WELSH FA Trophy third round

Penlan (Swansea) 4 - Sully Sports 2

Sully travelled to Swansea for this Cup tie expecting a difficult game versus the Swansea Senior League leaders. What they found was a very small, poor standard pitch and a team that from the outset went out to win in a hostile fashion.

From the first minute, one of the Penlan players should have been red carded, but the referee must have missed what appeared to be a blatant head butt off the ball on a Sully player which set the standard for the game with many poor tackles, which the home support cheered to the man.

Sully went close with a good save from a Conner Mcinery free kick but Sports were finding it difficult to play their normal style and things became worse as the pitch that had been played on in the morning became more like a sponge cake with a soggy bottom. Things got worse for Sully as leading scorer Alex Long suffered a bad leg injury which needed hospital treatment ironically at the time Dan Lawlor gave Sports the lead.

Long was replaced and while readjusting the Swansea team equalised from a set piece after a header was not cleared. Within minutes Penlan took the lead with, it has to be said, a great finish from a corner. Sharratt made some good saves as the back four of Lamb, Jones, Miles and Hopkins tackled hard to win the ball back.

Sports were not at their best and Penlan made it 3-1 early in the second period which saw them start to intimidate the Sully boys with some blatant time wasting as the ball was dispatched a fair distance and the home side only had the one. As Rees and Lawlor suffered more rough treatment, Sports came back and had a good spell which saw substitute Tony Storer first to a corner to head into the net. This unsettled the home team and a little panic in the play showed but the hard working Lawlor, Lewis and Townsend tried their best to ignite Sports but as the end neared Penlan caught all the Sports players up field after an equaliser and the Penlan player had the easiest task to lob the ball over the stranded keeper Sharratt. After the constant rain eased it was too late for Sully knowing they had been beaten by a team that did little to praise the Swansea League standard of football. Penlan’s reward is a trip to STM Sports in the next round which will be an interesting fourth round tie.

Sully Sports Team: Kieron Sharratt, Wes Lamb, Morgan Hopkins, Edward Jones, Luke Brody Miles, Andrew Townsend, Aiden Lewis, Chris Rees, Conner McInery, Dan Lawlor Alex Long.

Subs: Mark Brown for (Alex Long) on 20 minutes and (Tony Storer) on 71 minutes.

Not used: Sam White.

This Saturday Sports are back in league action with a trip to Aberdare.

Vale Division 1

Sully Sports FC 3 v 1 Knap

Sports played a decent match against Barry based Knap, a goal from Liam Hobbs and a brace from new lad Callum Keating earning him man of the match was enough to take the three points. This Saturday the side are away to FC Pumas for a 2pm kick off.

South Wales Youth League

Sully Sports Youth 5 v 0 Clwb Cymric Youth

A fine afternoon saw some good football from Sully Youth where the management team of Dave Knight and Rob Jones have built a decent footballing side that have taken well to youth football.

First half goals from Sam White, James Scott and a brace from captain Kieron Miller gave the Sully side a 4-0 lead at the break. In the second half chances were plenty and Sol Borde in the Sully goal made some good saves. The second half saw Josh Lewis beat the on rushing keeper to the ball to net Sully’s fifth after a swift passing move.

Sunday sees Sully travelling to Lisvane for a tough league match before a home cup tie on November 9 against high flying Fairwater with a quarter final place at stake.

South Wales Women’s League

Sully Ladies 4 v 5 Hafod Ladies

After not playing for a week or two the Ladies were back in action in a new kit kindly sponsored by United Carpets wood-floor and beds, which the Ladies donned for their game. The ladies and the club would like to thank Elton of United Carpets of unit seven Sloper Road Cardiff for their kind support.

The ladies started well and took a well worked and deserved lead, chances were coming at both ends with both keepers in fine form. The two lively Hafod strikers then started pulling the strings and netted three quick goals, with a fourth just before the break.

At half time captain Abi White and acting coach Long from the comfort of his armchair (with his foot in protective casing after the seniors game in Swansea), had some words which after the rust and cobwebs were removed saw a great comeback pulling the score back but Hafod having notched a fifth couldn’t be caught at the end.

Goals from Lisa Grindley, Nicole Barcoe and a brace from Lauren Young showed that once the Ladies put their minds to it they will certainly compete. This Sunday the Ladies are in cup action against Cardiff City development with the game being played at Fitzalan Comp at 2pm.