HAVERFORDWEST CC 1

MANORBIER 1

Two parts football, one part battle, a sprinkling of courage, a dash of mud, a large portion of slope, a good dollop of wind (brisk, from the west) and a handful of fumbled determination: a recipe that is guaranteed to produce a typical Pembrokeshire division three footballing cake.

Last Saturday was no exception, as Haverfordwest Cricket Club hosted Manorbier, in a game which both sides got to have their cake, eat it, but left wishing they had managed to get an extra slice.

Manorbier, after the sugary rush of the previous week's victory against arch rivals Tenby, were in search of a cherry to finish off what has - on the whole - been a good year. However, the travelling team had lost regular starters to injury, work commitments, shopping commitments, going to London commitments and watching football commitments (who on earth would give up playing a game of football to watch Wolves?).

As such, all the ingredients were in place for a performance as flat as a pancake. But the players who stepped into the breach provided exuberance, tenacity and skill to make sure the mixture of old and young rose to the occasion.

Gavin Evans, having been the last into the changing rooms, found himself volunteered in nets. Despite his inexperience in the role, he played like Rene Higuita and Franco Baresi's love child - tearing out of goal to sweep up at the back, throw outrageous dummies and get whatever part of his body he could in the way of the opposition attack.

The defence in front of him comprised twinkle toes 'Phil The Power' Williams, The Wall McWeeney, Le Cigarillo Askew de Versailles VIII, and a young pretender Blaine 'bring the pain'. And it was Blaine who produced an incredible display, belying his slight stature to completely boss the opposition. At one point, he defied the laws of physics to upend a much larger opposition attacker - which whilst it earned him a yellow card, earned the respect of Albert Einstein.

A familiar midfield concoction of Blackwell and the brothers Hall was sprinkled with a dash of Richard Atwell, and up front, The Foreigner Lane and El Spic were once again coupled perfectly like cookies and cream.

Manorbier, playing up the slope into the wind during the first half, set out their stall for a rearguard action. They defended solidly, but (yet another) freak goal saw them go into half-time 1-0 down, after twinkle toes somehow managed to head the ball into the top corner of his own net.

Despite the deficit, Manorbier were confident they would win the bake-off in the second half, and so it proved to be, as the visitors dominated the game, peppering the opposition goal with (almost) hundreds and thousands of strikes. The Haverfordwest 'keeper was playing a blinder, until a long free-kick by The Wall was deftly flicked into the bottom corner by Blackwell's noggin.

At 1-1, Manorbier raised the temperature once again. When Oily Hall slipped through the Haverfordwest defence like butter off greaseproof paper to find himself one-on-one with the 'keeper, it looked as though the visitors would be taking all three points. But the opposition goalie (some would say cynically, some would say cleverly) brought Hall down as he rounded him... just outside the area.

Whilst he was shown the red card, he had saved a certain goal - a goal which Manorbier were sadly unable to muster for the 10 minutes of the game which remained.

A tasty encounter, during which Manorbier discovered some new ingredients which will add spice to the selection process in the new year, and lays the foundations for a fulfilling 2012.