Sport

Team of the week: Letterston AFC

Published

10 years ago

December 5, 2013

SITUATED in North Pembrokeshire and famous for Fish and Chips is one of the county’s largest villages Letterston.

This well kept village boasts two Pembrokeshire league football teams. The first team managed by Gareth “Gaffa” Thomas are currently sitting pretty mid table in the second division, with a Division Two cup semi final to look forward to.

At present the second string are high flying in Division Five and occupying third place. The manager Gary Scott has a wealth of experience and young talent to choose from and is excited at the prospect of being the first second team manager to guide the team to promotion. We here at the Herald are convinced that this new found form is due to the fact that they have the Herald as their main sponsor. Lets have a look at some of the key players from each team:

First Team Captain: Karl Hedley. Karl has had itchy feet over the last few seasons, hopping from Goodwick to West Dragons then back to Letterston. But this season after an early injury scare is back to full fitness and form. He is leading by example and bossing the midfield.

First team goalkeeper: David “Cheese” Lawrence. Signed from Goodwick this year in a merry goround that saw James Gwilt sign for Goodwick while Carl Woodhouse put pen to paper for Merlins Bridge. Cheesy commands his box and dictates what he wants from his back four. A great signing for the Letts, but yet to keep a clean sheet this season.

First Team Defender, James George: James joined from rivals Goodwick this season. The pull of playing for his home village was enough to leave Phoenix Park. Playing most of his games at present in the left back role he can also fill in at centre half and has had the odd game middle of midfield. “A great lad, and one of the in-form players”.

First Team Defender Michael “Lunchbox” Lawrence: Known as Lunch to his team mates he has had a bumpy start to the season. Letterston through and through and playing more than 10 years as a regular in the first team Lunch has found himself warming the bench for the first time in his career. At 30 years old last years player of the year is still an important part of Gaffa’s plans.

Second Team Captain: Nick Lawrence. Former first team captain suffered a major injury near on 10 years ago and never thought he would play again. Got back to form after a lengthy period on the sidelines. Nick the retired last season. After many a conversation with team mates decided 1 more year was a must. This slight, hard tackling centre half leads by example always.

Second Team Mid-Fielder: Bernard Hearne. The little Jack Russel. Always niggling at ankles, never scared of a challenge and always gives 110%. Guaranteed to wind up the opposition with a sly pull of the shirt or a word in the ear. Bernard would be welcome in any team as his work rate is second to none. If injury hits the first team midfield I’m sure Gaffa will be monitoring Bernard as a replacement.

Second Team Striker: Brian Mathias. Brian is one of three Mathias brothers that play for the Letts. Son of Derick and nephew of the late Wayne, Brian certainly carries the family tradition of being a strong player with a undeniable presence. After a spell in the first team at the start of the season he is now scoring for fun in the seconds and is on course to win the “Tony Evans” top goal scorer award for 3rd year running.

One from the Archive: Billy Robb: A charity football match was held in honour of Letterston’s most famous retired player. This testimonial match, herald in June this year, raised money for local charities. Billy is re-nowned throughout the county as being the past goal scoring machine of Letterston. Old team mates, and family members, turned out for the game and fun day. The ex-player’s impressive 600 goal tally was celebrated. Known for his straight talking ways, he will definitely be the legend that current and new players will aim to beat for many years to come.

Sport

Clarby stand in the way of Goodwick double

Published

12 hours ago

April 24, 2024

Herald Sport

Two thrilling semi finals last weekend has meant Goodwick United and Clarbeston Road will meet in the senior cup final this coming Saturday.

Goodwick faced Pennar Robins in their semi final who pushed the champions very hard. Carl Vincent will be disappointed but proud of the Robins as they gave a great account of themselves. However in the end Goodwick’s quality and experience just was too much for Vincent’s team.

The other semi was an absolute thriller, and after a nail biting game Matthew Fox’ Clarby progressed to the final. A offside call has sparked a lot of debate around the county. However it seems that linesman Jenkins made an absolute perfect call so credit to him for that.

Both teams would have wanted a nice week of preparation for the final, maybe without any games to play. Unfortunately this hasn’t been possible due to the fixture backlog and both outfits have played already this week.

Goodwick will be favourites of course, however if anyone can upset the apple cart Saturday it’s this Clarbeston Road team. Fox’ outfit have impressed over and over this season. Without too much pressure on them, they are in a good place going into the final.

The double at one staged looked like the minimum Goodwick would be aiming for this season. However losses in other cup competitions, means its Senior Cup success or just the league title for the outstanding team of the season. Oddly becoming champions with no cup success maybe seen as a huge disappointment considering their dominance this season. A unique pressure. However if anyone can handle that pressure it’s O’Sullivans outfit.

Sport

Swifts eyes on double.

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Herald Sport

Monkton Swifts reserves have blown away the second division this season and now have the double in their sights. They face Merlins Bridge reserves in the semi final of the second division cup and lived up to their favourites tag.

Swifts won comfortably with key player Butland getting three assists and Josh Sture grabbing a brace. Waterman and Rhys Sture added the other goals as outstanding Monkton won 4-0.

Herbrandston and Johnston played in the other semi final and this was a much harder fixture to call. The promoted Herbie a younger and perhaps less physical outfit in comparison to the Tigers. Johnston quickly took control of the game when they found themselves two up after just 29 minutes.

However when Scott Murray was shown a red card just eight minutes later, Herbie would have been confident of staging a comeback. Despite being a man light, Johnston held Herbie until the final minute of the 90, when Alex Ouzman gave Herbie late hope. The Tigers held firm however and progress to the final where they will be underdogs. A tag that I’m sure the players and manager Steven Allen won’t mind too much.

Sport

Tenby hit five against downbeat Bridge

Published

2 days ago

April 22, 2024

Herald Sport

On a beautiful day in Tenby, the hosts welcomed Merlins Bridge to The Clicketts, fresh from their West Wales semi final defeat midweek.

The Bridge squad was missing some influential players after picking up some injuries and the visiting team asked questions over the fitness of the pitch, which, according to the Bridge management, was too hard.

The referee waved these away and the game was on, with the Tenby squad clearly thinking they were already in the heads of the Bridge team.

Almost straight from Kick off Tenby set their stall out with some great attacking play, which Jerome Mansbridge benefitted from in just the second minute putting the home team ahead.

The bridge players weren’t at the races and Tenby capitalised scoring a further 4 first half goals, including a Mansbridge hat trick, leaving the away team bewildered and 5-0 down at half time.

What could have been a hugely embarrassing defeat for a team that harboured title hopes at the beginning of the season, turned around somewhat at half time, when Dai Davies, the club captain, almost singlehandedly dragged them to a much higher level in the second half, ensuring his players kept their discipline and worked hard against a very good Tenby team. Undoubtedly Merlin’s Bridge were the better team in the second period, but the damage had already been done in the first half, and despite Bridges best efforts, the score remained 5-0 to the home team.

In a game which saw Tenby jump to 4th in the league, they can be hugely proud of their season and will look to build on that for their next in Division one.

A fantastic game on a beautiful day with a good home crowd watching, the team from the Clicketts will be justifiably happy with their afternoons work.