AND TOM HALEY’S WON IT!
PONTYCLUN 4 GARDEN VILLAGE 3
Welsh League side Garden Village were the visitors to a bright and sunny Ivor Park on Saturday for a Welsh Cup tie.
Garden Village got proceedings underway kicking towards the village end of the ground. After a quiet opening it was Pontyclun who opened the scoring in the 6th minute with their first real attack of the game. The ball found its way to Jamie Williams inside the Village area on the right. After keeping his cool and holding off the challenges of a couple of visiting defenders the Pontyclun player calmly slotted the ball low into the opposite corner of the net.
Three minutes later the visitors had their first chance of the game when the ball was crossed into the Pontyclun area where it found an unmarked Village forward on the edge of the six yard box. However, fortunately for Pontyclun he could only skew his shot wide.
The visitors were enjoying the majority of the play at this point but aside from creating a couple of half-chances were unable to reduce the deficit although in the 17th minute the Pontyclun goal had a narrow escape when a Garden Village player was put through and got in a shot from the left hand edge of the area which just went wide of the far post.
Three minutes later though it was Pontyclun who doubled their lead. The ball broke to Chris Bullock just inside the Garden Village half. The Pontyclun forward advanced on goal before putting in a low diagonal ball for Jamie Williams. The former player looked to have over-hit his pass but as Williams sought to bring the ball under control by the bye-line the onrushing Garden Village goalkeeper upended the Pontyclun player and the referee had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. Chris Bullock stepped up to take the kick and he calmly sent the Village goalkeeper the wrong way as he sent his effort low into the left hand side of the goal.
Stung by this reverse the visitors came back at Pontyclun and in the 28th minute they themselves had a strong claim for a penalty when one of their players appeared to be brought down in the area. However, many in the large crowd breathed a collective sigh of relief when the referee waved away the furious protests of the visitors.
Three minutes before half-time the visitors reduced the deficit. They were awarded a free-kick five yards in from the touchline on the right on the edge of the penalty area. From the ensuing centre the ball was headed back across the six yard area evading Pontyclun keeper James Billington. In the subsequent scramble on the goal line Pontyclun failed to clear their lines and the ball broke to Village’s Matthew Harding who stabbed the ball into the net from close range.
A minute later the visitor’s spurned a chance to draw level. A ball played forward found a Village player on the edge of the Pontyclun area. The player, seeing James Billington off his line, tried to lob the Pontyclun keeper but fortunately for Pontyclun his effort went high over the bar.
This proved to be the last significant action of the half and the interval arrived with Pontyclun leading by two goals to one.
The visitors began the second period where they left off in the first and were much the stronger of the two teams. Pontyclun were very much under the cosh at this point and in the 53rd minute did well to scramble a Garden Village corner away to safety.
As the minutes ticked by the home team had to thank James Billington to came to their rescue on several occasions. However, in the 65th minute, against the run of play it was Pontyclun who went further in front. A poor corner from the visitors was picked up by Tom Tweedy on the edge of his own area. The Pontyclun player fed a long ball to Jamie Williams who advanced into the Garden Village area. After holding off the challenge of a visiting defender he squared the ball to the unmarked Chris Bullock who smashed the ball into the net from 12 yards.
Six minutes later Pontyclun had a glorious chance to go even further in front. A break by Tom Tweedy down the left hand side resulted in him crossing the ball into the area to Chris Bullock. However, the Pontyclun forward could not get enough power behind his shot and his effort was easily saved by the Village goalkeeper.
As play flowed from end to end the visitors were still far from a beaten side and in the 83rd minute they reduced the deficit. The ball was played into the Pontyclun area and when the home defence failed to clear on several occasions the ball was put into the net from close range by Curtis Morgan.
Two minutes later the visitors drew level. A free-kick 35 yards from goal was played low into the Pontyclun area. Bad marking by the Pontyclun defence saw the ball find its way to the unmarked Ashley Roberts who turned a low shot past James Billington into the net.
As the minutes of the game ticked by Pontyclun now fell very deep as they sought to stem the now incessant Garden Village pressure as the visitors went all out in search of a winner. Right at the end of normal time though Pontyclun themselves were given an opportunity to clinch the tie when Tom Haley was brought down right on the edge of the Garden Village area. Matthew Trigg stepped up to take the kick which was deflected behind by the wall for a Pontyclun corner which ultimately proved to be fruitless.
This proved to be the last significant action of the 90 minutes and with the teams locked at 3 goals each extra time was called for.
Pontyclun got proceedings underway in the first period of extra time but the first real opportunity did not occur until the 97th minute when a move down the left by Tom Tweedy saw him centre the ball into Jamie Williams in the Garden Village area. However, the Pontyclun player was unable to make any contact and the ball flew harmlessly across the goal. With very little being created in this period it was Pontyclun who spurned a glorious chance to take the lead right on the stroke of half-time. Jamie Williams was put through by Tom Tweedy one on one with the Village goalkeeper. As the Pontyclun player put in a low shot although the visiting keeper did well to block the effort with his foot the ball appeared to be going goalwards until a visiting defender got back and contrived to make an amazing stop on the line and send the ball to safety.
The second period of extra time followed that of the first with chances being very much at a premium for both sides. However, it was Pontyclun though who finally broke the deadlock. The ball was played by Jamie Williams up to substitute Tom Haley who advanced into the Village area on the left. Despite being forced to the bye-line by two visiting defenders he managed to get in a high shot which flew past the bemused Village keeper before nestling in the far corner of the net.
Three minutes later Pontyclun had a massive let-off when a ball played into their area found its way to an unmarked forward three yards from goal but he somehow managed to send his effort wide.
This proved to be the last significant chance for the visitors and the final whistle sounded with Pontyclun winners by 4 goals to 3.