Reigning champions Cardigan Town came up trumps in the local derby match when they beat rivals Cilgerran by 4-0 and was sweet revenge to the Magpies after they lost to the newly promoted Coraclemen on the opening day of the season.
Iestyn Evans and his very young side which was boosted by the presence of John Lumb took their chances well and kept Cilgerran keeper Dafydd Nicholls very busy whilst at the other end the Rovers lacked composure and their inability to finish cost them dearly.
It was Evans who opened the visitors account when his free kick was blocked by the wall before he had a second go which beat Nicholls with a wicked bounce and Evans added a second soon after, and again from a free kick following another reckless challenge. Cilgerran pushed hard after the break to find a goal to get themselves back into the game but they were knocked back when Josh Mellor fired home the third goal and the points were sewn up when hard working midfielder Emlyn George completed the scoring
The match unfortunately ended on a sour note when keeper Nicholls was helped off the field after sustaining a serious shoulder injury.
Cardigan though were well worth their win as their youngsters in the form of Evans,Tomos Toft and Josh Mellor played some smart football especially in the second half.
Back to the drawing board though for Cilgerran who are struggling with injuries and unavailability of players and this could come and haunt them further down the line
Llandysul continued to blaze a trail at the top of the league when they completed a comfortable win as expected at Parc Arthur but it was the seasiders who came out of the blocks first and they were unlucky not to score after ten minutes when keeper Jon Durbridge was forced to pull off a superb save.
However the Swallows soon got into their stride and Ian Barrett put the visitors ahead when he hit his first goal of the season from the edge of the box which gave the keeper no chance. Fellow midfielder Terry Maynard made it 2-0 with a header from a Lewis Jones cross and the game was all but over after fifteen minutes when front runner Simon Davies turned sharply on the edge of the box and smashed the ball home to make it 3-0.
Scott Thomas added two more goals as did Simon Davies to complete a first half hat-trick after some scintillating football helped put the hosts in at the break 7-0 ahead.
Further goals followed as the visitors ran amok with Ben Thomas claiming a hat trick, Dean Jones netted from the penalty spot , Scott Thomas completed his hat-trick, Simon Davies got his fourth goal, Terry Maynard added another with a great lob over the keeper and substitute Matthew Newbold poached a late goal.
The pace setters have now scored 63 goals to date in the league but any talk of goal difference having any influence on the final outcome as some observers have suggested, is a nonsense!
Newcastle Emlyn made three changes to the team that lost out heavily to Llandysul and this proved to be a winning formula as they ran out comfortable winners over Felinfach.
One of these was front runner Daniel Davies and his pace up front caused Felinfach a number of headaches and he opened the scoring. Further goals followed in the first half through Jake Harris and Oliver Evans and the game was pretty much over. Joint manager Owain Thomas made four changes early in the second half and brought on the teenage foursome of Scott Lote Williams, George Lowry, Rhodri Davies and Jake Shakespeare and the latter pounced for his first goal for the team.
Midfielder John Curran added a fourth with a penalty and Daniel Davies completed the scoring to complete a fine performance and a positive response to a heavy defeat last time out.
Lampeter Town remain on the shirt tails of leaders Llandysul following another convincing win but they were forced to come from behind after Bargod had caught them cold.
The visitors though were not behind for long as Terry Witts equalised from the penalty spot but the remainder of the half was fairly even with Rangers playing much better than their league position suggests but Luke Lovell changed all this with a super solo effort. Lovell with his back to goal on the half way, was allowed to turn before dribbling through the heart of the Bargod team and calmly slotted past the keeper to make it 2-1. A minute later Scott Davies stripped the full back of possession and squared to Gethin Davies who finished neatly to make it 1-3 and this was very tough to take for Bargod after a spirited first half, but that was effectively game over.
The second half was one way traffic and Scott Davies helped himself to a couple of goals, Lovell blasted home from edge of box after great work by Gethin Hunter and Hunter then added a goal from a good header. And to finish off, talented midfielder Christy Gale calmly slotted home when put through on goal.
Crannog and St Dogmaels shared nine goals in a dramatic encounter which eventually went the way of the hosts when George Colven netted deep into injury time.
Crannog started well but the Saints through the outstanding central midfield pairing of Rhys Jones and Adam Williams came back at them and hit Crannog on the break and for most the of the half, the visitors dominated but without really threatening until on the half hour mark when Rhydian Morgan in goal made a great save from winger Chris Jones.
It was Crannog though who opened the scoring when they took full advantage of a poor clearance from defence and Gary Davies, who was outstanding all afternoon, got his reward when he slid the ball home from a tight angle. The Saints came back almost immediately and equalised when Rhys Jones fired home from a penalty and they took the lead a few minutes later when Chris Jones finished at the far post. Crannog though had the final say of the half when Colven struck to make it 2-2 at the break.
Gary Davies grabbed his second after the interval to put his team ahead but against the run of play winger Jones smashed home a volley from the corner of the 18 yard box to make it 3-3 and with four minutes left St Dogmaels skipper Jason Williams started a move from centre back and carried on all the way into the opposition box and finished off a cross from the right to put the saints 4-3 ahead.
With time well up on the clock Rhys Davies levelled matters from the spot after a hand ball offence and with injury time seemingly well over, hosts midfielder Huw Reed hit a superb pass to Gary Davies and the veteran striker chested the ball down and picked out the unmarked Colven who finished at the far post to make it 5-4 to the home side.
Division 2
Ffostrasol warmed up for their top of the table clash with Maesglas this weekend with a convincing win over SDUC with Dion Phillips and Marc Bowen claiming hat tricks. Others to cash in were, Owain Thomas, Dion Davies, Bleddyn Morgan, Gethin Davies and Aled Rumble.
SDUC were on the end of another hammering on Sunday when Maesglas fired ten past them although on this occasion they managed to find the net themselves much to the delight of their players. Alamin Noor claimed a hat trick for the Blues and there were two apiece for Kyle Rowland and Kieran Harman, whilst there were singles for Samba Ndong, Sion Lewis and Daniel Jones
J Emrys Morgan Cup
Aberporth were very unlucky not to come away from Llanidloes with anything after they were edged out by a single goal. The airmen were under the cosh for most of the first half but defended well and after going 1-0 down came to life and dominated the last 20 minutes but just couldn’t find a way past a very organised Llanidloes Reserves defence.
Aberaeron cruised to victory over Machynlleth by 7-0 with Llew Lloyd, Simon Bray and Ollie Edwards all bagging a brace of goals and there was one also for Lloyd Farelli.
Reserves Cup
Leaders Llandysul edged out Llandysul Reserves by 2-1 at Parc Tir Y Dref thanks to a brace of goals from Kayne Poulton with Ross Mc Donald on target for Llanboidy. Nearest rivals Lampeter Reserves also came through for a narrow win when they defeated Newcastle Emlyn by 4-3.
Two goals from veteran Mark Rivers and one each for Nessim Arrousi and Kevin Taylor proved to be sufficient to cancel out goals from Harri Dunn, Jake Shakespeare and Leon Morgan.
The honours were shared between Felinfach Res and Crannog Res when the sides drew 3-3. Eilir Evans, James Morgan and Lewis Evans were on target for the milkmen and for Crannog, Martin Ferris bagged a brace and there was a goal also for Richard Thomas.
