Sport

Davies scores twice to help Bluebirds see off Barry

Published

4 months ago

April 17, 2022

JORDAN Davies scored twice as Haverfordwest County beat Barry Town United 2-0 at the Ogi Bridge Meadow yesterday, a result which guarantees there will be JD Cymru Premier football in Pembrokeshire next season.

The on-loan forward gave the Bluebirds the lead after 19 minutes with a well-taken finish, before striking again just before the hour mark to give County a priceless three points.

Nicky Hayen’s side performed excellently throughout, and the margin of victory could have been even wider. However, the hosts did have goalkeeper Lee Idzi to thank for saving Kayne McLaggon’s second-half penalty to maintain the clean sheet.

The result is enough to lift the Bluebirds up to seventh, and top of the Play-Off Conference, after Cardiff Metropolitan lost 2-0 at Connah’s Quay Nomads.

Manager Hayen made two changes to the team that beat Cefn Druids 6-1 last Saturday, with Kurtis Rees and Ricky Watts coming in for the suspended Alaric Jones and Kyle Patten, who failed a fitness test before kick-off.

It was the visitors who had the first opportunity of the game, with McLaggon seeing his shot from inside the area well saved by the alert Idzi.

This was as close as the Dragons would come to scoring in the first-half, as County went on to control the tempo and create the better chances.

Jordan Davies, who was heavily involved throughout, played a teasing ball across the face of goal but couldn’t pick out a teammate, before Kieran Lewis’ first time effort went wide after Ben Fawcett had done well to keep the ball alive.

County were nearly presented with a gift when Jordan Davies’ ball into the area was fumbled by Mike Lewis, however, despite being nearby, Lewis couldn’t react in time as the ball went wide.

The Bluebirds were ahead just minutes later though, when Fawcett’s ball down the right touchline put Jordan Davies into space, and he advanced into the area before turning Evan Press inside out and firing past Lewis to send the home crowd wild.

It was very nearly 2-0 not long after when Jordan Davies’ curling effort from the left side went narrowly wide of the right post.

Hayen’s side were flowing with confidence at this point, as Henry Jones’ shot from inside the area took a deflection before being pushed behind by Lewis.

There were two further opportunities for the Bluebirds to double their advantage before half-time, with Fawcett’s cross picking out an unmarked Jordan Davies, who was unable to get the desired connection on his shot, before Fawcett’s header was blocked on the goal line.

Marcus Day went close with a shot from distance which flew just over the crossbar 10 minutes before half-time, as County headed into the changing rooms with a deserved lead.

Keen to find the second goal early in the second-half to take full control of the contest, the Bluebirds started quickly with Jazz Richards’ ball into the area nearly finding Fawcett, as Lewis came out to gather.

Moments later, though, they did find the second goal when Lewis’ pass upfield played Fawcett into acres of space, and his pinpoint cross into the area picked out Jordan Davies who beat Mikey George to the ball to sweep home and give County some breathing space.

It looked as though the lead was going to be halved when the visitors were awarded a penalty shortly after the hour mark, as Kurtis Rees was adjudged to have fouled Clayton Green inside the area. However, Idzi was equal to McLaggon’s spot kick, as he got down low to his left to push the ball away and keep the scoreline at 2-0.

The Dragons striker had another opportunity to bring his side back into the game not long after, but Jazz did brilliantly to get back and block his shot from inside the area.

Rhys Kavanagh sent a shot inches wide of the left post as Gavin Chesterfield’s side continued to push forward, but the Bluebirds defence battled hard to ensure they maintained a clean sheet.

Substitute Jack Wilson sent a shot just wide in the closing stages as County looked to finish with a flourish. However, the game was to finish in unfortunate circumstances as substitute Alhagi Touray Sisay had to be carried off the field on a stretcher after sustaining an injury to his collar bone.

The game, understandably, rather petered out after this, but it was Hayen’s side who took all three points having turned in an excellent display when it was needed the most.

The Bluebirds are next in action on Monday (April 18), when we travel to Deeside Stadium to take on Connah’s Quay Nomads, before returning home to face Cardiff Metropolitan in our final game of the season on April 23 at the Ogi Bridge Meadow.

Related Topics:Football Haverfordwest County JD Cymru Premier

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Burton ladies beat Pembroke Dock to win Clive Huxley Cup

Published

1 day ago

August 11, 2022

James Hemingray

BURTON ladies won the Clive Huxley Cup on Sunday, August 7, as they beat Pembroke Dock in the final.

The game was played at Stackpole and a good crowd gathered to watch two teams who had played brilliantly throughout the league season.

Pembroke Dock sat top of Division 2 while Burton were second in Division 1 and it promised to be an exciting final.

There were some excellent performances and some outstanding catches but it was Burton who came out on top.

Burton won the toss and chose to field first and they were able to restrict the Dockettes to 82-8 in their 20 overs.

Olivia James struck in the second to remove Carys Lloyd. Sian James scored 16 but she was then bowled by James.

Katie Griffiths and Ava Midgeley then shared 31 runs for the third wicket. However, Midgeley was then stumped off the bowling of Zoe Brick on a score of 14.

Soon after, Griffiths departed, having also scored 14, when she was caught by Bronwen Scale off the bowling of Finola Scale.

Finola Scale also claimed the wicket of Cheryl Hughes before Lilly Thomas bowled both Rachel Sander and Nicola Murray.

Olivia James returned and she bowled Lana Jones for a duck and to finish with excellent figures of 3-18.

Pembroke Dock ladies celebrate the catch of the match

Burton began their reply well with Finola Scale and Rhiannon Morgan sharing 45 runs for the first wicket.

Morgan was then trapped leg before by Lana Jones but the runs continued as Scale and Lilly Thomas added another 34 runs before the second wicket fell.

Thomas hit two fours but she was caught and bowled by Cheryl Hughes.

Finola Scale was joined by Bronwen Scale and the pair shared the best partnership of the match, adding 72 runs for the third wicket.

Bronwen hit four fours in her score of 30 but she was then caught by Lana Jones off the bowling of Carys Lloyd.

Ava Midgeley then bowled Rebecca Barton for a duck and Olivia James was run out as the Dock hit back late on, looking to keep the score down.

They were unable to remove Finola Scale though as she finished unbeaten on 76 which included 10 fours.

That gave Burton a score of 163-5 in their 20 overs, a lead of 81.

The Dockettes knew they would need to bat well if they were to get Burton to bat again and they made a good start with Katie Griffiths and Ava Midgeley sharing 20 runs.

Midgeley made a score of 10 but she was then bowled by Finola Scale.

Soon after, Sian James was caught by Elaine Scale off the bowling of Rhiannon Morgan and Carys Lloyd was also caught by Elaine off the bowling off the bowling of Finola Scale.

That left the Dock 33-3 but Griffiths and Cheryl Hughes added 27 runs for the fourth wicket.

Hughes hit two fours in her score of 16 but she was then bowled by Morgan.

More wickets began to fall as Rachel Sander was run out and Nicola Murray was bowled by Finola Scale for a duck.

Opener Griffiths had made her way to a score of 21 but she was then bowled by Lilly Thomas the Dock slipped to 72-7.

Louise Kitts was bowled by Thomas and Ellie Davies was run out. Olivia James then bowled Lowis Hughes and the Dockettes were all out for 83.

It meant that Burton would need just three runs to win the game. They needed just five runs to hit the winning four and Burton celebrated their cup win.

After the match, Finola Scale was named as the player of the match for her knock of 76 and figures of 3-11 and 2-10 in both innings.

Sport

Rogers achieves fourth place finish at UK Strongest Man event

Published

1 day ago

August 11, 2022

James Hemingray

PEMBROKESHIRE man Wayne Rodgers recently achieved a fourth place finish at the UK’s Strongest Man Masters tournament.

Wayne, from Mastlebridge, travelled to the event, held in Bishop Auckland, following numerous hours of training.

Competing with some of the strongest men in Great Britain, Wayne finished just half a point off the podium places.

And he is already looking ahead to his next competition, Wales’ Strongest Man, in Cwmbran on October 31.

Speaking to the Herald after the event, Wayne said: “It felt good, there were some massive lads there. I was half a point off finishing in third place. It was a shock to the system but I am chuffed with that.”

It was an incredibly tight contest with just two points separating the top four.

Among the events Wayne competed in was the Viking Press. He came third in that event with 12 reps, the winner producing 15 reps.

In the deadlift event, Wayne managed 310kg and was all set to go for 320kg, which would have been a Welsh Masters’ record, but he was just unable to complete the lift.

Wayne also did a Farmers Walk and also competed in the famous Atlas Stones event. Wayne managed 140kg but couldn’t quite get the 150kg stone up.

The final event was the car deadlift and Wayne managed to hold for 85 seconds, just five seconds off the leaders’ time.

Wayne, who works as a roofer, trains three nights a week with Pembrokeshire Powerlifting in Cresselly and is also one of the organisers of the Pembrokeshire’s Strongest Man event.

Sport

Hakin to play Herbie in Joe Lennon Final

Published

1 day ago

August 11, 2022

James Hemingray

HAKIN United will play Herbrandston in the Joe Lennon Cup Final on Friday (Aug 12) after the pair won their respective semi-finals this week.

Hakin United earned a 6-0 win over Milford United on Monday, August 8. Goals from Justin Harding, Leon Luby, Jack Britton, Shane Walsh, Laurie Haworth and Hayden Dimond gave them a comfortable win.

It was the same story on Wednesday (Aug 10), as Herbrandston beat St Ishmaels 6-0.

Craig Nicholson scored twice for Herbie with other goals coming from Dan Evans, Callum Stannett and Daniel Armstrong.

The final will be played at The Obs on Friday, August 12, 6pm kick off.