Cwpan Coffa Dai Dynamo
Newcastle Emlyn 4 Bargod Rangers 3
Newcastle Emlyn appeared to be crashing out of the Cwpan Dai Dynamo but they were saved in Houdini fashion by a couple of quickfire goals from Cory Davies in injury time.
The reds who gambled on playing this match in conditions which appeared to favour the Costcutter second division outfit rode their luck throughout and the visitors will feel that it was they who should be in the next round.
Chances were very scarce in the opening half but not a huge surprise in the very difficult heavy conditions but it was Rangers though who broke the deadlock when a Dan Evans free kick evaded everyone including Reserves keeper Joe Rees and found its way into the net.Reds manager Owain Thomas drafted on Sam Skinner and Craig Gordon on to the field just before the break as his team were not really threatening and the two of them combined to put Emlyn ahead on the hour mark when Skinner sprinted into the box and he cut the ball back to Gordon to finish confidently.
The hosts dominated after this with the ball being mostly in the Bargod half of the field as the Reds pushed for the second goal but this didn’t happen as a Gethin Davies long kick down field was miss judged by the home defence and experienced defender Steven Hicks brought down Jayden lynch for a penalty.Rangers striker Josh Grota converted from the spot kick to put the visitors a goal ahead and the cup holders looked vulnerable at this stage. However utility player Skinner saved his team once again when he fired home from close range and it was game on going into the final quarter. Bargod pushed hard from the re start and went close on several occasions and they were finally rewarded when the ball was whipped across the face of the goal and Grota nipped in to claim his second with a well timed shot that flew into the top corner and for what appeared to be the winner.
However Emlyn had other ideas and Cory Davies made it 3-3 in time added on when he cut inside the box and his shot beat the Rangers keeper and just half a minute later Davies found himself in a similar situation and carefully placed his shot to the far side of the keeper to make it 4-3 and game over.Reds player boss Owain Thomas said he was a very relieved man and believed his team had got themselves out of jail and added:
“I was not too impressed with our performance but then again we showed great character to get back to winning this cup game.
“ Bargod to be fair deserved more as they worked very hard and didn’t get what they really deserved and a bit like us last week at Bow Street.
“ Hopefully this will be a wake up call for us as no matter what team you come up against you have to be ready for the challenge and the outcome of this game could have easily been very different.”
