Facing a strong wind at Aberystwyth, Pembrokeshire Schools Under 12s team produced wave upon wave of attack to try and produce a first half goal. That they did not do largely due to some good goalkeeping and an Aberystwyth team whose main tactic was to crowd their own penalty area with as many players as possible and then to rely on a quick break. Pembrokeshire rightly took the game to their opponents with Thomas Glover being particularly brave in running forward to try and convert the through passes from Alex Harley, whose contribution in the match was to be a major factor in the Pembrokeshire performance. Shots by Callum Proctor and Steffan Williams went particularly close, and Pembrokeshire varied their attacking play with Darryl Mansbridge cutting in well from the left to stretch the home defence whose main answer to Alex Harley and Daniel Bryce was hard tackling. Pembrokeshire had a penalty claim disallowed in 15th minute and a backpass to the home goalkeeper went unnoticed just after, but while these attacks took place the Pembs. back four of Proctor, Stephen Pugh, Steffan James and Brown concentrated on cover to the extent that Tom Blaxland only touched the ball four times in the visitors goal in the first half. Pembrokeshire made some lovely passing movements to keep possession of the ball and draw their opponents out, but a very one-sided first half in terms of shots on goal ended 0-0. Rhys Dalling and Tom Glover produced some fine runs on the flank, but the home 'keeper made some brave saves. The second half produced some team changes for a more even contest and further substitutes for both teams were used. After 12 minutes, Harley produced a dipping shot downwind that put his team into a well-deserved lead, and this seemed to produce some desperation in the home defence with some robust challenges for which one player was booked. Pembrokeshire's strikers, which now included Stephen Mills, and central midfield players, were now creating good chances some of which went begging, but as Aberystwyth seemed now able to counter attack in numbers, more action in the Pembrokeshire penalty area saw Blaxland diving at the forwards feet to save. Pembrokeshire's narrow lead gave rise to some nervous play, and after some desperate clearances, the referee awarded Aberystwyth a penalty which brought the scores to 1-1. Pressure on the Pembrokeshire left was well dealt with by Matthew Richards and his forward passes were finding Declan Carroll at the edge of the Aberystwyth penalty area. This possession near to their goal lead to a lack of composure in the Aberystwyth defence, apart from their goalkeeper, and when the ball was passed back to Harley, a gap opened up for Carroll to shoot though a crowd of players to put the visitors 2-1 ahead. Pembrokeshire kept their shape for the dying minutes of a match in which they had long periods of possession, but had to wait patiently to convert the goal chances needed to win. This was a good squad passing performance against a team whose style of play was very different, and whose defence was based on strong physical challenge. Pembrokeshire Schools squad: Tom Blaxland, Steven Mills, Daniel Bryce (Taskers); Matthew Richards, Thomas Glover, Stephen Pugh, Greg Brown (Thomas Picton); Alex Harley, Callum Proctor, Darryl Mansbridge (Greenhill); Steffan Williams, Steffan James (Preseli); Rhys Dalling (Fishguard), Declan Carroll (Pembroke). Pembrokeshire Schools FA would like to thank main sponsor Phil Owen Electrics and team sponsors Oakwood Park Ltd., The Factory Shop and InfoTech Computer Sales and Training.
