Ressies go down fighting in Emrys Morgan Cup

Presteigne St Andrews FC
Friday night at Rhayader for the Reserves
Presteigne St Andrews FC
The Reserves bowed out of the Emrys Morgan Cup

Well, not literally you understand, but Mark Weiland’s young side produced a battling performance in bowing out of the J Emrys Morgan Cup at Llandysul on Saturday, 29 November.

My thanks to ‘Weedo’ for penning a few words – reading between the lines, this must have been done on the Sunday as it sounds as though they had a fair trip back on Saturday night although the trip down to Llandysul was not without incident.

“We started off at 930 and didn’t have the best of journeys as one of the tyres on the bus blew, while there was then a serious road accident [Ed’s note: I assume that didn’t involve the team coach],” said Mark.

“Because of the delays, we had to push the kick off back by half an hour and we appreciate Llandysul and the referee for agreeing to this.

“We finally got the game underway and Llandysul were quick out the blocks as we went 1-0 down after around 15 minutes when a low shot  beat keeper Trevor Gummer.

“But we equalised about 10 minutes later when a cross into the area was handled and I scored the resulting penalty.

“Things got better, as we then took the lead through Adam Crowe with a neat finish after the ball fell to him at the back post.

“We then conceded about five minutes later after a through ball and then a scramble in the box resulted in a low shot into the corner which left Trev with no chance.

“So, 2-2 at half-time, but we started out ok in the second half and there were a couple of chances at either end, with Kieran Jones – who was making his senior debut for the club – going close.

“We conceded with about 20 minutes left when a corner was swung in and flicked on, only for it to hit Alan Stocker on the head and into the back of the net.

“Obviously, we then had to push and threw everything at them, finding a way through with what was probably the last kick off the game when I swung in a free kick to the far post and Gareth Bull finished coolly.

“Extra time was only 10 minutes each way as it was getting a bit dark by this stage – there were a couple of chances at each end but nobody was able to make the breakthrough, so it was down to penalties.

“Sadly, it wasn’t to be our day as Kai Dayas missed the vital spot kick with myself Anthony Vernalls, Dan Millichamp and Rob Williams scoring, but they put all five of their penalties away.

“It was a great day out and it was good to have a bonding session with the younger lads, as we showed them how to drink!

“I would also like to thank Anthony Napolitano and John Hughes and all the other supporters who came down, as well as Ian Jones and Haydn Williams who helped me from the sidelines.

“In particular, I would like to thank the lads who came in last minute to bolster the squad and to M & S coaches for taking us and putting up with us.”