South Wales Hockey League
Division 1
Llandysul 7 Bridgend 1
Llandysul bounced back from a disappointing defeat at the hands of Radnor to inflict an early Christmas roasting on visitors Bridgend at Ysgol Bro Teifi.
The hosts who are currently in third place,have settled seamlessly into pastures new following promotion up to division one this season and they can now look forward to the second half of the campaign with renewed confidence when they return in January.
The Ceredigion team started the game slower than usual and the pacy Bridgend attack put them under pressure from the start and it came as no surprise when they were stung by an early goal following a powerful shot from the edge of the circle. This sprang Llandysul into life and the whole team moved up a gear and raised the tempo of their play. It was a positive response to conceding early and a Llandysul goal came very quickly after that with Michelle Davies scoring with a strong reverse stick strike.
The hosts kept the pressure on the Bridgend defence for the remainder of the half as they took control and a further three goals came for Llandysul in the first half, with one for Michelle Davies and two for player of the match Tracey Davies. The home midfield of Rhiannon Farr, Emma Jac Davies and Erin Morgan controlled play with Crisial Gwenllian playing well down the Llandysul right wing.
Turning round at 4-1 Llandysul continued to press throughout and they were rewarded when Michelle Davies completed her hat trick early in the second half following good pressing work by Heledd Gwyndaf. The home defence remained vigilant as Bridgend were dangerous on the break and had some powerful players up front but Mared Jones, Gwenan Evans, Kelly Davies and Elen Williams were solid with goal keeper Lleucu Ifans making some timely saves.
The west Wales side kept attacking and the pace of Tracey Davies caused problems for the Bridgend defence throughout the game and she turned from scorer to provider late on when she broke through and crossed the ball to the centre of the circle where Ellie Evans fired home with a strong shot, her first for Llandysul.
Michelle Davies completed her personal tally late on with her fourth of the match to cap an excellent 7-1 success for her and her team.
Another fine all round showing from the home team with promising performances from the younger players in the shape of Erin Davies, Ellie Evans and Jano Evans who once again did really well and more importantly gained valuable match time for the first team. Another to catch the eye was Cerys Silvestri-Jones in her first game for the senior team.
Many thanks to Certas for sponsoring the match and to the Porth Hotel for the food after the match.
