Bay Cup Final
Cardigan Town 1 Newcastle Emlyn 3
A superb save from the penalty spot by Emlyn keeper Ian Hamilton at a crucial period in the game helped steer his side to a well deserved win in the final of the Bay Cup. Writes Andrew Clarke.
Referee Nigel Edwards had no hesitation in pointing to the spot after Tom Gardiner had been tripped in the box and magpies skipper Iestyn Evans stepped up confidently to take the kick. However his powerfully struck penalty was parried by Hamilton and to rub further salt into the wounds the talented Cardigan centre back failed to bury the rebound and his effort sailed over the crossbar.
A goal at this stage could well have resulted in a different outcome as Cardigan were in the ascendency despite being two goals down and they had dominated much of the play albeit from box to box and had created more chances.
Ten minutes later Peter Almond fired home from a free kick and it was pretty much all over at 3-0 as some of the young heads went down.
very impressive
It was the Magpies though who started very positively and John Lumb went close on ten minutes when his well struck shot was just off target and cleared the crossbar. Ben Davies who was the stand out performer for Town then went close with a header but it was the reds who opened the scoring with a very soft goal.
Midfielder Davies was penalised and then booked for a rash challenge on the half way line and the free kick floated hopefully into the Town box by Steve Hicks was left unclaimed as keeper Carl Woodhouse hesitated and ex Bargod midfielder Sam Skinner slipped in between custodian and defender and the ball ended up in the net, punched home by Woodhouse.
A second goal followed soon after when a parried save by the Town keeper fell nicely into the path of impressive youngster Jake Kelly, another former Bargod raider and he threaded the ball home to give his side a two-goal lead from the only two chances the reds had created in the opening half hour. Town appealed to referee Edwards as Kelly looked to be in an offside position but he and his neutral linesman were not moved.
Cardigan were given a golden opportunity to pull a goal back from the spot but this was denied by the heroics of Hamilton and this signalled a spiteful few minutes with some nasty challenges coming in from both sides and a couple of players were lucky to be still involved in the action at half time.
It was the direct result of one of these rash challenges that provided the killer goal when Peter Almond hit a sweetly struck free kick from well outside the box that beat keeper Woodford all ends up and this was a bitter pill to swallow for the magpies as there was very little to choose between the teams.
The biggest difference was that the reds converted their chances and at 3-0 there seemed no way back for Town as they struggled against a very organised back four, well marshalled once again by experienced defender Steve Hicks along side Huw Jones and impressive youngster George Lowry.
The second half was a complete contrast to the feisty goings on of the first half although former Magpie Sam Hall was shown the red card for a second bookable offence and although Town threatened on occasion with Lumb, Davies and Ewan Jones going close with headers, keeper Hamilton never had to make a decent save and the match fizzled out in front of a very disappointing crowd at Parc Puw until the final minute when skipper Evans headed home. This though was too late as the final whistle sounded soon after.
The re arranged kick off time of 1.30 and the selection of a quality football ground for hosting a Costcutter final promised to deliver a fitting end to the season but alas this did not happen. Newcastle Emlyn were well deserved winners in the end and they can look forward to next season with plenty of optimism after lifting two trophies as they now have enough strength in depth to challenge Llandysul and they look a good bet to lift the championship in 2018. Some of their young players in the form of Dion and Daniel Davies, Jake Kelly, George Lowry and Ben Thomas were impressive and were able to hold their own physically. Most crucial was that they had excellent support and guidance from the more experienced players like Hicks, Jones and Skinner and this is a fine team in the making.
Cardigan will look back and shake their heads at the score line as they were better than that but they gifted the opener and also missed a penalty so they can’t complain too much. They were well served by Davies who is still a quality performer in the middle of the park, whilst skipper Evans and his veteran partner Steve Blackford were calmness personified. Joost Burki was also impressive but the Magpies showed a reluctance to get the ball out wide and take on their opponents where they were most vulnerable.
Town who are also building will learn from the experience and have some promising young players in the form of Tomos Toft, Ewan Jones,Tom Gardiner and Josh Mellor and will also develop into a decent team but their new kids on the block were kept quiet for most of this game by a few experienced campaigners who snuffed them out.
