Report

Llanboidy end their season on a high with a great away win in Llanybydder.

Llanboidy were forced to travel to Llanybydder for this rearranged fixture without several first team regulars, as joint top goal scorers Joules Ward and Alex Wilson were unable to travel with work commitments, Gruff Ifan banned and also Ollie Burton, Iestyn Scourfield and Dafydd Vaughan all unavailable.  Hefin Harries, Dan James and Gwyndaf Lewis were called up from the seconds to cover for the absentees, with Hefin Harries yet again showing that he still has plenty to offer for the first with a terrific performance earning him his second man of the match of the season!

Llanybydder’s pitch had dried remarkably well considering that they had called off the game last week due to a waterlogged pitch!!  Llanboidy expected a tough afternoon with Llanybydder’s seconds not having a fixture, who could well finish second in division 2, but they rarely threatened in the first half.  The home side struggled to cope with the pace and trickery of Celt Thomas-Jones and Dai Thomas down the wings at the other end, which resulted in Llanboidy winning about 10 corners in the first half hour.  They failed to make any decent contact on any of them though, until one was poorly cleared to the edge of the box, where Luke Davies was lurking.  Luke adjusted his body well and smashed the ball on the volley, which went straight into the back of the net, giving the ‘keeper no chance! Great tekkers!!

The hosts also got a rare chance on goal with a counter attack from one of the wasted corners, but some
good last ditch challenges from Rhodri Williams, Hefin Harries and Carwyn Lewis somehow kept the ball out of net.  It was Llanboidy who got the next goal though, with a fantastic through ball from Luke Davies, who was running the show from midfield, finding Martin Owen at the back post who couldn’t miss.  Emyr ‘Will’ Davies came close to extending Llanboidy’s lead with quick feet at the edge of the box bamboozling a couple of defenders before his effort on goal crashed back off the crossbar.  Martin Owen also had a long range free kick which clipped the top of the crossbar before Llanboidy finally managed to get a third goal as Dai Thomas turned his gas on and burnt his marker for pace!! Unfortunately he knocked the ball a bit too far, but Martin Owen had anticipated this and latched on to it with only the ‘keeper to beat, which he had no trouble in doing so for his 9^th goal in 12 games, making him Llanboidy’s top goal scorer despite missing more than half the season due to injury.  What a machine! 3-0 half time.

Llanybydder made a couple of early changes at the start of the second half which seemed to inject some more urgency into their performance, while they also decided to send on a big bald bastard to deal with Dai Thomas!!  These changes paid off midway through the second half as the hosts managed to pull a goal back after a period of sustained pressure. Carwyn Lewis had done well to save their first effort on goal, but the rebound was tucked away at the far post.  They had a couple of opportunities to bring themselves within a goal, but their chances were either wasted or blocked by last ditch Hefin Harries tackles. 

Dai Thomas could have killed the game off at the other end with a quick counter attack, but his effort somehow bobbled wide of the post after he had poked the ball through the ‘keeper’s legs!?  Martin Owen could have also completed his hat-trick near the end of the game to take him into double figures for the season after Dai Thomas had escaped from his marker and squared the ball, but he blasted his effort wide of the post as he tried to break their goal in half to complete his hat-trick!!  Luke Davies was wondering about trying to figure out who he was and why he was on the pitch at this point as he had come off worst in a clash of heads, which only became apparent when he started shouting at his own teammates for mentioning that there was only 10 minutes left when he though that they had only played 10 minutes of the second half!!  Dan James and Gwyndaf Lewis, who was making his first team debut, were then sent on for the final 5 minutes as Llanboidy blooded the youngsters, who might have a bigger part to play next season as neither looked out of place with the firsts.  3-1 full time.

Great win for Llanboidy with so many first team players missing, which shows the strength and depth that they now have after the fantastic work that Dafydd Makepeace and Emyr ‘Will’ Davies have done over the past few years.  No cups this year, but a terrific league campaign makes up for that with Llanboidy smashing their previous record by an unbelievable 13 points, resulting in a an excellent 5^th position, joint points with St.Dogmaels, who have 1 game to play, and only 1 point behind 3^rd placed Lampeter!  Hopefully they’ll be able to push on from here and get into the top 4 next season, with a cup run or two next time!

(Rhodri Williams)