We bounced back from last week’s defeat with an excellent performance to complete the double over Cambrian. We kept an unchanged side from last Friday with Ben Thomas after a long absence returning on the bench.

We attacked from the kick off and we almost played Liam McCreesh in but Dan Bradley in the Cambrian goal was out to clear the danger. Elliot Thomas picked up the ball in midfield, played it wide to Sacha Walters, he played in a low cross which again Bradley got to before our attackers. Steve Cann was called into action on 5 minutes when he held a shot from Richard French. Alex Gammond then won the ball in midfield played it wide to Sacha Walters who cut inside the full back but his left footed shot lacked power and was easy for Bradley to collect. On 20 minutes both Sean Hanbury and Shane Williams put crosses in from the left, one of these was headed behind by a defender just ahead of the in coming Liam McCreesh. We again pushed forward and from a Lido free kick Carlos Indjai kept the ball alive, he crossed the ball for Alex Gammond but his header went just wide. We took the lead on 26 minutes, Sacha Walters blocked a clearance and picked up the loose ball. He got to the byeline and crossed low for the incoming Sean Hanbury to score from a couple of yards. We were again unlucky following another free kick, Alex Gammond played it wide to Sean Hanbury and once again It was just ahead of Liam McCreesh, the ball running out for a goal kick. Cambrian pushed forward looking for an equaliser but good defending by Shane Williams and Cai Owens cleared the danger. Right on half time Cambrian were awarded another free kick which they played into the area but Carlos Indjai cleared before a first corner of the half for Cambrian was cleared ahead of the half time whistle.

Ben Thomas replaced the injured Andre Griffiths for the second half. Josh Doyle did well to block an early Cambrian shot before a lot of Lido supporters thought Elliot Thomas had scored with a 25 yard shot which went just over the bar but rippled the top of the net giving the impression it had actually hit the back of the net.  Minutes later a great first time ball from Alex Gammond found Sacha Walters in behind the defence wide right. His first time lob from the edge of the area hit the crossbar and went out for a goal kick. The second goal wasn’t long in coming and again Sacha Walters was involved, he received the ball wide left, beat a couple of defenders as he cut in along the goal line before rolling the ball back for Elliot Thomas to score from 10 yards. Dan Bradley in the Cambrian goal did well to paw away a Shane Williams cross that looked as though it might just dip under the crossbar. Cambrian now started win a series of free kicks as they tried to get back into the game. However the defence generally were on top, Steve Cann’s handling was good and there were solid performances from the back four who gave little away. Cambrian had a couple of shots which were wide of the target before one of their final chances saw them break following a Lido free kick but the shot was straight at Steve Cann. On 90 minutes Cambrian won a corner which Jack Todd headed clear and we held on to keep a clean sheet.

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 Ben Thomas for Andre Griffiths 46 – 14 Jack Todd for Sean Hanbury 75 – 15 Josh Webber for Sacha Walters 81 – 16 Jack Fleming – 17 Leigh de Vulgt

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