South Wales Hockey League
Division 1
Kington 4 Llandysul 1
Llandysul suffered only their third defeat of the season to slip back down the table but they played far better than the 4-1 score suggested as they had a number of excellent chances but were denied on several occasions by some fine goal keeping and resilient defending.
Kington, the current league leaders have yet to lose a match and are sitting ten points clear of the chasing pack with thirteen wins and a draw and it will take a fine performance to lower their colours and they were just too good on the day.
The game started at a high tempo with both teams testing each other out and there were chances for both teams with the experienced Kington attack putting pressure on the Llan defence with player of the match Gwenan Evans outstanding , alongside Erin Morgan and Gwyneth Ayers.
However it was the visitors who broke the deadlock when following good work by the visiting midfield, in form sharpshooter Michelle Davies fired home from the edge of the circle, with the ball deflecting off a defender’s stick and looping out of the reach of the goalkeeper.
This goal sparked a revival from the Kington midfield and front line and they upped the tempo and mounted floods of attacks with keeper Lleucu Ifans forced into making a number of fine saves but it came as no surprise when Kington finally levelled matters and they added another soon after to lead 2-1 at the break.
Kington kept up the pressure after the re start and they went 3-1 up following a fine individual goal and any thoughts of a comeback were dampened when the visitors lost striker Michelle Davies following a powerful strike that hit her on the hand but despite this, Llandysul kept going and they created opportunities but the experienced Kington defence proved to be very difficult to break down. Mererid Jones, Ffion Davies and Betsan Evans all worked hard in midfield along with attackers Tracey Davies and Crisial Gwenllian to create chances but to no avail.
The younger players, Erin Davies and Ellie Evans once again made important contributions but Llandysul never really had the rub of the green and they were punished again late on when they were caught pushing up in search of a goal and Kington hit them with a fourth goal to complete the scoring.
Many thanks to the Llandysul Paddlers for the use of their mini bus.
With the uncertainty surrounding the COVID-19 situation Llandysul have confirmed that they will await further guidance from Hockey Wales before playing any other fixtures this season.
