WELSH LEAGUE DIVISION TWO, CALDICOT TOWN 1-2 ABERGAVENNY TOWN, ATTENDANCE: 75 (h/c)
After my adventures in Russia I was now back home to join the hordes partaking in the Western League Ground Hop. After visiting Longwell Sports in the morning I decided to pay my £5.60 and undertake a cross border raid over the Severn Bridge for my afternoon game.
Caldicot is the first major town In Wales after the second Severn crossing so the journey from Longwell in Bristol was straightforward enough. However time constraints meant there was no chance to go a see Caldicot's most famous landmark, the 12th century castle.
The football club is not as old as that, of course, and was founded in 1953. They found a base on the King George V playing fields on Jubilee Way and that has been home to this day. There is a covered terrace on one side of the ground and a recently installed pre-fab seated stand on the other side. This is part of the ongoing process to meet the new FA Wales ground criteria.
The club joined the Welsh League in the mid 1980's and have remained members since. They having most of their time in the league in either division two or three but have had the odd foray into the top league, with their best finish in 2009 when they finished 4th in Division One.
Today was a massive Gwent derby as Abergavenny Town were the visitors to Jubilee Way and it was Abergavenny who took all the points with a hard fought victory.
Abergavenny took the lead after 10 minutes when Sean Feeley intercepted the ball and squared to Curtis Methven for a neat finish into the corner of the net.
Caldicot enjoyed plenty of possession in the opening half but in truth rarely troubled Tom Indge in the Abergavenny goal. They did though have an effort that hit the woodwork.
Caldicot continued to press after the break and Indge was called into action to make two fine saves in a matter of seconds to keep the score at 1-0. This proved vital as just five minutes later a defensive howler gifted The Pennies a second goal.
After 65 mins instead of playing a simple header back to the 'keeper, or an agricultural hoof into the trees, Matt James attempted to play his way out of trouble and turned into Aaron Norman who dispossessed the defender and coolly slotted past Gareth Wesson in the Caldicot goal.
On 70 minutes the home side got a goal back when the ball fell to Jason Thorn on the edge of the box who volleyed the ball home from 20 yards straight into top corner. Lovely technique. A sublime strike that deserved to be more than a mere consolation.
At the final whistle I was on my toes sharpish and luckily the roads were clear and I was in the ground at Hallen 4 minutes before the scheduled 5pm kick off.
I must give thanks to all a Caldicot for a very warm welcome, there was even an Evertonian to greet me! I especially must give a big thank you to the chap who made the effort to go back to his house in order to get me a club badge. Diolch.
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!
FAW WELSH CUP 3rd ROUND, PEN-Y-BONT 4-1 AIRBUS UK BROUGHTON, ATTENDANCE: 160 (h/c)
At this latter stage of the Welsh Cup competition, when the Premier League teams enter, there are usually slim pickings when it comes to a new ground to visit. Luckily for me though, Pen-y-bont were drawn at home to Airbus so it was to South Wales I headed for the latest instalment on the road to....well, we will have to see!
Penybont is the Welsh name for Bridgend, the end of the bridge being on the River Ogmore which flows through town. I first visited the town in 2011 when Bridgend Town FC were playing at the rugby ground, The Brewery Field. The club played here from 2009 until 2013 when they merged with another local side, Bryntirion Athletic, to form Pen-y-Bont FC.
The new club are based at Bryntirion Park, the former home of Athletic, which, for sponsorship reasons, is now known as the Kymco Stadium. Despite the freezing cold conditions that the country has experienced over the past week, there was no danger of this game being off as a 3G pitch was laid, to coincide with the beginning of the new club.
Penybont are members of the Welsh league Division One, which sits directly below the Welsh Premier League in the Welsh pyramid. They are currently in 6th position in the table, 8 points behind current leaders Goytre, but with two games in hand.
They are managed by Welsh Premier League legend Rhys Griffiths, who is second on the all time goalscoring list behind Marc Lloyd-Williams. He scored a staggering 180 goals in 181 appearances for Llanelli between 2006 and 2012.
I witnessed The Wingmakers last visit to South Wales a few weeks ago, when they lost 2-0 to Cardiff Met. They are currently without a win since September and are rock bottom of the Welsh Premier League, so there was definitely the whiff of an upset in the air in the build up to kick off. Unfortunately for Airbus that is how is panned out. Admittedly they did not help themselves as their frailties at the back contributed to their downfall.
Penybont went at the visitors from the off and pressed them back, not giving the Wingmakers any time to settle. They found themselves two goals to the good after 19 minutes. Airbus goalkeeper Ryan Nield played the ball to Jake Hully on the edge of the area but a poor touch was intercepted by Joe Hopkins who squared for Marcus Griffiths to fire home (12).
Neild made a great save from a Griffiths header to deny the Penybont striker his second goal (pictured below) but Griffiths did hit the target in the 19th minute when more dithering in the Airbus defence led to a goal. Neild's clearance was intercepted by Hopkins who back healed the ball into the path of Griffiths who made no mistake.
Penybont's two goal lead only lasted two minutes when Ryan Fraughan found the bottom corner of the net from just inside the area. Despite not being in the game for most of the half Airbus should have gone in level at half time but a Liam O’Neill header found the crossbar with the goal at his mercy. When your luck is out...
The second half was 10 minutes old when Penybont restored their two goal advantage. A free kick was swung in and glanced home by player/manager Rhys Griffiths (pictured above). This time there was no coming back for Airbus. There were further chances for both sides but Penybont had the final say in the 89th minute with a superbly worked goal, the ball eventually being played through to Owain Warlow who wrapped up a deserved victory for Penybont.
The sgorio cameras were at the match and the highlights can be found be clicking here
FAW WELSH CUP 1st ROUND, BRIDGEND STREET 2-2 GOYTRE (After Extra Time, 90 Mins 1-1, Goytre won 5-4 on penalties) ATTENDANCE: 85 (h/c)
This weekend my attention turned to the Welsh Cup and a journey to the south of the country. I had pre-booked a train journey to Cardiff in the hope that the draw would give me plenty of options, and also a chance to partake in a spot of ‘Good Beer Guide’ pub ticking!
The draw ultimately gave me a choice of three ties - Ton Pentre v Abergavenny Town, Aberbargoed Buds v Barry Town or my actual choice Bridgend Street v Goytre. Upon arrival in the capital it was throwing it down, so that immediately made me a little nervous.
The obvious thing to do would have been head into the valleys to Aberbargoed as they play on a 3G pitch, but a phone call to the secretary of Bridgend gave me a little confidence that things would be ok. It was just as well really as I was in the process of downing a couple a swift halves in Zerodegrees before catching the number 11 bus in the direction of Tremorfa.
Bridgend, just to avoid any confusion, are a Cardiff based team and play in the Tremorfa area of the city, on the Willows High School playing field, in the shadow of the Celsa Steel Works. The club though were originally from the Splott area of Cardiff, with the actual Bridgend Street demolished in 1972.
After spending most of their existence in district leagues, The Street were promoted to the South Wales Senior League in 1994 and went on to become champions a record five times (five times) before moving up to the Welsh League in 2011. The club are currently playing in Division Three.
Today they were hosting Welsh League First Division leaders Goytre, where the phrase ‘potential banana skin’ could easily be applied. The visitors from Gwent were certainly on a hiding to nothing.
The home side were certainly up for the game and never allowed Goytre to get into any kind of rhythm. It was difficult at times to work out who the higher ranked team were. The Street deservedly went in at half time 1-0 up thanks to a beauty of a free kick from their skipper Paul Fowler.
Such was the need for a lift in the performance that their manager made a triple substitution at the break to try and change things. Goytre pushed for an equaliser but it was Bridgend Street who came closest to a goal when Fowler had an effort crash off the crossbar.
It was looking like a big upset was on the cards but in the last minutes of the game Goytre levelled when striker Lewis Sommers was given the freedom of the box to control the ball and fire into the top corner. Heartbreaking for The Street.
The momentum had now swung and within minutes of the start of extra time Goytre were in front when Jack Aladice fired home. Rather than let their heads drop Bridgend rallied and found themselves level in the second half of extra time thanks to a fine effort from Nick Thomas.
In the remaining time neither side could find a winner which meant the dreaded lottery of spot kicks. Obviously there were tired legs out there so there were a fair few missed kicks. It came down to sudden death with Goytre prevailing 5-4.
A fine advert for Welsh football and credit to both teams. Goytre will now travel to Rhayader Town in round 2.
The extra time and penalties meant I was on the 1709 bus back into the city centre where I was able to pay a visit to the excellent Hopbunker and Urban tap House before catching my train home. A grand day out in the capital.
After my adventures in Russia I was now back home to join the hordes partaking in the Western League Ground Hop. After visiting Longwell Sports in the morning I decided to pay my £5.60 and undertake a cross border raid over the Severn Bridge for my afternoon game.
