WEST END FC (Pryderi Park)

WELSH LEAGUE DIVISION TWO,
WEST END 1-0 ABERDARE TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 37 (h/c)

This weekend I headed to South Wales to watch the mighty blues of Everton in action against Swansea at the Liberty Stadium, but with the game kicking off at 5.30pm, it afforded me the chance of an aperitif as West End were hosting Aberdare Town in the Welsh League.



West End play their home games Pryderi Park, which is in the Townhill area of Swansea. I made the decision to walk from the city centre and I was a little breathless upon arrival as its a bit of steep trek up Constitution Hill to the ground. No wonder there were a few guffaws from other groundhoppers when I said I was walking to the match!

 Constitution Hill 

The club was formed in 1964 by a group of local enthusiasts in a local public House, The Wellington, which was situated in the West end of Swansea, hence the name.

After winning the Swansea Senior League, and the FAW Trophy in 2005 and 2006, the club made the step up to the Welsh League in 2005. They won promotion from Division Three at the first attempt and their rise up through the leagues was rapid and, within four seasons, West End were in Division One, the second tier of Welsh Football.

The club won the Welsh League in 2013 but they were not granted a domestic licence in order to gain promotion to the Welsh Premier League. This led to an exodus of management and players and the following season the club finished bottom and were relegated.

West End have been in Division Two since, however this season they looked in danger of slipping back to Division Three. They look set to finish the season in the bottom three but with Barry Town winning promotion to the Welsh Premier League, and no southern team coming down to replace them, the knock on effect means there will be only one relegation spot from Division Two this season.

Nonetheless, with two home games left to play I am sure West End would like to finish the season on a high, starting today. After a pretty even opening 45 minutes, the closest there was to a goal was in stoppage time when Aberdare smashed an effort against the crossbar.

However in the second half, West End played a superb counter attacking game and, on another day, it could've been three or four nil. Aberdare's goalkeeper though played an absolute blinder, making a series of fine saves. The game was won courtesy of a solitary strike by West End's Nikki Pavin midway through the second half. Aberdare applied late pressure but the home side held on to claim the victory.

On the final whistle I made my way to the Liberty Stadium, which fortunately was all downhill this time! Swansea did themselves a huge favour in their bid to avoid the drop by beating Everton, thanks to a Fernando Llorente header, as the Blues put in another insipid end-of-season performance.

I previously 'blogged' about a visit to the Liberty Stadium in 2012 and, if you click here, you can read all about it!