Cornelly’s premier appeal turned down
CORNELLY United will play in Highadmit South Wales Alliance Division One next season, writes Tony Poole.
An appeal to the South Wales FA – over relegation out of the Premier Division in a fourth spot – was turned down ahead of last week’s South Wales Alliance AGM.
The Meadow Street boys were told that given the amount of appeals in recent times regarding promotion and relegation issues, the chances of now succeeding were slim.
The FAW now controls pyramid movements and given the circumstances, Cornelly were refunded the £50 appeal fee.
Although the Meadow Street boys were disap- pointed with the decision, they understand it.
The Alliance AGM then confirmed Cornelly as a Division One club while Betws will play in the Premier Division.
One of the main topics of local interest surrounded a decision by Bridgend County Borough Council preventing clubs utilising pitches until August 22 – nine days after the start of the season.
Mark Adams of the SWFA and the FAW were requested to intervene, as it was felt the decision was unacceptable.
However, players have rallied around Cornelly during the past few weeks, and there were ample players on hand last Saturday for the friendly with newcomers FC Porthcawl at Pencoed College.
Although Dan Jenkins has gone to second-division Cefn Cribwr – Dann Jones and Shaun Duffy might follow – Cornelly have signed 23 players.
Among them are Dale Smith and Carl Owen, who midway through last season switched to Betws, while Sammy Jones is set to return to goal-keeping duties.
Mark Dewar is the new Meadow Street chief with golf star Dai Cane and Dale Smith his assistants.
Should Cornelly sign 40 players by September, they will field a reserve side in the Port Talbot League.
They have also welcomed to Meadow Street a new fitness coach in Ross Williams, who is an FAW performance analyst.
The Cornelly league campaign gets underway on Saturday week with a home fixture against Cadoxton Barry.
And they have an attractive home league game on Bank Holiday Sunday (August 28) with neighbours Porthcawl Town Athletic, kicking off at 6pm to accommodate a band of Groundhoppers.
Meanwhile, last Friday night, Cornelly staged their annual presentation evening at the Greenacre.
Clubman of the year was secretary Jason Jenkins, who is generally regarded as the heartbeat of the club.
The other first-team silverware went to:
Players’ player: Dann Jones.
Manager’s player: Dale Owen.
Young player: Luke Lyons.
Most improved player: Callum Jones.
A special award was also made to Dan Jenkins for representing the South Wales FA with distinction in the Regions Cup.
He also received the senior golden boot on the back of 23 goals last winter in all competitions.
Second-team awards were made to the following players:
Player- of- the- year : Luke Lyons.
Golden boot: Luke Lyons.
Manager’s player-ofthe-year: Paul Roach.
Most improved player: Nigel Morgan.
And thanks went to master printer Jedd Beavis for diligent work on the match programmes.