SAINTS MARCH ON TO THE SEMI

CUP FOOTBALL. Dewi Stars, Llandysul, Newcastle Emlyn and St Dogmaels march on

League Cup

St Dogmaels 2-0 Lampeter

The Saints marched on into the semi finals of the Easter Monday Cup after they defeated Costcutter high fliers Lampeter Town by two goals to nil and manager Steve Williams who has lifted the League Cup many times as a player could well be doing so again this year as a manager as his team look hard to beat.

St Dogmaels were very good on the day albeit against a Lampeter team who were again forced to travel with several key players unavailable but they were first to conceded that they were well beaten by a good side that were very impressive at times.

Both Carwyn Gregson and Christy Gale were unavailable for Town, as was winger Jason Jones and the north road men were also without a recognised goalkeeper, but if it wasn’t for stand in keeper Paul Simmons who was the best visiting player on the day, the score could well have been far greater as he had a fantastic game.

St Dogmaels were the sharper side from the off and could easily have scored a few early goals as Chris Morgan hit the cross bar from a Craig Williams cross and Morgan had several more efforts saved by keeper Simmons. A goal though eventually arrived in the last minute of the opening half when the hosts were awarded a penalty after Morgan was upended and Adam Williams fired home.

Lampeter upped their performance in the second half and applied a lot of pressure with Luke Lovell and Gethin Davies prominent but they were generally outnumbered by a well organised defence and a second goal came late on when Chris Jones latched on to a cross by Williams and his deflected shot flew in from edge of box.

A well-deserved win for Steve Williams and his men with none better for them than defender Mindugas Simkevicius in a game well officiated by Neil Lewis.

Ffostrasol 0 Newcastle Emlyn 4

Second division Ffostrasol were eventually beaten by 4-0 at Parc Troedrhiw but this was a fairly even game for long periods with the reds just a bit more clinical in front of goal and they took their chances well.

The Wanderers created some decent opportunities with Dion Phillips just wide with a couple of opportunities that just missed the target in the first half and one in the second half that was well saved.

Emlyn though settled down and opened the scoring when Peter Almond chipped the keeper and a second soon followed when Daniel Davies slotted home.

The heavy rain made life difficult and the greater experience of the visiting team helped secure a third goal when Dafydd Owens headed home from close range after good work by Almond who set him up with a knock down.

The standard of play in the second half deteriorated as the pitch became extremely heavy but Emlyn managed to poach a fourth goal when Dion Davies hit a shot from outside the box that flew into the net.

J.Emrys Morgan Cup.

Caersws Reserves 3 Dewi Stars 4

Renowned cup battlers and last year’s beaten semi finalists, Dewi Stars, were at it again on Saturday, as they also progressed to the quarter finals. However in similar fashion to Llandysul it was a late, late show with two goals in the last four minutes to clinch a pulsating cup tie.

The Stars took an early lead as Steffan Owens coolly rounded home custodian Jamie Re after being put through by Deian Williams. Caersws equalised on the half hour when fleet footed winger Charlie Jellet capitalised on a defensive slip to send both sides in all square at the interval.

Stars regained the lead early in the second half when a power drive from Steffan Owens was too hot to handle for Re and as the ball spun up into the air 16 year old Liam Jones was first to react to head his side back in the lead. On 75 minutes Caersws equalised for the second time when following a period of pressure, Thomas Evans found space to head home from a corner.

The home team took the lead with eight minutes remaining as substitute Craig Stephens turned in the box to beat the offside trap giving Rhodri Edwards no chance. Caersws thought they had done enough until a dramatic final few minutes saw the Llanddewi youngsters clinch the tie.

On 86 minutes Gethin Thomas put William Williams through and from the edge of the box his shot flew in to the top corner seemingly taking the game to extra time.

But with two minutes remaining, Williams squared to the coolest player on the pitch in Ifan Thomas and he picked his spot to send the Stars through for a home tie against Berriew.

All the Stars squad gave everything but none more than Ryan Hurrell who was outstanding at the back in his new role.

Cardigan Town pulled out of their fixture at Caersws as they were unable to raise a team. The Magpies who won this competition only a couple of years ago when they defeated Crannog are struggling from week to week, especially for away games.

Llandysul 3 Pencader 0

Two late goals saved the day for a Llandysul side who were under the cosh for long periods of this game and who were a touch fortunate to get through.

This game was in the balance until the last few minutes with Costcutter second division team Pencader producing a superb performance that almost caused an upset.

The opening exchanges in this local derby were fairly even with an intense battle in midfield between the likes of Ben Thomas and Lewis Jones of Llandysul and Zak Morgan and the impressive Owen Broom for the visitors.

Llandysul enjoyed the best of the early chances and Dean Jones went close with a free kick that was well saved by keeper Chris Stevens and just as Pencader seemed to be gaining the upper hand they were stung on 20 minutes when a hopeful shot from Thomas took a wicked deflection which left Stevens rooted to his goal line.

Pencader played better after the break and it was they who looked like the first division team. Midfielder Broom started to play much further up the field and he caused a lot of problems with his strength and close ball control and this unsettled the Llandysul back four and Gordon made a few more runs down the flank and it seemed that a goal would arrive soon and extra time would be required.

Sion Price almost put the ball into his own net when he frantically cleared in the penalty box and up the other end Lewis Jones produced the champagne moment of the game when he lifted the ball up out of the mud and volleyed the ball towards goal which brought a good save from Stevens. Adrian Hazelby also saw a decent shot fly just wide of the woodwork.

Davies made a number of substitutions late on with his team vulnerable at 1-0 and desperately needing a second goal and this finally arrived in the dying minutes when substitute Mathew Newbould who had missed a sitter a minute earlier was presented with the ball just a few yards from goal and he slotted it home. Two minutes later Dean Jones added the third from a similar distance and that was the final act of a dramatic cup tie that could have gone either way.