Sport
Two wins out of two for Wizards
Johnston 0
Merlins Bridge 9
MERLINS Bridge made it two wins out of two as they thrashed Johnston 9-0 at Glebelands on Tuesday night (Aug 30).
Having beaten Goodwick last week, the Wizards were in a confident frame of mind and it didn’t take them long to open the scoring.
They could have gone ahead after five minutes as Matthew Divry swung a cross over to the back post for Joe Leahy but his header was saved.
Three minutes later, Leahy provided the assist for Steve McNabney who fired the ball into the bottom left corner of the net.
Johnston hit back and came close to equalising but Sion Price did well to clear Andrew Murray’s shot off the line.
The Wizards doubled their lead soon after when Jordan Raymond’s lob fell to the feet of Leahy, whose shot was deflected in by the unfortunate Jack Mills.
Eight minutes before the break, it was 3-0 when Raymond showed excellent footwork to dance his way into the box before squaring for Leahy, who had the easiest of tap-ins.
Three became four on the stroke of half time after a good move which saw McNabney leave the ball for Leahy and his cross to the back post was headed in by James Skudder.
Johnston faced an uphill task in the second half and it got even tougher for the Tigers as Merlins Bridge scored their fifth of the game.
Leahy played the ball to Raymond who cut inside before shooting low into the bottom left corner.
Route one was the name of the game for the sixth goal as keeper Jim Payne threw the ball out to Will Haworth on the left wing, who ran on before playing the ball to McNabney in the box and his pass found Raymond, who hammered the ball home.
With just over twenty minutes to go, it was 7-0 as Raymond’s cross fell to Haworth and he turned neatly before smashing the ball into the back of the net.
Ryan Doyle saw a free kick go wide but Johnston were unable to create any clear cut chances.
With five minutes to go, the Bridge scored their eighth as McNabney again provided the assist for Leahy who tapped in to complete his hat trick.
Two minutes later, they added another goal as Haworth sent Leahy through on goal but he laid the ball off for McNabney, who saw his shot blocked on the line but the ball looped up and went in off the bounce to make it 9-0.
Merlins Bridge saw out the remaining minutes for a comfortable win which sees them sit top of the table.
On Saturday (Sept 3), the Wizards face another away trip to Angle while Johnston are away to Narberth.
Sport
Clarby stand in the way of Goodwick double
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.
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
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.
Tenby 5-0 Merlins Bridge.
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