J.Emrys Morgan Cup Final 2017
Llandysul 3 Berriew Reserves 1
Two goals from Llandysul front runner and man of the match Adrian Hazelby helped his side secure the Emrys Morgan Cup and complete an historic double for the riverside club. Writes Andrew Clarke.
Hazelby pictured who was injured in a heavy collision early on and who was in obvious pain, bravely soldiered on for the whole game and this never say die attitude typified a Ceredigion team who only six day previous had lifted the Costcutter league championship.
However this game was in the balance until late on and there were a few scary moments for the swallows especially when they were a goal down in the first half and nerves were jangling.
Berriew who played their part in an entertaining match which was played in cold, wet and windy conditions were very impressive for long periods and used the flanks well through the likes of Brad Carr and their pace troubled Llandysul.
It was the Swallows though who created the best of the early chances and Lewis Jones went close with one powerful drive, Scott Thomas missed narrowly from a corner and Hazelby and Sion Price had shots go just wide in the opening ten minutes.
Just as supporters were probably thinking back to the final of last year when Llandysul missed a hatful of chances their worries were confirmed when from their first real attack of the game Berriew went ahead when Mike Henderson Smith took full advantage of some poor defending to slip the ball past Jon Drawbridge.
This sparked of a very fine passage of play by the Montgomeryshire side with Carr causing problems out wide and his team created two very good opportunities which were scrambled away by a panicky defence and they had a big shout for a penalty for a handball. This could have changed the course of the game but fortunately for the Swallows the official in charge decided it was accidental.
Just a few minutes later came the best goal of the match and one of the finest individual goals seen by this observer for a very long time.
Scott Thomas, who had not seen much of the action, picked up the ball just inside his own half and he went on a mazy run that took him past six defenders and he then calmly fired home from the edge of the penalty box. Berriew will look back and wonder why he hadn’t been taken out but his pace and close control were outstanding and his finish just as impressive.
This equaliser lifted Llandysul and they responded with Hazelby forcing a great save and Ben Thomas also narrowly missed with a decent strike but the game was all square at the break with nothing much to choose between the teams.
Llandysul bossed the opening quarter of the second half with midfielders Terry Maynard and Ian Barrett more influential and winning some big tackles and it was Maynard who set up the second goal on 55 minutes when he made a break down the left flank and his cross from the bye line was met at the far post by Hazelby who tapped the ball home.
Ten minutes later with Berriew fast tiring against a more physical Llandysul side the game was all but ended when Hazelby added his second when he latched on to a super cross from Scott Thomas who had raced down the left wing and bamboozled his marker and Hazleby was presented with the simplest of chances to kill the game.
Berriew were not yet beaten though and they went close with a header from a corner that just brushed the crossbar and they threw caution to the wind in the final ten minutes and pushed players up but the Llandysul defence managed to keep them out with none better than Scott Mayes at sweeper who was outstanding all night.
The final whistle signalled scenes of great jubilation and relief in the Llandysul camp as this had been a hard fought affair against a Berriew side that showed just why they had managed to get to the final of this prestigious competition.
The dreadful weather had an adverse crowd on the size of the crowd but they were treated to an entertaining game with plenty of action at both ends and played in very good spirit.
Llandysul were the best team on the night for the second final in succession but on this occasion they enjoyed a bit of good fortune at a critical time, stuck their chances away and thoroughly deserved their victory.
Pictures by Beverley Hemmings.
