09/03/08
Llanishen & Caerphilly 0 – 2 Bridgend
Welsh Sheild Semi Final
Its was a weekend of upsets, who would have believed that Pompey would crush Manchester United and that Barnsley would chop Chelski out of the cup. Those same believers thought that Llanishen & Caerphilly may pull off a giant killing of their own and for 50 odd minutes they very nearly did.
Llanishen & Caerphilly fielded a very talented side packed with skill and speed, they faced a well organized Bridgend team who were clearly lacking in confidence following their dismal relegation season from Premier Three. Bridgend are three leagues above Llanishen & Caerphilly and a full 30 places above them. However it was the home side that had by far the better chances in the opening minutes and up until half time looked like the team most likely to win the game. The front three of Adam Saunders, Jonny Rogers and Dan ‘the crab’ Payne were creating chance after chance being fed from the midfield duo of Jon Smith and Nigel Stephens. It was good to see Ian ‘the calf’ Davies back from injury who eventually found his hitting form, which then found Adam Saunders outside edge, which finally found a Bridgend forehead.
HALF TIME 0 – 0
Llanishen & Caerphilly were always going to regret not taking their chances as Bridgend finally broke the deadlock with a soft goal followed up fairly quickly with a second. The home side continued to press and man of the match Pete ‘the panda’ Johnson making some impressive surges forward from the back. Llanishen tried to battle back into the game but in the end the lacked a bit of fitness to really punish the visitors.
So sadly Llanishen & Caerphilly will not be etched on the shield this year but they can hold their heads high after producing the performance of the season, they may have lost this one but they’ll be back next year as you can’t beat a bit of giant killing.
08/03/08
Whitchurch 5 – 3 C Llanishen & Caerphilly
The penultimate game of the league season saw Llanishen & Caerphilly travel all the way down the A470 to Whitchurch village, and they came up against a very well organized and clearly skillful side. After the first five minutes it looked as though Whitchurch were going to romp home as the visitors hardly got a look in however Llanishen & Caerphilly slowly began to take control of the game. It was from their first attack that Adam Saunders crossed the ball in finding Ben Payne who obliged by crashing the ball into the back board. Shortly after the visitors were awarded a penalty which Nigel Stephens strolled up and slotted home adding at least 150 step to his ever increasing tally. At 2 – 0 it looked as though Llanishen & Caerphilly had the points in the bag but perhaps the minds drifted to thoughts of giant killing and grand slams. The visitors came round from this apparent daydream to find that inexplicably they had allowed Whitchurch back into the game with not 2 goals but 3 what a nightmare.
HALF TIME 3 – 2
In the second half Llanishen & Caerphilly dominated and showed massive spirit to fight their way back into the game. The visitors finally got their reward courtesy of an Adam Saunders strike after a neat piece of interplay with Jonny Rogers. After all their hard work it looked as though Llanishen & Caerphilly were going to run out as winners however some forgetful defending allowed Whichurch to regain the lead which they added to shortly after a result of a fine run from their most skillful player.
Llanishen & Caerphilly faced a good side in Whitchurch and despite this result coming at the end of what has been a dismal 2008 for the men in red, they showed enormous spirit and fight in this game that they should hope to take into next season when surely they will be hoping to challenge for promotion.
Llanishen & Caerphilly A 3 – 3 Whitchurch D
A depleted second eleven also faced a Whitchurch side this weekend and mananged to put three past them all coming from the stick of Andy Thomas . Huw Bebb was impressive in the goal and John Sansom commanded the match from the centre of the park. They have started to pick up points at the wrong end of the season but hopefully they will continue this mini run into next season when they hope to put further meaning to the word bouncebackability.
Llanishen & Caerphilly B 0 – 9 Bridgend C
The youth team suffered a horrible defeat against a bullish Bridgend side getting thump nine nil. They finish the season with 11 points and have gained masses of experience. They will surely be in the top half of the division next year and maybe be even pushing for promotion.
01/03/08
Llanishen & Caerphilly 0 – 2 Bridgend A
Due to an ever increasing injury list Llanishen & Caerphilly were forced to field heavily weakened side against a resurgent Bridgend side this weekend. In fact so dire was their plight that they played most of the first half with only nine men! Camped firmly in their own half the home side battled tremendously rallied from the back by Adam Saunders. Llanishen & Caerphilly did manage a couple of forays into the Bridgend half but the severe lack of numbers meant they could not commit too many men. Despite their battling with some skillful touches from Sam Tilley the home side failed to keep out the Bridgend side out for long and conceded two well taken goals.
HALF TIME 0 – 2
Shortly before halftime the reinforcements arrived and with 11 men Llanishen & Caerphilly managed to battle their way back into the game, Ben Payne was magnificent on the left wing breaking into the oppositions half on countless occasions. Despite their efforts the home side were unable to break down the very experienced and organized Bridgend defence and when Pete Johnson was forced to retire hurt to nurse a shiner that would make any panda jealous. It was clear that Llanishen & Caerhpilly were not going to add to their points tally.
Next week they face Bridgend Firsts in a cup semi-final. The league may have come to premature end for the men in red but can they rally theirselves to produce one more rousing display this season, tune in next week to find out!
Whitchurch E 0 – 3 Llanishen & Caerphilly A
The second eleven may be down but they surely aren’t out as they produced one of their finest displays of the season against a poor Whitchurch side. From the start it was a Smith show with brief cameos from the rest of the side. Had it not been for some superb goalkeeping and some errant shooting the visitors would have been up by several to nil by half time. Whitchurch failed to break into the visitors D throughout the whole match and Poor Huw Bebb was left wishing he had bought a book. Sanj Mahapatra opened the scoring just before half time and Mat Turner extended the lead just after it. The final goal cam from Sanj Mahapatra in the closing minutes.
Abergavenny A 3 – 3 Llanishen & Caerphilly B
Another point for the youth side puts them firmly mid table and looking good for next season. This year has been all about learning a mid-table finish is an excellent result from a side formed mainly of youngsters in their first senior season. Keep watching for next year when we expect to see them develop even further. Jon Akrill, James Lowther and Jordan Allen (names please i've forgotten), scored the goals.