Llandysul, one of the favourites to win the J. Emrys Morgan Cup this season got their cup trail off to a flying start despite missing four of their best players through injury and suspension.
The Swallows who were stitched up like a kipper by Llanfair United in the final last season took the field without strikers Adrian Hazelby and Simon Davies and midfielders Terry Maynard and Ben Thomas but they still managed to overcome the challenge of Llanymynech by 2-0.
The hosts who adopted an unfamiliar formation of 3-5-2 with speedster Scott Thomas alongside Matthew Newbold up front, settled well with plenty of possession but some poor passing let them down at times whilst at the other end Llanymynech threatened a few times with a couple of shots at goal which Jon Durbridge dealt with comfortably
Llandysul finally broke the deadlock on 35 minutes when Josh Baker playing in the unusual position of midfield found Lewis Jones who then laid the ball to Matthew Newbold who found the net with a powerful shot from just outside the box.
They doubled their lead just two minutes into the second half when centre back Dean Jones picked out a great pass for Scott Thomas to race away and slot home to make it 2-0 and after that the hosts continued to press for more goals but the Llanymynech keeper was in inspired form saving well from Thomas and in particular from a Scott Mayes header and the Swallows saw the game through safely.
Cambrian Tyres league high fliers Bont looked to be cruising to a 3-0 victory against St Dogmaels before the former winners came back late on to cause a few scary moments at 3-2.
Chris Thomas and his men dominated large periods of a feisty first half but some very poor finishing let them down and they were punished for this when Dion Davies netted and this brought a huge improvement in the Bont performance. The visitors were well on top after the break and added further goals through Lee Jones and Dewi Sion Evans as they capitalises on their monopoly of possession. The saints hit back late on with a penalty for a hand ball on the goalline which saw a visiting player sent off and Rhys Jones tucked the ball away and just two minutes later Chris Morgan was on target and this set up a very nervy final few minutes at 3-2 but Bont hung on for the win they just about deserved.
Crannog produced one of their poorest displays for a few weeks but they still managed to edge out Llangedwyn with a goal from veteran striker Gary Davies
The visitors were well up for this game but they never really had any firepower up front to cause Crannog many problems and at the other end the hosts enjoyed a couple of chances, with George Colven going close and forcing good saves from their outstanding keeper and the score was locked at 0-0 at the break.
Crannog were a bit brighter in the second half and finally went ahead when skipper Mike Glover headed the ball back across goal from a corner towards his centre back partner, Rhydian Roberts, and he in turn nodded it to former Emlyn favourite Gary Davies to head into the top corner for a goal that proved to be the winner.
Former winners Cardigan Town were boosted by the return of Steve Blackford and James Evans and they controlled most of this game against Felinfach and emerged well deserved winners. Captain Iestyn Evans opened the scoring for the Magpies and this was followed by a goal for wideman Tomos Toft with the milkmen restricted to a few half chances.
Further goals followed in the second half when Toft and Neil Evans, given the penalties duty following a few misses at the club in recent months, slotted home confidently to seal the win.
Renowned cup battlers and last year’s semi finalists Dewi Stars were at it again on Saturday as they came out on top in a seven goal thriller at Llanddewi Brefi.
The Stars started well against a lively Brecon Northcote side from the Mid wales South league who have aspirations of promotion to the Spar league.
Steffan Owens put the villagers ahead with a fine low strike after 15 minutes and before half time the game looked dead and buried as they raced into a comfortable 3 goal lead. A Gethin Thomas special from a 25 yard free kick into the top corner and a well worked team goal finished by William Williams seemed to have knocked the stuffing out of the visitors, even though 16 year old Liam Jones had made a miraculous clearance off the line when it was one nil.
If the Stars thought it was all over, Northcote had other ideas and came out all guns blazing after the break. Joel Evans drilled in a low shot to make it 3.1 early on and the next 20 minutes was backs to the wall as the visitors took over and two excellent strikes from James Butler brought Brecon level after 70 minutes and they looked favourites to go on and complete an outstanding comeback.
But the Stars had a second wind, William Williams went close when he hit the post and Steffan Owens lobbed keeper Dec Gaydon but the ball went agonisingly over the crossbar
It took something special to win the game and it came from the unlikeliest of scorers as midfielder Marc Jones picked the ball up some 30 yards out and unleashed a terrific drive into the top corner-a goal worthy of winning any game.
But the excitement did not end there-Stars keeper Carwyn Richards had to leave the field after making a fine save and stand in keeper Rhodri Edwards made an outstanding one handed save low to his left to deny Brecon another equaliser in the dying minutes of a pulsating cup tie.
Llanilar managed to come away with a win at Cilgerran following an exciting finale and penalty shoot out. The coraclemen who have been hit hard by injuries went into their game with only four of the team from last season with 16 year old Jonathan Ridley drafted into goal at the last minute and producing a man of the match effort.
Both teams created chances but were unable to convert any during the first half but Ricky Woods Holmes and Aaron Williams both went close with free kicks and Llanilar missed a penalty
The visitors started off the more- lively of the two teams in the second half using their height and size to their advantage and the action got a bit heated but a goal arrived when the Rovers defence was unable to clear the ball and Ryan Edwards netted
However, the Rovers pressure finally paid off when good work by Dan Bellis who worked tirelessly all afternoon beat three players before he put Craig Poole in on goal and he gave the keeper no chance to level the scores.
Extra time started with both sides going all out for the win and it was the Rovers who got the second through John Williams and at this point the hosts probably thought they had done enough for the victory. However with just a few minutes remaining experienced campaigner Huw Bonner headed home from a corner to level matters which led to the penalty shoot-out . Both teams missed penalties but it was Llanilar who eventually went through.
At Parc Troedrhiw, Ffostrasol went 1-0 up with an early goal by Dion Phillips but Berriew Reserves equalised soon afterwards through Ryan Jenkins and they added to this when Josh Gethin netted just after half time. This second goal proved to be enough to get them through but the Wanderers will have been very pleased with their overall performance.
Pencader enjoyed a superb 6-2 win away at Llanon in the very windy conditions. Jordan Buchanan fired the visitors into the lead but this advantage proved to be short lived as Llanon replied to make the scores level at the break.
Pencader regained the lead when man of the match Daniel Jones scored before Llanon levelled again but the Costcutter outfit finished strongly and came through for a comfortable win in the end with Liam Gordan bagging a brace and Jones completing his hat trick with two late goals.
Two goals from Llyr Davies and one from Ifan Jones got Tregaron Turfs through into the next round by 3-1 at the expense of Llanboidy at Cae Dandre.
