Sport
Spotlight – Clarbeston Road

We sat down with Clarbeston Road manager Matthew Fox after his team’s impressive win over Hakin United Saturday. His team has impressed and turned heads up and down the county over the past few months. We got some insight on the story of their season so far.
Herald – Matt thanks for taking the time to talk to us today! It’s good timing as I’m sure you’re still on a high after Saturdays win?
Matt – No problem it is my pleasure to catch up. Of course, we are delighted with the result Saturday. That is Hakin’s first League defeat of the season so to win down there is a massive credit to the lads. Especially with the amount of fitness work they put in over the Christmas break. But we are not complacent, we know that we cannot waste the effort of last week’s result only to then drop points this week. The league is fairly relentless and that shows where we go to Merlins Bridge this week which will be a really tough game. They are above us in the league, even though we do have some games in hand, but they have not lost since the beginning of October so they will be full of confidence also. Therefore, certainly no time to sit back and enjoy one good result! The target for us will be to continue getting good results week on week and the preparation for Saturday started Monday and we will be training again this week so we are ready for Saturday.
Herald – Saturday was your second win over Hakin this year. Have you had thoughts of disrupting the ‘top’ two?
Matt – We had an indifferent start to the season so after those early couple of defeats I would have taken not being relegated at that stage of the season let alone disrupt Goodwick or Hakin!! But no, as the the old football cliché goes, our aim is only focus on the next game and that is what we will be doing this Saturday. Hakin will be right up there at the end of the Season, Skinny will get them bang at it next week, but I do think it is now Goodwick’s to lose. Leon Luby and Cam Thomas being injured for Hakin hasn’t helped them, but Goodwick beat us convincingly at their place early in the season, and in the return fixture, it was a lot closer game than the 4-0 scoreline suggests. But still, they have taken 6 points from us and under Sully and Lee Morgan, they won’t show any complacency. Our aim will to be to finish as high as we can but to do that we have to be consistent week on week.
Herald – Obviously Goodwick would take some catching this season, so what are your goals for the rest of the season?
Matt – I agree, I don’t see Goodwick being caught in the League now. So after knocking one of the Senior Cup favourites out of the competition, you have to look at being in and around the competition come Final Day. However, there will be 16 other teams in round two thinking exactly the same thing!! In round two we have the winner of Fishguard or St Ishmaels,who have steadied themselves well in Division Two, so we cannot look further than that really as a trip to either is going to be tough. But it would be great to get back to the Meadow if we could and we will be all out to try and do that, not least to avenge the last time we got to the final where Hakin walloped us 7-1!
Herald – What’s pleased you most about this season so far?
Matt – It is probably the togetherness in the squad and the club as a whole. We train as one squad, firsts and seconds and we regularly have 30 plus training in all weathers. We all know the amount of work the committee at Clarbeston Road do for the club under the watch of Chairman Steve Brown so it is nice to put a team out every Saturday that they can be proud of and make the work that they do worthwhile. I would also have to say the amount of youngsters coming through to Senior football at the club and a large credit for that goes to the Junior Coaches at the club, not least, Raph Barnett our second team manager as he brought through seven or eight players from Junior football, that are now involved between the two squads every week.
Herald – If you had to pick out your teams main strength what would it be?
Matt – I would say team spirit and the blend of youth and experience. We often get labelled with “tricky” or “Sticky” opponents which suggests sometimes we are just hard to play against,but I feel sometimes we haven’t had the credit we deserve for our ability to play ourselves. We have quality now right through the squads and plenty in reserve so this season we have been far less disrupted by unavailability as we have quality players who can come in when players are away and make the position their own. We went to Hakin Saturday without our Club Captain, Rheinallt George and still won. That is a credit to the lads taking their opportunities when called upon and the depth of our squad this season.
Herald – And finally, where do you see the team and the club aiming to go in the next couple of years? Is it a long term project?
Matt – It most definitely is a long term project both on and off the field. My co-manager Matt Ellis is still playing exceptionally well at the ripe old ag of 39 and I think the way he is going he will be still playing at 49! Off the field there are plans for the changing rooms and training facilities to be developed at our Knock Field site and on the pitch we just want to improve year on year, keep bringing youngsters through and giving them a chance and enjoy everything that is good about Pembrokeshire League football. Like many other clubs in Pembrokeshire, we would like to look at options for the West Wales Premier League but geography is the biggest challenge we all face with most games in the Swansea area. We really feel that we can push teams at that level as we did against League Leaders Evans and Williams in the West Wales Cup. But for now we will continue working hard at what we are doing and look to improve week on week, year on year so maybe we can disrupt the “Top Two!”
Sport
East Williamston maintain dominance in Friendly League

SOUTH PEMBROKESHIRE Short Mat Bowls Association – Week 16 Results
THE LATEST round of matches in the South Pembrokeshire Short Mat Bowls Association’s ‘Friendly League’ saw East Williamston extend their lead at the top with a commanding 10-0 victory over St Twynnells.
Elsewhere, Llanteg edged a tight contest against Badgers 6-4, St Johns secured an 8-2 win over Kilgetty, and Cosheston overcame Carew 7-3. The scheduled match between Reynalton and Lamphey was postponed, while Hundleton had a bye.
A catch-up fixture was also played, with Badgers defeating Llanteg 8-2.
League standings after Week 16:
Team | Played | Won | Drawn | Lost | Shot Diff | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
East Williamston | 14 | 13 | 0 | 1 | 195 | 108 |
St Johns | 14 | 10 | 0 | 4 | 106 | 88 |
Carew | 14 | 9 | 1 | 4 | 110 | 86 |
Hundleton | 14 | 7 | 0 | 7 | 60 | 72 |
Reynalton | 13 | 8 | 0 | 5 | 32 | 70 |
Cosheston | 13 | 7 | 0 | 6 | 34 | 65 |
Badgers | 14 | 5 | 1 | 8 | 6 | 63 |
Llanteg | 14 | 4 | 1 | 9 | -50 | 63 |
St Twynnells | 14 | 3 | 1 | 10 | -152 | 48 |
Kilgetty | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -146 | 42 |
Lamphey | 12 | 3 | 0 | 9 | -118 | 35 |
With just a few rounds remaining, East Williamston look poised to secure the league title, while St Johns and Carew remain in contention for the runner-up spot.
– Steve Cox, League Fixtures Secretary
Sport
Merlins Bridge 11- Herbrandston 1: A whopper win for the wizards!

IN ANOTHER defeat for Herbrandston, Merlins Bridge completely dominated the game, and ball time.
Kick-off was at 2:30pm at the Pembrokeshire Sport Village, on a 4G ground facility.
Within 10 minutes, J. Thomas scored the first goal for Merlins Bridge. At 22 minutes, Merlins Bridge were 3 goals up.
The first, and only, goal for Herbrandston was at 25 minutes into the game by M. Jones.
Another 4 goals were scored after this by Merlins Bridge: J. Thomas, D. Davies, J. Griffiths, N. Evans.
In a turn of events, a yellow card was served to O. Robinson of Herbranston for a bad tackle.
The damage had been done by this yellow card, as the game only got increasingly worse for Herbrandston. In a continued thrashing, 4 more goals were scored by Merlins Bridge by T. G Williams, J. Griffiths, J. Thomas x2.
Next weekend (Sat 15), Merlins Bridge are back against Pennar Robins: currently sitting at 24 (Pennar) and 20 (Merlins) on the League table- it should be a tense match.
Merlins Bridge Line-Up:
D. Pearce, A. Plunkett, L. Hudgell, J. Thomas, F. Nash, D. Davies, J. Thomas, N. Evans, J. Griffiths, H. Dimond, T. G Williams.
Subs: M. D’Ivry, M. Preddy, P. Thomas.
Herbrandston Line-Up:
M. Mcluckie, T. Richardston, O. Robinson, D. John, E. Chalker, S. Findlay, S. Gilepsie, M. Jones, A. Whatling, C. Owens, A. Maccallum.
Subs: C. Hughes, A. Hughes, C. Davenport.
Sport
Pembrokeshire teen and her horse take top honours at UK equestrian finals

A YOUNG Pembrokeshire rider and her horse have made their mark on the equestrian world with a stunning performance at one of the UK’s top shows.
Seventeen-year-old Chloe Owen and her five-year-old horse, Tarr Dauntless – better known as Rodney – took top honours at the British Show Horse Association (BSHA) Rising Star finals at London’s Excel.
The pair, the youngest competitors in their class, not only won their category but also claimed the prestigious hunter championship. Their performance was hailed as “sublime” and “faultless” by leading equestrian magazine Horse & Hound.
Chloe, an A-level student at Haverfordwest High, has an unbreakable bond with Rodney, having helped raise him after his mother tragically died when he was a foal.
Rodney was bred by Chloe’s parents, Charles and Charlotte Owen of St Brides. His bloodline traces back to the first Holsteiner imported by the Hunter Improvement Society more than 50 years ago, a lineage carefully maintained by Chloe’s family.

However, Rodney’s early life was fraught with tragedy. His mother was attacked by a badger when he was just a few days old, suffering severe injuries that left her in a full plaster cast for three months before she succumbed to colic.
Charlotte said: “It was horrific. We bottle-fed Rodney, but his mum couldn’t play with him, so Chloe took over. They have such a lovely relationship – he’s a proper softie.”
The pair have had a remarkable debut season in the show ring, winning five out of seven championship titles, including Supreme Horse at the Pembrokeshire County Show.
“The London show in December was the first time Rodney had ever left Wales,” said Charlotte. “The furthest he’d travelled before was the Royal Welsh! But he just took everything in his stride.”
“I’ve never had a horse with a temperament like his—he’s so professional and so special. I knew from when he was a yearling that there was something different about him.”
Proud mum Charlotte added: “There were a lot of happy tears shed that day in London. There’s a very exciting future ahead for Chloe and Rodney—their first year together has been nothing short of extraordinary.”
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