Fishguard 1 – Carmarthen Athletic 3
The stage was set for another exciting West Wales Derby situated in Fishguard town. The weather was actually ok for once, every player on the pitch would have flash backs to the past games of monsoons and hurricanes.
From the off, Carmarthen piled on the pressure and managed to keep the ball in Fishguard’s half for an extended period. A delightful drive down the baseline from Luke Dunning and a cut back pass to Josh Gwynne, sitting comfortably on his own at the edge of the D, fired off a quick shot which crashed in off the back post for the opener.
Some outstanding plays from the Carmarthen wide midfielders Will Heath, Ryan Carvery and Luke Dunning peppered the D with chances which went begging.
Towards the latter end of the first half Fishguard broke away with a swift run down their left side and crossed to the striker. A fumbled shot came at the Carmarthen keeper Tomos Garman which had it covered but a stray foot from a defender got in the line of fire and deflected in to the back board. First half ended 1-1, slight frustration was setting in for Carmarthen but after a few words from the team manager Doug Shaw, the ship was steadied.
Second half started with a back and forth, counter attacks from each end. The Carmarthen defence of Lee Richardson, Jamie Pitman, Ollie Shaw and Dave Ferguson, were poised to snuff out any chance of the Fishguard attackers getting anywhere near the goal. Carmarthen forwards Rick Morgan, Josh Gwynne, Duncan Ecclestone and Tom Ferguson set the high press on Fishguard’s 16s and out of nowhere the central midfielder Jonti Merry forced his way through a sea of defenders and slotted a shot through the keepers pads. Carmarthen started to turn the screw and multiple chances followed. A wonderful cross from defensive midfielder Cai Morgan placed Striker Tom Ferguson in front of the keeper and took a swing but somehow the ball ended up narrowly missing a dog walker about 100 yards away on the field behind. After a relentless period of attacking Carmarthen were awarded a short corner, a quick and simple pass back from the receiver to the injector Duncan Ecclestone which slotted a shot in behind the keeper.
Carmarthen hope to bring the same intensity to the next match against Swansea at home.
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