UEFA REGIONS CUP
SOUTH WALES FA ........ 2 GWENT COUNTY .......... 1
A GOAL midway through the second half from substitute Christopher Quick last week earned the South Wales FA a slender victory over their Gwent counterparts at Penybont FC, writes Tony Poole.
Despite cruising to a comfortable 4-1 victory in the reverse tie with Gwent at Abergavenny Town FC back in the autumn, it proved much harder going for South Wales in the Kymco Stadium rematch.
Another substantial victory seemed to be on the cards when Joshua Brogden (Penydarren Boys Club) sent South Wales in front after just three minutes.
But Gwent equalised in the 23rd minute and it remained that way until the winner was carved out on 67 minutes.
Christopher Quick (Canton Liberal Club) had only just come on when he saved the day for South Wales in knocking in the match-winning goal.
Next up in the roundrobin fixtures is Gwent against West Wales FA at Abergavenny Town on March 5.
If West Wales fail to get a win then South Wales move on to the next stage.
However, if West Wales card a win then there’s still some qualifying meat left on the South Wales bone, as they face West Wales at Garden Village FC on March 14.
Meanwhile, the SWFA have announced that they are taking six cup finals to the Kymco Stadium over the May Day Bank Holiday weekend.
On May 5 (Saturday), Penybont Ladies will face either Caerphilly Castle or Barry Town in the SWFA Ladies final.
And on the same day, the Girls U14 and U16 finals will also be staged at the ground.
The following day, the Sunday Intermediate Cup is being held on the Bont mat along with the Boys U14 and U16 finals.
FOOTBALL
LLANTWIT MAJOR star Sam Snaith scored twice last week for Welsh Colleges in the Roma Caput Mundi tournament in Italy, writes Tony Poole.
However, there wasn’t a happy ending for striker Snaith and three other
In recent times Cardiff MCCU has produced a clutch of top players that have gone on to make the grade with Glamorgan.
Bridgend Town product Sam Pearce (Pontarddulais) is currently a student there while Jeremy Lawlor – who was the Glamorgan attached player with Bridgend Town last summer – attended Cardiff MCCU.
Others who have im- Bridgend College students – Connor Phelan (Cambrian & Clydach), Joe Mellars and Ben Vanstone (both Barry Town United) – as Wales lost all three matches.
Welsh Colleges FA via their official Twitter account summed up their exploits in the Rome Cap- pacted with Glamorgan are Connor Brown, Kieran Bull, Tom Cullen, Gregory Holmes, Owen Morgan, Jack Murphy, Oliver Pike and Andrew Salter.
Over the past few seasons Deloitte have backed the project but with their deal having expired, there’s fresh doubt regarding the long-term viability of the plan.
Already the MCC has ital of the World tournaconverted penalty as ment. Wales went down 3-1 to
“Three tough games eventual winners Romawere nia.alllost,butit was a fantastic experiDuring the encounence for these young playter with Romania, young ers and a great learning Phelan fractured an curve.’’ arm, and spent time in
Snaith netted during hospital having it put in a a 3-1 loss to Italy in their cast. event opener and he then Fatigue and a mount- implemented cost-cutting in withdrawing their team from the Second XI Championship.
However, the MCC has assured students that they are committed to the next three years, and this is seen as a relief for students who have only just commenced studies.
But long-term the future of the scheme is doubtful.
The MCCU project allows young people to avoid having to make up their minds surrounding education or a career in sport once they leave school.
The scheme currently provides top facilities at six universities – Cambridge, Cardiff, Durham, Leeds, Loughborough and Oxford.
The move has also come against the background ing injury-list had kicked in by the time Wales faced “Old Enemy” England in their final match.
With only pride at stake for Wales, they failed to hold a strong England team who went 4-0 up before closing out a 5-1 victory. of the England & Wales Cricket Board recently signed a lucrative new broadcast deal.
But as it stands now the development of young cricketers is facing meltdown.
Meanwhile, a week tonight (Wednesday) the South Wales Cricket Association is staging an EGM – at stake is making Divisions One to Three win cricket only.