J.Emrys Morgan Cup semi final
Waterloo Rovers 2 Llandysul 2 (aet)
Llandysul won 4-2 on penalties.
Llandysul produced a battling performance to defeat Waterloo Rovers but it took extra time and then penalties before the Swallows finally came through for what will be a second bite at the cherry on Good Friday.
Twice Chris Davies and his men were forced to fight back from a goal down against a very good Rovers side who will look back at missed opportunities especially late on when they may well have sewn this game up.
The hero of the hour for the riversiders was keeper Jon Durbridge who produced saves of top quality but more importantly he saved the very first penalty in the shoot out to heap the pressure on the opposition.
Davies and his men now take on Berriew Reserves in the final and this will give the Ceredigion men an opportunity to make up for losing to Llanfair Reserves in last season’s showpiece.
The game, played on the immaculate 3G surface, kicked off at a fast pace and with barely two minutes gone Durbridge was forced into producing a finger tip save from a free kick.
It was Waterloo who settled the quickest on what was a fast,zippy surface and their midfield were on top early on, but the Swallows came into it and finished the first half a bit stronger although Rovers had the better chances.
The Ceredigion men started a lot brighter after the break but after a heavy challenge on Ben Thomas the official played on and Waterloo were awarded a free kick on the edge of the Llan box. This was floated into the Swallows penalty area and some hesitancy in defence led to the ball falling kindly to Scott Holley whose superbly struck half volley went flying into the net off the underside of the bar.
Llandysul came storming back and were back on level terms on 70 mins when Dean Jones headed home powerfully from a corner and after this both teams pushed for a winner with Waterloo looking slightly stronger but with Scott Mayes and Dean jones holding firm in defence it looked like extra time.
With just a few minutes remaining Waterloo thought they had pinched a winner when a super strike appeared to be heading for the far corner of the net only for Durbridge to spread his 6ft 4ins frame across to tip it around the post to save the day and keep his team in the competition.
Heading into extra time and with a number of Llandysul players in particular struggling with calf muscles and hamstrings pulling tightly on the unfamiliar surface manager Davies was forced to use the roll on roll off constantly.
Just a minute from the re-start a free kick was whipped into the danger area which caused Llandysul a few problems and a misplaced clearance was quickly gathered by Rob Jones and dispatched past Durbridge to put the Welshpool based outfit back in front at 2-1.
The Costcutter men refused to throw the towel in and almost equalised when Lewis Jones missed a great chance before Ian Barrett flicked on to Jones who played a neat one two with Matthew Newbold before Jones volleyed home for an equaliser.
Llandysul with Danny Williams making a big impact off the bench pushed hard for a winner and Newbold missed a great chance to win it at the death when he blasted a volley over the bar.
Waterloo were first up in the penalty shoot-out but Durbridge with a great dive to his right saved the first one to set the Waterloo nerves jangling. Dean Jones calmly slotted his spot kick away and further penalties from Terry Maynard and Ben Thomas cancelled out successful ones from Waterloo before they missed the fourth to give Lewis Jones the opportunity to put his team into the final.
Midfielder Jones, an under rated player who is always a calm head on the ball converted the final spot kick to send his team through to a second final in succession and much to the delight of the Llandysul supporters who were almost out of voice after such a long night with the game not finishing until 10.30pm.
Manager Chris Coco Davies said he was absolutely delighted and admitted to having a mixture of emotions:” This really was a topsy turvy cup tie and we looked out at one stage but we dug in and showed great character and I want to thank my players for travelling all that way against a good side and digging deep in what was a monumental effort.
“I am very proud of my players and I am one lucky manager to have them and feel honoured to be leading them into a second consecutive J. Emrys Morgan Cup Final”.
