The youth beat Port Talbot 6-0 this evening. Morgan Freeman headed in the first from a corner. Myles Perkins scored the second and with Patrick Finneral and Morgan Gardner scoring 2 in just over a minute they went in four up at the interval. A less intense second half saw a second for Morgan Gardner with Daniel Merrick scoring the sixth just before the end.

The main priority in a cup game is to make sure you are in the hat for the next round and that’s what we achieved. However the performance was way below the level we reached the week before against Ammanford. We barely created a chance certainly in the first half.

Aberbargoed should have gone ahead after 3 minutes when they played Thomas Gameson in on goal but Steve Cann pulled off a fine save with his feet. In the early stages Aberbargoed played with plenty of confidence and looked dangerous when they attacked. In contrast the Lido were struggling to get any game time in Aberbargoed’s half. Another chance fell to Aberbargoed on 16 minutes when McDonnell seized on a Lido error and played the ball forward for Shane Brewer who forced Steve Cann to tip his shot over the bar. The bulk of the play was in the Lido half and the Lido’s passing was often wayward allowing Aberbargoed to push forward. Then on 25 minutes a rare Lido attack saw the ball played into the box and the referee awarded a penalty for hand ball. Kaid Mohamed stepped up to take it but Cael Jones saved his penalty, luckily for Kaid the ball rebounded to him and he calmly slotted the ball into the net to put the Lido one up. Aberbargoed continued to take the game to the Lido and were again unlucky when a shot from a free kick went just over the crossbar.

Aberbargoed started the second half where they ended the first, on the front foot and it was no surprise when they equalised on 50 minutes through Craig McDonnell who was proving a thorn in our side with this display. Ironically Lido could have been two up but Liam McCreesh’s shot was saved and within seconds McDonnell had scored. Credit Steve Cann who saved the shot but it had too much power and trickled into the net. This was no more than Aberbargoed deserved but it was the Lido who scored what turned out to be the winner on 59 minutes. Jack Hurley played a free kick into the box and Kaid Mohamed just beat Cael Jones to the ball to head it past him. Aberbargoed should have been back on level terms 5 minutes later, Steve Cann went racing out of his area but didn’t win the ball, it was played into the Lido area but Owen Thomas was unable to turn the ball into the empty net so another chance went begging. Neither side were able to gain an advantage as the game wore on, Noah Daley had come on from the bench and he easily beat his defender but Cael Jones saved his shot. Deep into added time Steve Cann turned a shot away for a corner, all the Aberbargoed players came up for the corner but the Lido defence cleared the ball. It was played wide left and an Aberbargoed player’s cross hit the crossbar and thankfully fell to a Lido defender who calmly knocked the ball forward with the sound of the final whistle seconds away.

The Youth won on penalties at Garden Village in the Welsh Youth Cup match. They led 2-0 at the interval with Noah Daley netting both. Village came out and equalised within two minutes of the second half before taking the lead on 58 minutes with a penalty. We levelled on 75 minutes through an own goal and regained the lead on 82 minutes with a third Noah Daley goal. Village equalised on 90 minutes to take the game to extra time and scored again on 92 minutes to go 5-4 up. Noah Daley added his fourth on 110 minutes to restore parity and neither side could find a winner. We won 6-5 on penalties with Jack Davies saving two Village penalties. Our penalty scorers were, Noah Daley, Craig Lewis, Toby Link-Jones, Myles Perkins, Morgan Gardner and Sam Hill

This was an entertaining game played in monsoon conditions with both sides adapting well to the conditions while referee Ben Williams also had an excellent game. Steve Cann returned in goal for the Lido while there was a first appearance of the season after injury for James Parry. Liam McCreesh stood down after a family bereavement

First chance of the game fell to the Lido after 2 minutes but Sean Hanbury’s shot went just wide. Ammanford responded with a fierce shot from 8 yards which Cann saved the ball going out for a corner which was played to out to an Ammanford player who from 25 yards unleashed a fierce shot which went inches wide.  Lido took the lead on 11 minutes, Kaid Mohamed had the ball wide left and drilled a low cross across the face of the goal. Sean Hanbury was on hand to turn the ball into the net.  Kaid Mohamed then found space on the edge of the box turned and shot but Morris in the Ammanford goal saved it with his legs. Lido kept up the pressure and Alex Gammond headed just wide from a Lido free kick. Lee Trundle for Ammanford made ground down the right and crossed the ball in but the resultant shot somehow went wide with only Cann to beat. Alex Gammond then did well to block another shot as Ammanford looked for an equaliser. In their next attack Lido again cleared a shot off the line. Ammanford were then awarded a penalty for a handball by James Parry but Steve Cann saved Lee Trundle’s spot kick with the ball going for a corner. Just ahead of half time Kaid Mohamed set up Brad Flay but Morris in the Ammanford goal made an excellent save turning the ball over the bar for a corner.

Ben Symons played the ball wide for Noah Daley who cut in and shot but he couldn’t keep the shot down and the ball went over the bar. Again, Kaid Mohamed played Noah Daley in but again in a repeat of his first effort the ball went over the bar. Ammanford were awarded a free kick just outside the area but from a good promising position Lee Trundle’s shot went high and wide. On the hour Ammanford thought they had their equaliser but Steve Cann did well to save on the line. Again, Noah Daley from a good position shot wide. Play was end to end as both sides looked for different reasons to get a goal. The Lido defence was getting some great blocks in to deny the Ammanford attack. Lido got the decisive second goal with 5 minutes to go, Noah Daley slipped while in possession but Kaid Mohamed picked up the ball and from a wide angle fired the ball into the empty net. Lido pushed forward again to look for a third goal from Sean Hanbury’s shot drifted just wide.