MAGPIES BACK ON SONG

Ceredigion Costcutter League Round up.

Division 1

Cardigan Town and Llandysul served up a cracker of a match at the King George with some splendid football produced by both teams and a dash of spice added with a couple of red cards before Town eventually overpowered a Swallows team missing a few key players.

It was the Magpies who were first out of the blocks and they went ahead when roving full back Steff Davies netted after only two minutes but Llandysul came storming back with none better for them than teenage winger Harri Wilson who caused plenty of problems down the left flank. Wilson should have levelled matters after fifteen minutes but was off target. However he made amends very soon after this with a super goal with the ball played to feet several times and he waltzed his way through to net past Steff Marsden in goal.

Wilson was through again a few minutes later but he was fouled by Marsden as he attempted to round the keeper just outside the box for an open goal and the custodian was shown a red card by official Peter Wilson.

Town re grouped and brought on occasional keeper Alun Williams and there was more drama to come as a goal bound shot from Josh Mellor was stopped on the goal line by Mark Jones with the referee adjudging probably harshly that the ball had hit his arm and Jones was sent packing.

Experienced midfielder Ben Davies stepped up and nonchalantly chipped the ball into the net to put his team 2-1 up but with the game very much in the balance. However just before the break the Swallows conceded a very sloppy goal with defenders guilty of ball watching and Tom Gardener tucked the ball home from close range. Worse was to follow early in the second half with another soft goal and this knocked the stuffing out of Llandysul and they never recovered. Davies was again the scorer when his downward header from just inside the box bounced high over keeper Daniel Jones and the defenders in front of him, to creep into the net and make it 4-1 and game over.

It was all Cardigan in the final quarter and the last goal of the game was well worth waiting for as full back Davies played a sweet one two before confidently picking his spot to cap a fine game individually.

New Llandysul manager Gwynfor Edwards will be disappointed at the way his team fell away in the second half but there were plenty of positives with Wilson showing some excellent skills and stalwart Lewis Jones working hard in midfield against an excellent duo in Davies and James Evans whilst at the back Scott Mayes made some crucial tackles and keeper Jones also produced a few heroics.

For Cardigan young Llion Williams did a very good job on winger Wilson when he had to fall back into defence after the red card and midfielders Davies and Evans got better as the game progressed.

St Dogmaels warmed up for their midweek clash with local rivals Cardigan Town after they comfortably disposed of Ffostrasol by 6-1 at the School Field.

The Saints who have picked up where they left off at the end of last season were three up in not time thanks to Chris Morgan, Pete Almond and Louis Harding and it was pretty much one way traffic.

The saints drafted on substitutes in the form of Justin Williams, Aled Rees, Mike Diggle and Luke Jones in the second half and they added two more goals through midfielder Adam Williams to make it 5-0.

The Wanderers claimed a late consolation goal when Dafydd Phillips netted before Luke Jones made it 6-1.

Newcastle Emlyn faced Aberaeron Reserves with a handful of regulars unavailable but they still managed to dig out a hard fought 2-0 win.

The reds young team which included seven under 19s started well and enjoyed several decent chances with both Jayden Lynch and Mikey John going close and forcing the visiting custodian into making a series of good saves.

A goal though finally came when Iwan James made a silky run down the wing and sent over a pinpoint cross for Lynch to pass into the net. More of the same continued and Emlyn should have had put the game to bed but some resilient defending kept them out. Tom Bluett and Lynch both hit the woodwork. Another goal though eventually arrived when on the half hour mark when John turned his marker on the half way line and he raced towards the keeper and finished calmly into the bottom corner.

There were plenty of chances at both ends after the break with the reds trying their utmost to put the game to bed while the black and ambers did their best to get back into the game and they almost did this in the closing stages with their best chance of the half but their goal bound shot was scrambled off the line.

Felinfach continued with their winning run despite the absence of a number of regulars. Sol Kalani got them off to a decent start when the midfielder beat a couple of defenders before firing home from the edge of the box. Llanboidy recovered from this early set back and when the Milkmen failed to clear a simple corner the ball was poked in at the back post by Celt Jones.

The visitors lead was restored when Keiron Boyes was on target but Llanboidy hit back once again when Luke Davies was in the right place at the right time to slot the ball home and the Cae Dandre men pushed hard for a third goal. However Felinfach defended resiliently and with fifteen minutes of the game to go front runner Joe Jenkins received the ball on out on the flank and smashed the ball home from a tight angle to give the Milkmen the lead once more.

A further goal followed when Boyes made it 4-2 before Chris Bowen set up an exciting finale with just a goal separating the teams. Boyes had a golden opportunity to bag a hat trick right at the death but he missed the target.