Garden Village became the first youth side to go away from the Marston’s Stadium with a point this season. They deserved it for their first half performance and they led at the break through a penalty. They pressed us, put us under pressure and stopped us playing, too many of our passes went astray and our normal style of play was missing. As the second half wore on we put them under enormous pressure and eventually with 5 minutes to go we scored.

The Village went ahead on 15 minutes when an innocuous challenge by keeper Aaron Jones was deemed worthy of a penalty, the Village striker appeared to come in with a high foot but he won the decision. Aaron Jones went the right way and got his hands to the ball but it had too much power on it for him to keep it out.  Spurred on by this the Village battled for every ball and knocked us out of our stride. When we did get in a scoring position we failed to trouble the keeper and often passed up the chance of a shot.

The half time talk had its desired affect and we came out with far more purpose in the second half. An early free kick saw their keeper forced to punch clear as we looked for an early equaliser. Aaron Jones made a save on the hour but we were starting grow into the game. Village were conceding numerous free kicks but we couldn’t find the elusive goal. Several wrong options were taken before Sean Hanbury played a great ball in but Hakeem Al-Haddi couldn’t quite make contact when well placed. The equaliser finally came with 5 minutes to go, Jack Hurley picked up the ball wide right, beat a defender and got into the area before driving a low cross to the near post where Sean Hanbury scored with a right footed shot from a couple of yards. It was no more than we deserved after our second half showing and 2 minutes from time we almost went ahead. The ball was crossed to Jack Todd who twice headed the ball and the keeper grabbed the ball inches from the line as Sean Hanbury closed in on it. In the last seconds we put ourselves under pressure when we gave away a needless free kick 25 yards out allowing the Village a last stab at getting the three points. Thankfully we cleared the ball ahead of the final whistle.

 

Lido side – Aaron Jones – 2 Hakeem Al-Haddi – 3 Jack Fleming – 4 Luke Evans – 5 Matthew Andrews – 6 Jack Hurley –

7 Jake Simeone – 8 Charlie Hamer – 9 Jack Todd – 10 Sean Hanbury – 11 Azeem Arshad

 

Subs – 12 Jordan Downs – 14 Lewis Clement – GK Kieran Burridge

We went down to only our second defeat of the season in Cardiff. Azeem Arshad scored our goal.

Although a very young development side lost 5-1 everyone was delighted with their performance against a quality side. Adam Llewellyn who was the only senior player in the squad scored the goal. Despite this being their first game since January 13th several players made themselves unavailable which is a disappointment.

A disappointing performance saw our unbeaten run end. Not until we went behind did we put any pressure on the Ferry defence with Elliot Thomas forcing a good save from Luke Prober. The number of times we were caught offside must have been in double figures yet we failed to come to terms with it and it affected our attacking ability. The first half saw few chances with neither keeper being troubled. The goal when it came was as a result of the defence playing the ball across the back and one poor pass let them in to score.

Carlos Indjai was prominent early on heading clear several balls into the box but there was little goalmouth action at either end. One of the few chances fell to Alex Gammond who initially played a great ball wide to Sacha Walters, he played it back to Alex who hit a first time shot from just outside the area but it was high and wide. Elliot Thomas played a through ball for Sacha Walters who got to it just ahead of Luke Probert it looked as though Sacha would score but Probert managed to dive on the ball to deny Sacha. Steve Cann made a fine save diving to his right and then did the same following a 25 yard free kick. On 37 minutes he held a long free kick and played the ball wide to Shane Williams, his cross beyond the far post was hit first time by Liam McCreesh but it went wide of the near post. Just before the interval a Lido attack was halted by a poor pass from Alex Gammond which saw the Ferry break quickly but Steve Cann came out of the area to clear ahead of the half time whistle.

We started the second half with more purpose with Shane Williams going on a typical left wind run but his cross was too long. Steve Cann tipped a Ferry cross over for a corner which Elliot Thomas cleared. Again a number of our attacks were halted by our inability to stay onside and after an hour this game had all the makings of a nil nil draw. That said we stepped up the pace with Elliot Thomas almost breaking the deadlock, he played a couple of 1-2’s and shot from 15 yards but Probert dived to his right to turn the ball behind for a corner. The corner was then cleared off the line and at last it looked as though we were getting on top. On 67 minutes we replaced Sean Hanbury and Sacha Walters with Jack Todd and Josh Webber and two minutes later we went behind. The back four played the ball across the field and with no movement up front Carlos Indjai went to play it back to Cai Owens but Steve Davey intercepted and went through to score. Cai Owens almost levelled the score on 75 minutes but his header hit the outside of the post. We were now pushing forward but the Ferry defence stood firm and there were few gaps, another chance went begging on 83 minutes when Alex Gammond headed a corner wide. A disappointing end to our unbeaten run in 2018 with our poorest performance for some time.

Lido side

Steve Cann – 2 Josh Doyle – 3 Shane Williams – 4 Cai Owens – 5 Carlos Indjai – 6 Alex Gammond –

7 Elliot Thomas – 8 Liam McCreesh – 9 Sean Hanbury – 10 Andre Griffiths – 11 Sacha Walters

Subs – 12 Kieran Cullen for Andre Griffiths 86 – 14 Jack Todd for Sean Hanbury 67 – 15 Josh Webber for Sacha Walters 67 – 16 Jack Fleming – 17 Leigh de Vulgt

The Under 19’s maintained their 100% home record with a win over second placed Caerau Ely and in doing so avenged their only league defeat to date. With a gale force wind sweeping in off the sea keeping control of the ball with the wind at the players backs was difficult. We played with the wind in the first half and scored our two goals both from free kicks then in the second we had greater control and could have scored a few more while containing the Caerau Ely attacks so that Aaron Jones didn’t make any critical saves.

Caerau Ely had an early free kick which highlighted the force of the wind as the ball hung just inside our six yard area and Aaron Jones had to punch it away. It took us some time to get into the game with a string of over hit passes aiding the Caerau Ely defence. We took the lead on 21 minutes when Sean Hanbury rose highest to head in a free kick. Jack Hurley hit another free kick from 30 yards just over the bar and Sean Hanbury hit the side netting after a counter attack while in the next attack Taylor Evans hit a 25 yard shot just over the bar. We netted the second on 36 minutes and again it came from a free kick. Jack Hurley took it and it hit the wall and rebounded to him, this time he hit a left footed shot just inside the far post. Just before the break Jake Simeone shot just over the bar from 25 yards.

Sean Hanbury almost made it three on 49 minutes when he latched on to a through ball and lobbed the keeper as he came out but the ball went just the wrong side of the post. Jack Hurley won the ball in midfield with a great tackle and carried the ball forward before finding Sean Hanbury in space. Sean closed in on goal but the keeper made a fine save diving to his left and he also managed to divert the ball away from Jake Simeone who was following up. Caerau Ely using the wind put us under a period of pressure as they looked to get back into the game but generally the defence held firm.

Taylor Evans had a good run and found Sean Hanbury but he was crowded out by the defence.

Another good win which sees us 13 points ahead.

 

Lido side – Aaron Jones – 2 Matthew Andrews – 3 jack Fleming – 4 Evan Daley –  5 Luke Evans –

6 Jack Hurley – 7 Jake Simeone – 8 Charlie Hamer – 9 Sean Hanbury – 10 Taylor Evans –

11 Azeem Arshad

Subs – 12 Jamie Austin – 14 Jordan Downs – 15 Lewis Clement – 16 Hakeem al-Hadi  –

17 Kieran Burridge

 

Goals Sean Hanbury 21 and Jack Hurley 36

Another 3 points against a more than useful Taffs Well side. Once again however the referee took centre stage, he failed in the first half to book some over vigorous challenges from Taffs Well but once he brought his cards out anyone was fair game. It culminated with Carl Evans being sent off, always a possibility but he protested about a poor decision on the edge of our area and then went too far and was off. Luckily for us we managed to only concede the one goal while down to 10 men and held on with some terrific defending. Carlos Indjai was unavailable so Cai Owens moved over to centre back with Josh Doyle dropping back to right back.

Taffs started the better and kept the ball well and won a couple of early corners. They took the lead on 11 minutes when a long hopeful ball down the middle saw Steve Cann race out of the area to attempt a clearance with Carl Evans plus a forward running towards the area. If Steve shouted Carl didn’t hear him as he nodded the ball past him and despite a couple of attempts to clear the ball Sam Johnson knocked the ball into the empty net. Liam McCreesh almost equalised a couple of minutes later, Shane Williams went down the left and his cross into the box was met by Liam who guided his header just under the crossbar but Josh Gould in goal leapt to his right to save. A Taffs free kick just outside the area hit the wall and went for a corner which Cai Owens brought clear. He made 50 yards with the ball before finding Elliot Thomas who in turn found Carl Evans who for some reason was wide on the right. Carl got into the penalty area and his shot lacked any power but Gould in the Taffs goal allowed the ball to go between his legs and into the goal. This was against the run of play but we now started to get more into the game. Alex Gammond won the ball in midfield and found Liam McCreesh who made his way into the box but instead of shooting he played the ball square and the Taffs defence cleared it for a corner. Josh Doyle, Sean Hanbury and Sacha Walters then combined well  before Sacha was given offside in the area. From the free kick Shane Williams got the ball, went down the left and won another corner which was headed out to Andre Griffiths on the edge of the area but his first time shot went just wide. We were now knocking on the door and Liam McCreesh was inches wide of giving us the lead on 44 minutes when he headed a Sacha Walters cross the wrong side of the post with the Taffs keeper beaten. We took the lead a minute later and again it was down to a goalkeeping error. Firstly, he fumbled a cross giving us a corner, Sacha Walters took it and played it in to the near post. Then he failed to claim the ball and in the confusion the ball ended up in the back of the net with Liam McCreesh claiming the goal to give us what at one point looked an unlikely interval lead.

Jack Todd replaced the injured Josh Doyle with yet more reorganising of the defence taking place with Alex Gammond alongside Carl Evans and Cai Owens moving back to right back. Liam McCreesh picked up a loose ball and found Jack Todd in the area but he was crowded out by the defence. Taffs could have equalised on 55 minutes when a left wing cross was headed just wide. Shane Williams then went down the left and found Sacha Walters in the box, only a first class tackle prevented Sacha from increasing the lead. However on 65 minutes we did get a third and young Jack Todd scored his second in two games. Sean Hanbury played a free kick into the box and Jack got up and his header looped in at the far post to give us a bit of breathing space. Taffs now made a couple of substitutions and they made a big difference to them. Having now had players on both sides booked the ref gave a free kick to Taffs right on the edge of the area. At best it was a disappointing decision and Carl Evans was shown a yellow card for his protest and then a red for abusive language. That meant even more reorganising in the back. The free kick hit the wall and was cleared but Taffs now had their tails up and pushed forward looking to get back into the game. Sam Johnson got his second of the night on 77 minutes and at that point it looked as though their pressure would lead to an equaliser. However some gritty defending and some wayward shooting saw us over the line.

Lido side

Steve Cann – 2 Josh Doyle – 3 Shane Williams – 4 Carl Evans – 5 Cai Owens – 6 Alex Gammond –

7 Elliot Thomas – 8 Liam McCreesh – 9 Sean Hanbury – 10 Andre Griffiths – 11 Sacha Walters

Subs – 12 Kieran Cullen for Sacha Walters 87 – 14 Jack Todd for Josh Doyle 46 – 15 Azeem Arshad –

16 Jack Fleming – 17 Leigh de Vulgt