BAY CUP FINAL
Lampeter Town 1 Llandysul 2
A late winner from Llandysul striker Simon Davies secured the first piece of silverware for the Swallows for over 20 years and sparked off celebrations that went on long until the night ( and the early morning!).
Davies, a two goal hero last night, slipped in behind the Town defence late on and tucked the ball under keeper Jason Davies for a Llandysul goal that will be remembered for many a day.
As expected there was very little to choose between the two teams with Lampeter edging the opening half and creating more chances than their opponents. Midfielder Gethin Davies hit a splendid free kick that was parried over the bar just five minutes into the game and Luke Lovell also went close before Simon Davies looked to have scored but his effort was cleared away by Paul Simonds.
The deadlock though was finally broken midway through the half when Gethin Hunter set up Rob Slawkowski and he made no mistake from close range to put Lampeter ahead.
Llandysul came storming back and front runner Davies rounded the keeper but he snatched his shot at an open goal and the ball flew safely over the crossbar. Davies then set up Lewis Evans who managed to tuck the ball into the empty net but this was ruled out for offside. Midfielder Ben Thomas should probably have done better with a header just before the break and his opposite number Gethin Davies saw a volley just miss the target.
The Swallows bounced back to level matters just after the restart when Davies got on the end of a superb cross from Terry Maynard to head home past keeper Davies.
Marc Evans was presented with a chance to put his team back in the lead with a header from a super cross from Jason Jones but his effort was just inches wide and centre back Dean Jones was forced to clear his goal line to stop a goal bound effort from Gethin Davies. At the other end Jones went close with a header from an Adrian Hazelby cross and the tension started to rise as tempers got a bit heated and Lampeter player Symonds was shown a yellow card and he was followed into the book by Gethin Davies following a late tackle.
A goal though finally arrived with just a few minutes to go when Davies slipped his marker and raced away towards goal and tucked the ball away to effectively seal the deal for his team after a very long wait for a trophy.
Lampeter made one final surge in search of a goal but they were kept out by a resilient defensive line with Dean Jones and Scott Mayes in particular standing tall and they saw the game out for a very welcome win for Llandysul after such an outstanding season.
Their opponents will look back and wonder why they didn’t manage to win as they produced some very good chances and as expected margins were very small with little to choose between two teams who produced a fitting climax to the season.
Swallows coach Chris ‘Coco’ Davies was cock a hoop after the game and said:” I must congratulate my team for coming back from a goal down to turn things around and prove a few people wrong.
“ It was a superb performance especially in the second half and a fantastic team effort. I don’t really want to single out individuals but I feel I have to pay respect to Ian Barrett and in particular Terry Maynard as they were outstanding.
“Being Bay Cup winners might not mean much to some people but it means everything to me.”