COSTCUTTER FOOTBALL
- Lampeter flying high
- Hazelby nets four
- The Reds cruising:
The big games of the day in the Costcutter League went the way of the favourites with the top three title contenders securing convincing wins, with none more impressive than Lampeter Town, who fired five past Crannog.
The North road men according to the hosts produced one of the best team performances seen at the Urdd ground for a long time and one which had skipper Luke Lovell purring with pride:
“This was the best performance we have produced from as far back I can remember. We have a wealth of goal scoring talent so we know we are going to score a lot of goals but at the same time have been a bit porous at the back in recent games due to having to shuffle the line up constantly.
“We knew it was going to be a tough task going to play Crannog away and therefore it was nice to have a solid game and a clean sheet which with a few cup games coming up, leaves us sitting quite nicely in the league.”
Town are indeed in a healthy position in the table just three points behind leaders Llandysul and they currently possess their strongest squad for many years.
Lovell and co travelled without regular defenders Terry Witts and Gareth Williams, midfielder Jason Jones and Scott Davies but youngsters Robert Slawkowski and Szymon Konwiak stepped up to the mark and were key players.
It was Slawkowski who provided the opening goal just before half time when he ran on to a pin point pass from Konwiak to tap the ball home. Crannog suffered a double blow a minute later when striker George Colven was forced to leave the field following a heavy collision and took no further part.
Lampeter came flying out of the blocks after the break and killed off the game with two goals in quick succession. Szymon and Gethin Hunter combined to open up space for Christy Gale just inside the box and he slotted home to make it 0-2 and immediately afterwards, Lovell ran at the defence and slid a through ball to Szymon who slotted under the keeper to make it 0-3.
The fourth goal was real quality from a passing point of view and began with Gethin Davies who had a superb game in midfield, and he played the ball to Lovell who fed Steven Lovell, Slawkowski then picked up the ball and played a one two with Gethin Hunter and curled the ball into the top corner.
Gethin Hunter got the goal he deserved in the dying minutes when he latched on to a quickly taken free kick from Arwel Thomas to fire goal number five past keeper Huw Morgan.
Leaders Llandysul were just too strong all over the park against St Dogmaels and also coasted to a 5-0 victory with front runner Adrian Hazelby claiming four of the goals. His strike partner Simon Davies fired home the first after twenty minutes and a second came very soon afterwards when Lewis Jones set up Hazelby for a belter of a shot that gave the keeper little chance. Hazelby added the third goal after good work from Scott Thomas and he completed the rout when he added two more later in the second half. The first of these to complete his hat trick was a fine solo effort and the final one was a powerful strike from long distance.
Manager Chris Coco Davies was delighted with the result especially as it was sealed at such a hard place to play and said:” For me I only won a few times at St Dogmaels as a player so to go there and win 5-0 as a manager is so pleasing and I was very proud of a very workman like performance with some clinical finishing.”
Dewi Stars picked up their second win of the campaign after a shaky start on their return to the first division with victory over a well organised and disciplined Aberaeron Reserves. The Stars started well and went close a few times in the opening half hour and they finally made the breakthrough when Deian Williams headed home powerfully from an accurate free kick from Daniel Williams. The Stars then went two up on the hour when Steffan Owens rifled home a low shot from a tight angle and he added two more to complete a quick fire hat trick with two superb strikes from the edge of the box to push the Stars up into sixth place in the table.
Bargod Rangers produced the biggest surprise of the day when they held Cardigan Town to a 1-1 draw at Parc Puw despite some quarters writing off their chances of getting a result against the reigning champions!
Rangers who were without a point prior to this game were grateful to the Magpies for making a hash of another penalty which proved to be very expensive. A defeat though would have been harsh on coach Jack Fisher and new manager Gethin ‘Peachy’ Davies as they deserved something out of this game with none better for them than new signing from Llandysul Danny Williams although he blotted his copy book when he missed a penalty late on which would have sealed the three points.
The opening half was a lively affair and Cardigan were the dominant side and were unlucky when they had a goal disallowed for offside but a few minutes later the Magpies were awarded a penalty but player manager Iestyn Evans blasted his shot over the bar for his third penalty miss on the trot this season. Toft though eventually got on to the score sheet when he bagged a superb goal after he slipped his marker on the touchline and let fly from just inside the penalty box.
Rangers who were missing a few key players produced an impressive second half showing with none better than man of the match Steff Evans and he was instrumental in setting up Llewelyn Jones for a simple tap in to claim a share of the points and to put a smile on those who work hard at Parc Puw.
Newcastle Emlyn travelled with their strongest side so far this season and they were far too good for New Quay who found themselves 3-0 down by the interval with goals from John Curran with a superb strike from distance, Peter Almond who beat the offside trap and rounded the keeper and Dan Davies who was put through by midfielder Sam Skinner . The former Rangers midfielder dominated the middle of the park along with Curran all afternoon. Adam Williams who is rumoured to be returning to St Dogmaels came off the bench to claim the fourth goal and Mathew Goodman completed the scoring when he headed home a Guto Jones cross. The seasiders produced a battling performance and never gave up but they were limited to a couple of chances with reds keeper Ian Hamilton making one very good save.
