PEMBROKESHIRE Under 8s, 9s and 10s

The newly-formed Pembrokeshire County Schools Under 8s, Under 9s and Under 10s squads played in their first round robin festival against Swansea and Cardiff Schools.

It was Pembrokeshire’s turn to host the first of the monthly festivals and Tenby AFC generously allowed the matches to be played on their pitches.

The Pembs. boys and girls in the squads all played well and there were some very close matches.

The players are already looking forward to the next round that is being held in Cardiff on October 16.

Pembrokeshire Schools Under 12s 2 Carmarthen Schools 0

A glorious day and superb setting at Neyland Athletic ground saw the newly-formed Pembrokeshire Schools U12s side take on their counterparts from Carmarthen in a tight and well-contested West Wales derby match.

Pembs. started the game well, with Dan James and Kyle Kenniford controlling the midfield area, allowing widemen Noah Davison and Lewis Miller plenty of ball to get at the Carmarthen backline. A couple of long range efforts from James almost found the mark, before lone striker Keiron Blundell went even closer with a sweet right-footer from the edge of the area which just missed the far top corner.

Playing down the slope, Pembs. looked to keep the pressure on Carmarthen, who were looking to release their speedy wingers with balls from back to front. Speedy fullbacks Tom Mezzetta and Josh Smyth needed to be switched on at all times to keep them at bay.

As the first half went on, Carmarthen got a foothold in midfield and started to create a few opportunities, one such opportunity seeing goalkeeper Evan Watts pull off a superb tip-over save which kept the score at nil-nil.

With the last play of the half, Carmarthen really should have taken the lead when a lovely deep cross was headed over at the back post by the on-rushing left winger.

Some Pembs. changes at the break saw the introduction of Callum O’Riordan at right back and 10 minutes into the second half, the Sir Thomas Picton School youngster swept a lovely ball into the box, where it was superbly put away by Liam Topp.

Pembs. had now regained the initiative and with the defence marshalled superbly by Henry Thomas and Lucas Davies, they were always in control.

An injury to O’Riordan meant further changes to the backline, but with eight minutes to go, Topp was put away by Macs Page and he finished with aplomb to make the game safe.

Coaches Jonny Sutton and Adrian (Wiggles) Blundell were delighted with all of the squad members and the performance sets them up for upcoming away games against Swansea Schools and Cardiff and The Vale.

The coaches also wish to thank Steve Williams for refereeing the game and also the committee of Neyland AFC for the use of the pitch and the facilities.

Pembs. matchday squad: Evan Watts, Macs Page (Ysgol y Preseli), Josh Smyth, Kyle Kenniford (capt.), Dan James, Noah Davison, Toby Davies, Liam Topp, Mark Jones (Pembroke Comprehensive), Lucas Davies (Milford Haven Comprehensive), Lewis Miller (Tasker Milward), Henry Thomas, Tom Mezzetta, Kieron Blundell, Callum O’Riordan, Ollie Teagle (Sir Thomas Picton).

Cardiff and Vale Schools 9 Pembrokeshire Schools Under 13s 1

Pembrokeshire Schools Under 13s began the season’s Welsh Schools Cup fixtures with an encouraging first half performance at Cardiff University Fields in a mid-week evening match.

Facing fast opposition on a 3G pitch and conceding an early goal, Pembrokeshire competed well with some brave defending and also several attacking movements, which could have made the half-time scoreline closer than 3-0 to the home team.

Pembrokeshire players worked tirelessly for control of the midfield, and for a period the teams appeared fairly evenly matched.

Second half changes within the squad system by both teams resulted in Cardiff scoring six goals against a hard-pressed visitors’ defence as they faced a stiff breeze. Goals came at regular intervals, but a good goal for Pembrokeshire by Archie Smith was a reward for energetic team play and an overall respectable evening.

Pembrokeshire Schools Under 13s squad: Rhys Mansell (Castle School); Iori Humphreys, Liam Cressey, (Pembroke Comprehensive); Iwan Howells, Sam Pritchard (Sir Thomas Picton); Joe Evans, Matthew Phillips (Tasker Milward); Finlay Davies, Charlie Phillips (Ysgol Preseli); William Malone, Dylan Morgan, Kurt Sarrionandia, Archie Smith, Teejay Gardner, Boris Hickman (Greenhill).

Coaches Darren Mansell and Vince Malone were pleased with the overall efforts of the players whose parents had travelled to Cardiff for this evening match to support Pembrokeshire Schools Football.

Pembrokeshire Schools played in new kit sponsored by the Milford Haven Port Authority and training footballs were financed from a grant from Hyundai. The Schools’ Association is very grateful to these sponsors for their generous financial support.