There were goals galore on the opening night of the 2016-17 Costcutter season and some exciting last minute turnarounds with none better than at Newcastle Emlyn where two late strikes from Guto Jones stole the honours for the hosts.
Elsewhere champions Cardigan Town lost out to division new boys Cilgerran Rovers, Crannog were given a fright by Bargod Rangers before they emerged narrow winners but there were no such panics for Llandysul who coasted to a comfortable victory over Lampeter Town at Parc Tir Y Dref.
Aberaeron Reserves also enjoyed a narrow win after James Hemmings fired home against local rivals Felinfach.
Former Saints players Adam Williams and John Curran lined up against their old team mates at Parc Emlyn and there were plenty of early tackles flying in as expected and Chris Thomas and his men who were well up for this contest took the lead through front runner Ioan Owen.
Williams provided one of the Emlyn goals to get his team back into the game and front runner Peter Almond added a second but the visitors looked to have shaded things when they went back into the lead through a super strike from outstanding performer Rhys Jones after he and his team had fought back from 2-1 down to level through player boss Thomas, again from a set piece.
Emlyn manager Gethin Davies brought on Guto Jones with fifteen minutes to go and the youngster duly obliged with two very good goals with the winner the best of the lot.
Saints manager Thomas remained up beat after the match despite the loss and said:” I thought we played very well as did both teams and it was a very good game.
I thought we were very unlucky as we created far more chances than Emlyn and we missed a couple of decent chances and hit the post so very disappointed not to take any points from the game but plenty of positives to take away from it”.
Rhys Jones, skipper Jason Williams and new signing Minduh were the stand out players for the visitors with Adam Williams and Almond shining for the hosts.
Cardigan Town could only muster a bare eleven players for their opening fixture at the King George and this proved to be a huge disadvantage against a very strong and physical Rovers team who just about deserved their victory following a spirited performance that was most pleasing to the eye of manager Neil Morgan who said:
” Obviously I’m very proud of the boys as they put in a big shift and this has given us a massive confidence boost following our return to division one although we should not get carried away as Cardigan were not at full strength and missing some players”.
The Magpies should have been ahead after only four minutes but skipper Iestyn Evans blasted his penalty almost up into the chimney pots behind the goal. This was to prove costly later in the half when an indirect free kick from Steff Davies took a slight deflection on its way into the net for the opener.
Town though came back strongly after the break and they equalised when Sam Hall blasted the ball home from the edge of the box and there were chances at both ends with Ewan Jones going close for town and Woodford making a fine save from Harding.
Outstanding defender Dai Williams put Cilgerran ahead with ten minutes to go after the ball fell loose to him from a corner and the game was wrapped up in injury time when Louis Harding tucked away a penalty after impressive keeper Craig Woodford had fouled.
Midfielder Jack Jones stood out for the Coraclemen as did Gary Evans alongside him and Davies at the back was a towering figure but this was very much a solid all round showing against a very young Town outfit who had talented footballer Tomos Toft show some fleeting glimpses of what he can do but he and his younger colleagues were largely out muscled.
Llandysul enjoyed a comfortable win against likely title challengers Lampeter Town thanks to a couple of goals apiece from front runners Simon Davies and Adrian Hazelby who caused the Town defence plenty of problems throughout the evening. Davies slotted home the opener before his strike partner added a second but the visitors hit back soon afterwards with a fine strike from midfielder Gethin Davies and he and his colleagues could well have added to this as they enjoyed some decent chances. Davies though put the game to bed when he made it 3-1 early in the second half and Hazelby fired home the final nail in the coffin to give his team a perfect start.
Former Cardigan Town midfielder Dylan Davies, a player with a reputation for scoring very important goals produced the goods in his first start for his new team when he fired home the winner for Crannog against Bargod Rangers.
The Llangrannog men looked to be coasting it against Rangers after they went two goals ahead very early on through George Colven and Rhys Davies but the visitors bounced back with goals from Dan Evans and Josh Grota and the game was finely balanced until Davies snatched a late winner to steal the three points. Outstanding for the hosts were new signing from Aberaeron Mark Davies and midfielders Huw Reed and Rhys Davies. However, full credit to Bargod for a spirited comeback that almost earned them a point.
First teamer James Hemmings was the goal scoring hero for Aberaeron Reserves against local rivals Felinfach as his efforti sealed a narrow victory against a home team that could have earned at least a point with a succession of chances that went begging.