Tom Lewis was solid at right back with both Mike Jolly and Simon Cole prominent in midfield.
Reserve Division One
Clarbeston Road 4 Narberth 4
Quite how Narberth managed to snatch a draw from the jaws of victory is anyone's guess, but that is exactly what happened as they let Clarbie recover from being 3-1 down - and that was in the first half. There must have been something placed in their half-time drinks as a shambolic second half display let the home team snatch a point from their afternoon's work. Clarbie scored first, for Narberth, with an excellent own goal, but John Morse proved that his team could score their own goals with a neat finish from a one-on-one with the Clarbie 'keeper. Steve Williamson scored the third with a penalty, even though Narberth manager Nigel Thomas didn't know what it was for. He must have been glad of the referee's generosity after the interval as the home team clawed their way back to be on level terms and after eight minutes of their third going in, they scored their fourth. The referee must have taken pity on the visitors as he awarded them another curious penalty, which Williamson converted, and then on 80 minutes blew his whistle for full-time, even though there was another 10 minutes to play.
Herbrandston 6 Kilgetty 0
Kilgetty may have lost heavily away at Herbrandston, but there were mitigating circumstances for the manner of their defeat. The biggest being the fact they were five players short of their usual side. At this level, losing that many players does make a difference, especially at Herbrandston where their uncompromising style can affect the performance of many inexperienced players. Five of Herbie's goals came in the first half, even though they were reduced to 10 men halfway through. Despite dominating the entire game, they could only muster one more goal in the second half as Kilgetty's defence held out better than they did in the first.
Pennar Robins 5 Carew 2
Reserve division one pace setters Carew lost for the first time this season when Pennar Robins picked up their second win of the season. Although Phil Jones and player manager Neil Morgan scored for the visitors it was no answer to the Robins on the day who scored five goals with Craig Turner, Stephen James, Paul Sly, Jamie Heeps and Barry Dilworth each finding the back of the net.
Reserve Division Two
Manorbier United 3 Lawrenny 3
As the score line suggests this game between Manorbier who are in second position in the table and Lawrenny who are in seventh position was fairly even. Lawrenny were aware of the danger that Terry George can cause with his late runs into the box but were unable to prevent the Manorbier player from scoring when he did exactly that and headed the ball from a corner into the back of the net. United held the ball up better but Lawrenny looked dangerous on the break. Straight after the interval Steve Campbell equalised for the visitors to herald a purple patch by the Lawrenny team. Campbell had picked the ball up at the edge of the box and set off on a run before curling the ball around the United keeper. Chris Beff was fed by Steve Lewis and got around the back of the Manorbier defence and then used his place to beat the back four before lifting the ball over the Manorbier keeper. Manorbier came into their own and played the ball around before scoring two quick goals. The first was scored Liam Culshaw when he outpaced the Lawrenny defence and Culshaw also scored the next to put Manorbier in front with cross cum shot which went into the back of the net at the far post. However Lawrenny came back to earn a share of the spoils when Steve Campbell chipped the ball over the top for Chris Beff to equalise. Beff had an excellent game on the left side of midfield and Steve Campbell worked hard in the midfield area throughout the match. Saundersfoot Sports 1 Letterston 1
This game between ninth placed Letterston and tenth placed Sports ended in a draw. Teenager Simon Stanford scored for the Saundersfoot team and Jason McKee was on target for the visitors.
Tenby 2 Prendergast Villa 1
Before this match top of the table Prendergast Villa had won six games out of seven and drawn their other match. However they came away from Tenby pointless after sixth placed Tenby won their third game of the season. There is an excellent spirit in the Tenby team who have only lost once in reserve division two all season. Anthony Davies gave Villa the lead when he picked a cross from the right in a goal mouth scramble and looped the ball over stand in Tenby keeper Mick Thomas. The visitors had a chance to increase the lead from the penalty spot but the chance was not taken. Although Tenby created a number of chances none were put away. Tenby had a chance to equalise from the penalty spot but the shot from Johnny Badrock did not beat the Villa keeper who pulled off a terrific save. In fact the Villa keeper kept the visitors in the game with his agility between the sticks. Player manager Matt Broadhurst equalised for Tenby after five minutes after being fed by Mick Thomas who had moved out of goal at this stage. With ten minutes of the match remaining Stuart McClaren who commutes to Tenby from his home in Bristol got the winner from a corner. Tenby then closed up shop and held out to win a good clean hard game which was played in excellent spirit. The Tenby back four of Mathew Broadhurst, Mike Cornick, Allan Morgan and Adam Brown played a big part in the win and there were good performances by Perry Broadhurst and Johnny Badrock in midfield. Tenby player manager Matt Broadhurst was quick to pay tribute to referee Angela Nicholls who did an excellent job.
Solva 4 St. Clears 5
The Saints went marching home from Solva as they edged out the home side in this nine-goal thriller. They were 4-1 up at the break, with three goals from James Owen and one from Nigel Price. Price secured his second just after the interval to make it 5-1, but a lack of concentration allowed the home side back in to score another three, but fortunately no further goals were forthcoming and the Saints got the victory they deserved. Elsewhere, Pendine beat Hundleton 7-2 at home in what must surely be their finest performance all season.