South Wales Alliance League Division One

Cadoxton Barry FC 1 - Cogan Coronation 1

Curran (94)

WITH Cogan doing the early pressing it took CB five minutes to mount their first serious attack. It started with a Walsh ball down the left touch line to Oaten who, in turn, found Morgan who was ruled to be off side.

Then a high ball down the middle from Baker was trapped on a sixpence by Morgan who moved it through to Jackhontaw whose powerful shot from close in was well blocked on the Cogan line. CB were gradually winning the battle for the retention of the ball, good play from Baker seeing the ball through to Harris-Reffell whose attempted cross was intercepted for a corner which came to nothing.

Then 25 minutes into the match, a Cogan corner was cleared by Weekley only to see the ball returned to the box from where a connecting head saw it fly just over the CB bar. Then a mix up between defence and 'keeper saw a Cogan interception looking odds on to be converted into a goal, but the player got his feet in a right old tangle to see CB being grateful for the let off.

Then a snapshot from Morgan standing near the half-way line, went narrowly over the Cogan bar with the 'keeper beaten.

Morgan headed a high ball on to Jackhontaw and his cross to Dawson resulted in a powerful shot bringing off a high quality reaction block on the line and at the other end a Cogan free kick was allowed to bounce in the six yard box before being flicked on to the CB bar before going out of play.

CB almost took the lead as half-time approached when Harris crossed from 30 yards out to see Jackhontaw's connecting header going inches over the visitor's bar, leaving the match goalless at half-time.

An early through ball from Harris saw Morgan stretching to make a slight contact which sent the ball just wide of the right hand upright. Morgan once more saw a shot whizz past the same post after he had managed to get on the end of an accurate Harris-Reffell cross.

Good ball play between the other Harris, Dawson and Beattie earned CB a corner which was whipped in by Morgan to set up a Jackhontaw header which was well cleared close to the line and another Morgan corner was, this time met by the head of Dawson, only to go just the wrong side.

Former Barry Town star, Gavin Beddard, came on for Cogan only seconds before an issue over a disputed throw in blew up. It seriously looked to be in favor of Cadoxton Barry, but the referee gave it in the other direction.

However, in came the long throw which was flicked on by Beddard for the Cogan centre forward to volley with a fierce ground shot which squeezed its way home through the narrow gap between 'keeper Curran and the right upright - giving Cogan a 1 - 0 lead with 20 minutes remaining.

Morgan set off on a mesmerising run down the left only to attract an agricultural tackle which earned one of many yellow cards now being dished out to Cogan players. Indeed the Cogan support team, one of which is registered to play for Cadoxton Barry, resorted to ironic jeers on the rare occasions that Morgan lost a battle for the ball - such was his menace down that left flank.

Another corner won by Morgan appeared to be handled as it was cleared for a further one and even this corner had a suspicion of hand ball about it, though the referee was still not impressed.

As CB pressure began to mount Matthews and Adams replaced Harris-Reffell and Baker. There were just 10 minutes remaining.

However the new blood continued to be well held by a determined and resolute Cogan back line. Indeed, well into the last of four minutes added time there appeared to be no way that CB were going to rescue the point that they more than deserved.

But with just seconds on the clock they won a corner and so, with nothing to lose 'keeper Curran went forward to the far post. Morgan's corner was measured perfectly to find the goalkeeper's head as the nod looked almost certain to bring the equaliser that CB had been desperately seeking.

But a miraculous headed clearance that went out for another corner looked to have saved all three points for Cogan. There didn't seem to be time for the second corner anyway.

But Morgan continued with procedures expecting the fat lady to sing at any second. However she held her breath just long enough for Morgan to send in an almost identical cross to Curran standing in an almost identical position at the far post. He rose to make almost identical contact.

But once the Cogan 'keeper had flapped at and missed the ball, there was no defender in an identical place to stop it entering the net for a second time. and that all happened in the very last second of the game to gain at least partial justice for the side that had held the upper hand for the greater portion of playing time.

W John Owen South Wales Alliance League Cup Quarter Final

Cadoxton Barry FC 1 - Penydarren Boys and Girls Club 2

Harris (CB)

Own goal, Sullivan (Penydarren)

After Cadoxton Barry eliminated Premier Division Cornelly United in the shock result of an earlier round, the question being asked was "are Cadoxton Barry capable of pushing sides from the higher level on a regular basis, or was it just a one-off fluke?"

Well the answer was an emphatic "yes they are" as they pushed the side who sit second in the South Wales Alliance Premier Division down to the wire in this W John Owen Cup quarter final match.

Over the 90 minutes Penydarren did just about deserve to go through to the semi-final, but it was such a close run thing that the unaware spectator might not have been able to easily guess which of the teams was not yet absolutely certain of avoiding relegation from the division below.

The early minutes saw both sides getting the feel of their opposition, though a Walsh feed down the left to Konten set up a chance for Oaten. But he failed to make proper contact as the cross came over.

At the other end a misjudged back pass set up all kinds of panic in the CB box before it was eventually cleared. Further half chances fell to Oaten, whose excellent off the ball running was finding him in promising space time and again, though the crosses always seemed to be tantalisingly just out of reach.

The visitors began to gain the better possession while CB continued to look just as capable from a number of breakaways that were being created, Konten heading wide following a high bounce in the Penydarren penalty box. Thompson, running down the right, sent a dipping cross over to Oaten who, although striking it crisply, was only able to find the 'keeper's open arms.

CB conceded a free kick out to the left of their box and the clever curler that came in beat all of the CB defence with the exception of the outstretched hand of 'keeper Harker - this being the first in a series of fines saves that were to make him CB's man-of the-match. Following the resultant corner, CB were fortunate to survive a spell of bagatelle in the six yard box before the ball was eventually cleared.

Eventually the Penydarren pressure did tell as Weekley was dispossessed on the left flank. The initial shot was cleared but a second shot from Keating came in towards the far post and, in attempting to clear for a second time, the CB defender was only able to hoof it up into the roof of his own net.

And, but for Harker, CB might easily have been two goals down just minutes later as a high ball down the middle was cleverly trapped by the forward who looked favourite to score. Harker had other ideas though as he executed an instinctive point blank save to keep CB in the tie.

CB had a chance to level things up just before half-time as Harris found Thompson running down the wing, but the 'keeper did very well to close the space down in fractions of a second.

Jackhontaw had a half chance at the start of the second half, flicking the ball up and over the challenger, but he was unable to bring it down cleanly enough to get a good shot in. Poor communications at the back heralded yet another defensive mix up before CB were again fortunate to get the ball cleared.

But aside of these self-created problems, CB were now seeing as much of the ball as their visitors. Oaten won a corner that Jackhontaw whipped in to see the Penydarren 'keeper execute an excellent fingertip save as he pushed it over the bar.

A CB equaliser now began to look a possibility and it came from a move initiated by Oaten whose quality pass found Walsh. With Oaten having run into space to the left of centre, Walsh returned it to see it flicked on to Harris who headed home at the left hand post with half an hour of the game remaining. Now it was anyone's tie.

From the restart Penydarren broke down the right to set up a one-on-one with Harker who saved with another fabulous dive to his right and thanks to Harker, Cadoxton Barry were now in the ascendency, seeing the better ball, though not seeming quite capable of finding that extra trick to create a crack in Penydarren's the final third defending.

With just 10 minutes left Penydarren, like a crouching cat, pounced once more. A long ball from the back saw the forward break clear with only Harker to beat.

His first brilliant save was instinctive, but by now Penydarren reinforcements had arrived to see the rebound fiercely driven back towards the inside of the left hand post. Harker had barely half a second to readjust, but manage it he did, to pull off a miraculous diving save to his right.

There was a downside to these heroics however. With the ball now cleared 30 yards out to the right the release of the tension saw CB players switch off for the split second it needed for Sullivan to latch onto the ball and let fly with a tremendous strike that gave Harker no chance.

There were 10 minutes left to find a second equaliser and CB made the most of it, pressing for lengthy spells whilst being denied any further clear cut chances by a resolute Penydarren rearguard. Even though CB were now having the lion's share of the ball, Harker's heroics were not yet complete as a Penydarren breakaway saw him dropping like lead on a goal bound shot near the left post.

CB resumed the pressure, but the strong back four kept them at bay through to the final whistle.

Cadoxton Barry's next league game is on Thursday away to Welsh speaking Clwb Cymric. Cadoxton Barry won the early season encounter at Bryn-Y-Don 2-1, so with Cadoxton Barry have a few Welsh speaking strikers of their own, it could turn out be another close encounter.