MONMOUTH TOWN (Chippenham Sports Ground)

There was a bonus of a Sunday game today and, as I happened to be in South Wales, it would've been awfully rude not to pay a visit!

I wasn't the only one who thought the same and there were lots of other groundhoppers present today.

Monmouth Town were entertaining Bettws in a Welsh League Division Two game at their Chippenham Sports Ground.

The ground is situated on the banks of the River Monnow, which was once a breeding ground for Kingfishers, hence the clubs nickname. There is also a very interesting tale as to why the Kingfisher nickname is quite pertinent to Monmouth, this is taken from the club's website

"Some local folklore has it that in about 1936 there were extremely bad spring floods on the Monnow and Wye which effectively wiped out all of the Kingfisher nests along the rivers. Until then Monmouth had been a magnet for ornithologists from all over the country to see Britain’s most beautiful bird in all its glory. Official government sources from the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Timber recorded their alarm at the plight of the Kingfisher population and a detailed study was carried out to assess the damage. Amazingly the only surviving pair of breeding Kingfishers were found nesting in a deflated football that had floated down the Monnow into the Wye and lodged itself with its laces in some branches overlooking the river. It was in the days before the Magic Marker so it could not be proven that the ball had been lost in a game at the Town’s sports ground but it was deemed the obvious cause. And so ….one loose shot saved the entire Kingfisher population of the Wye and Monnow rivers"



The towns GBG entry,
The Kings Head.

The football club's rise has been rapid as in just seven years they have gone from the bottom tier (Division 3) of the Gwent League to the top of the Welsh League Division 2, where they stand on the brink of promotion to the second tier of Welsh football.

As it stands though, it is doubtful whether they would be allowed promotion to the top tier, should they want it, at their current home ground as there is no way it meets current licensing standard, being more or less a railed off pitch in a public park, with a small covered stand (no seats) and no floodlights. This is not a criticism as I actually liked the feel of the ground, especially today in the glorious Welsh sunshine.

The ground is also shared with the rugby club which, I'm led to believe, means the club want to move off this pitch to the adjacent pitch so the have a pitch all to themselves. If this is the case, then it makes today's visit even more worthwhile. A vulture job!

As touched upon, Monmouth are currently top of the league, whilst their visitors from Bridgend, Bettws, are languishing near the bottom of the table (currently 3rd from bottom). Given Bettws's plight it seems even more odd as to why this game is being played on a Sunday.

Talking to a fellow hopper at the game, he told me that Bettws did not want to travel to play Monmouth in a midweek, so they therefore arranged a more convenient time, which was today, but just 24 hours after they lost 2-1 at Newcastle Emlyn, which is one of Bettws's longer away treks.

Two games in two days was bound to take it's toll, and indeed it did, but Bettws did put up a good show in an even first half. They were actually undone by the awarding of, in my eyes, a dubious penalty after 11 minutes, scored by Elliott Ford. Bettws never recovered from this despite keeping it at 1-0 until the break.

The second half was a different story as every time Monmouth went forward they looked like scoring, as Bettws began to wilt in the scorching heat. Goals from Dan Spence (50) Jack Alderdice (58, the goal of the game, a stunning 30 yard effort) Craig Lewis (67) Elliott Ford with his second (79) and Rob Laurie (90) sealed a comprehensive win for Monmouth to leave the Kingfishers in control at the top of the league.

A top afternoon spent in top company.

A minutes silence in memory of Monmouth's junior coach
Kevin Johnson who passed away earlier this month



Elliott Ford (11) gives Monmouth the lead from the penalty spot



Sunday 25th March 2012
Welsh League Division Two
Monmouth Town 6-0 Bettws
Attendance: 142 (h/c)

"Avoid that bloody wedding" weekend!

BRIDGEND TOWN and ROMAN GLASS ST GEORGE

Friday 29th April 2011
Welsh League Division One
Bridgend Town 2-0 Barry Town
Attendance: 85

After working in the morning, thus completely avoiding any coverage of William and Kate's happy event, it was to South Wales I headed in the evening for a mid-table clash between Bridgend and Barry Town. Bridgend now play their home games at The Brewery Field, which is also the home of Bridgend Rugby Club.  

  

The football club moved to the Brewery Field in 2009 after the consortium that the club was part of purchased the ground. The club had been homeless since leaving Coychurch Road in 2007, which was sold to make way for a supermarket. They had played at Porthcawl and Treforest in the interim. I have to admit the ground is an absolute gem!

The homesters easily won an insipid encounter, which was typical end-of-season fayre. The only thing missing was flip flops and sandals! Richard Ryan gave Bridgend the lead with a penalty after 10 minutes and Michael Walters doubled the lead with a low shot after 61 minutes.

There were a few other hoppers present in a crowd of around 85. A nice evening was rounded of by a quick visit to the Mountain Hare in Brynnau Gwynion, where a swift half of Bullmastiff Welsh Gold went down a treat.

Richard Ryan scores from the penalty spot to give Bridgend the lead.

Saturday 30th April

Western League Division One
Roman Glass St George 3-0 Calne Town
Attendance: 35

The choice of game for the Saturday was a pretty straightforward one, as RGSG were playing their penultimate game at Bell Hill before moving onto to pastures new for the forseeable future. As of next season the first team will be playing their home games at the Gloucestershire FA ground, until floodlights can be installed at Bell Hill.

I was speaking to someone at the club and he said the reason they cannot be installed at the moment is that the ground is too close to the houses, so the pitch needs to be moved 20 or so yards. This will then encroach on the adjacent cricket pitch, so whilst the cricket team is still going it’s a no go. However, within 3-4 years he said he expects the cricket team to have either merged with another local club or possibly to have folded due to dwindling interest. He said they will be back at this ground at some point.

The ground is pretty basic with a small covered terrace hard standing down one side of the pitch. The game was played in baking hot sunshine, but with a very strong breeze, which made flowing football rather difficult.

Although Calne were never out of the game, having good periods of pressure, it was a Paul Coles hat-trick that sealed the points for the homesters. His first effort was a dink over the keeper on 31 minutes after a great through ball. His second came on 49 minutes with a three-yard tap in, after the winger produced a mazy run and crossed in for him. He completed his hat-trick in stoppage time when he bundled the ball in after another good piece of wing play.

Also, just to let you all know I found the ground 1st time as it is well hidden behind the houses BUT if I hadn't been given the heads up by various hoppers i'm not sure I would have!!

UWIC (Cyncoed Road)

The beauty of the Welsh Cup is the occasional oddities the draw throws up. Today was one of those occasions. The University of Wales Institute Cardiff are a team made up of first and second year students and they play in the the fourth tier of Welsh football, the Welsh League division 3. Their home ground is within the Cyncoed Road University Campus.

They are coached by former Welsh International Christian Edwards, who combines this role with a similar one at Aberystwyth whilst also continuing his studies. The opponents today were Bala Town who play in the Welsh Premier, the top tier, and although are having a difficult season results wise they are a team brimming with experience. On paper it seemed a bit of a mis-match.

I booked my train to cardiff back in November, as soon as the draw was made, but it was with some trepidation I left a frost bound North Wales and headed south. I just couldn't see the game being on so I was contemplating chucking my tickets in the bin and looking for a certainty closer to home.

I spoke to the UWIC secretary on the friday evening and he was pretty confident there wouldn't be any problems (last week when South Wales was covered in frost, theirs was one of only two games that went ahead). His confidence was well founded and the game was never in doubt.

It was well worth the trip as, in a major upset, the students stunned the premier league side by dumping them out of the cup.

Bala took an early lead through a Chris Mason shot from the edge of the box (9) before the students came back to lead 2-1. Lewis Murray (13) prodded home before Sam Carrington (18) doubled the advantage. Bala were then reduced to 10 men when left back Mike Thompson was dismissed (35) for an elbow. Bala did continue to press and were unlucky not to be level at the interval when the hit the bar and had two efforts kicked off the line. However the students held firm and were superbly marshalled by skipper Donal Roughneen.

Bala won a penalty within a couple of minutes of the restart, but this was saved by Chris Willis, the UWIC goalkeeper. As the game went on Bala became more frustrated and their challenges became more robust however the students continued to play their football and picked Bala off on the break with two further goals in the last 15 minutes.

An an attack was broken up by the Bala defender, but the attempted back pass was intercepted by Ed Jones (75) who rounded the keeper to slot home.  A superb strike by Murray (88) sealed the win for the students. Bala's misery was further compounded when they were reduced to 9 men in stoppage time Mark Connelly, on his debut, received his second yellow card.

Overall though Bala can have no complaints with the final score. This result puts UWIC into the draw for the last eight and, speaking to a club official, the £12,500 prize money they will recieve for today's victory will keep the club ticking over for a good four seasons. It also leaves the students only three games away from the Europa League...what price for that?

Bala's John Irving shields the ball from UWIC striker Ed Jones.

For the match highlights, courtesy of S4C, then follow this link...http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxK8RjtB2dQ&feature=player_embedded

Saturday 29th January 2011

FAW Welsh Cup 4th Round

UWIC 4-1 Bala Town

Attendance: 163