Lampeter Town moved back up into second place in division one following a win over Cilgerran Rovers but the visiting side, which was much changed from recent weeks were forced to dig deep and ride their luck at times.
Twice the Rovers were denied goals for offside and they also hit the cross bar on two occasions and with a little more rub of the green Neil Morgan and his men could have taken something from this game. However, you have to take your chances and this is exactly what the division high fliers did with none more accurate in front of goal than skipper Luke Lovell who bagged a brace.
Lampeter travelled with a threadbare team with no less than eight first team regulars missing, including centre backs Carwyn Gregson and Gareth Williams and key midfielders in Christy Gale and Gethin Davies, Steven Lovell and Arwel Thomas. The North road side also included a number of youngsters and they did the club proud.
The visitors started brightly and took the lead after only ten minutes when Robert Slawkowski was given far too much time and space by the home defence and he brought the ball under control and calmly slotted home. The second came five minutes later when Luke Lovell turned his marker on the edge of the box and drilled a left foot shot into the top corner.
The Rovers came back strongly with 16 year old Dean James in only his second game causing a few problems and he was unlucky when he hit the crossbar and he also saw a penalty appeal turned down. Louis Harding had a goal disallowed and Tom George had a screamer of a shot hit the bar but after all their efforts it was Lampeter who got the third when midway through the half, Slawkowski who is in the form that won him the young player of the year award last season, turned his marker inside out before finding Lovell and the Lampeter captain turned the ball inside the far post to grab his second of the game.
The game swung in favour of the home team after the interval in terms of time on the ball with Cilgerran enjoying a lot of possession and they had a couple of goals disallowed whilst Lampeter who relied on the counter attack were guilty of missing some clear-cut chances to extend their lead, with the worst of these coming from Szymon Konwiak when he managed to blaze the ball over the crossbar from a yard out.
Slawkowski finally killed the game off late on with a powerful header before John Williams struck for the Coraclemen with a well-deserved consolation goal. Some excellent football all round especially from some of the younger players with right back Daniel Thomas on his senior debut for Lampeter impressing as did James for Cilgerran.
Division two leaders Maesglas romped to victory as expected against SDUC and the game was all over as a contest by half time with the Blues 8-0 ahead. Further goals followed in the second half before SDUC secured a consolation effort through Danny Hyde. The Maesglas scorers were Billy Myers with four, his last goal being the best with a screamer from thirty yards. Dan Jones with a hat trick, Kieran Harman who added another three, Mathew Roche with a long range free kick and Joe Howe and Sion Lewis who netted a couple between them.
Reserves Cup
Two goals from Rangers striker Jake Kelly and one from Rhydian Davies earned Bargod a 3-2 win over Llanboidy Reserves at Parc Puw. Sion Thomas and Ollie Hughes were on target for the visitors in a tight and entertaining game.
Cwpan Dai Dynamo
Costcutter second division outfit Felinfach reached the semi final of the Cwpan Dai Dynamo after a late goal from Rhys James stole the honours.
Opponents Aberporth, who were on top in the closing stages with the game finely balanced at 0-0 looked to be the likely winners and were pushing hard but James stepped up just at the right time to slot the ball home for the only goal of the game.
Felinfach dominated possession in the early stages and moved the ball around effectively but Aberporth coped well and reduced the home side to only a few long range efforts as they stood firm in defence and got a lot of bodies behind the ball, making it difficult for the Milkmen.
The visitors came out a lot stronger in the second half and began to look a bit more dangerous in attack and created some half decent chances but nothing really clear cut to trouble Owain Williams between the sticks, who had a fairly comfortable day all in all.
As the game went into the latter stages of the game, both teams became increasingly desperate to break the deficit so long balls forward were beginning to become a lot more frequent and with some five minutes to go, Aberporth looked to have had a golden opportunity to win it as the ball was crossed into the box but the effort was skied over the bar. Felinfach hit straight back and made the airmen pay for this missed opportunity deep into injury time when James played the ball to Lee Forrester out wide who beat his man with a turn of pace and crossed a pin-point ball back to James who side-footed the ball home.
The Ceredigion side will take on Dolgellau Reserves in the semi-final after the Gwynedd team beat Aberaeron Reserves at Cae Sgwar by 2-1 with Darryn Jones bagging a couple of goals for the visitors.
