INTERMEDIATE CUP FINAL

TONY NAKONECZNYJ INSURANCE BROKERS WWFA INTERMEDIATE CUP FINAL 2010.

    For Blaenymaes and Coelbren Athletic football clubs, all roads lead to the Liberty Stadium on Tuesday, as the two contenders having been promoted in their respective leagues, face each other in “The Tony Nakonecznyj Insurance Brokers”, West Wales F.A. Intermediate Cup Final (Kick off 7.00).

    It will be a new venture for both clubs, with the Neath Valley side being Eagle Heating & Plumbing Division Two champions and Blaenymaes also moving up from Pic-up-Spares Division Four of the Swansea Senior league, as they make their debut appearance in the final with the competition, which is being played for a fourth time at the home of Swansea City.

    With the final fixture being held at the Vetch Field between Brynawel and Hakin United in 2004, the competition took place at nearby St Helen’s Rugby and Cricket ground twelve moths later, involving St Josephs and Winch Wen,

    Dressing room structural changes then took place, along with the demolition of the wooden framed stand, and with restricted facilities for a major local cup final, the following season saw the contest move out of Swansea, with the venue being Llanelli’s Stebonheath Park, involving an all Swansea final, between South Gower and St Josephs.

    Four seasons ago, negotiations took place for the competition to be staged at the best facilities available in the principality, and the Intermediate Cup Final found a new venue at the Liberty Stadium, with the silverware being claimed by Winch Wen, following a 4-1 victory against Neath league side Onllwyn.

    The following campaign saw Carmarthenshire League’s Seaside amazingly somehow turn a halftime 4-1 deficit around, to win the trophy 6-5, following a titanic second half revival against Ragged School. 

    Twelve moths ago, the outcome was a much closer affair with a solitary John Swain header, just before the interval securing victory for South Gower against Bonymaen Colts.

    This time will be the second occasion, that clubs from the Neath and Swansea senior leagues will contest the destination of the silverware.

   The council of the WWFA wish to extended their appreciation and thanks to both Stadco and the Stadium management in allowing us to hold this major final here once again.

   This is an all ticket match, and I must stress that supporters arrive in ample time to purchase them from the club office, Adult £6.00, Child/Senior Citizen £3.00, along with the car parking facilities which is only £2.00.

    With the two teams moving up a division from their respective leagues, the outcome of the competition is likely to be very evenly balanced, especially with the clubs making their debut final appearance with the possibility of the trophy heading East out of Swansea for the first time since Clydach beat Fishguard exactly fifty years ago.

    With Coelbren having an excellent season in league and cup competitions, club secretary Aled Davies said, “Our best result in the competition was a single goal win away at Seaside in the quarter final, with skipper Michael David providing us with the shock outcome against much fancied opponents”.

    “Having overcome that major obstacle, the semi-final saw us beat Winch Wen 3-1, with the goals shared between Sandeep Bacheta, Darren Langford and Michael David”.

    “Being based in a small village, there is a limited amount of local talent, but we’ve been fortunate to call upon local neighbours like Ynyswen, Abercrave and Ystradgynlais for us to have a very committed team”.

    Meanwhile, Blaenymaes secretary Keith Norwood was full of praise for his team, with them having achieved positive stops forward during the last three seasons.

    “We certainly have had a superb nine months with excellent outcomes in league and cup matches which has been exceptional, with a definite highlight being Jamie Green’s goal in the semi-final against Pengelli United to bring us to the Liberty Stadium”.

    “Throughout the campaign, the squad have shown great character to progress round by round, with one of our biggest test coming at Pennar Robins, where we secured a 4-3 win after going behind 2-0, in a roller coaster contest, with goals from Jamie Green (2), Jack Green and Paul Thomas, against a team that had massive support on the day”.  

    Team squads: - Blaenymaes: Anthony Buckland, Joshua Crabbe, Rhys Coffey, Daniel Williams, Paul Thomas, Dean Norwood (capt), Lee Williams, Luke Dalling, Jamie Green, Jack Green, Keith Norwood, Robert Templeton, Jamie Bevan, Tommy Morgan.

    Coelbren Athletic: James Harris, Matthew Jones, Paul Griffiths, Kieran Hosford, Richard Colman, Daniel Davies, Kirk Munn, Michael David (capt), Lloyd Evans, Darren Langford, Christopher Miller, Sandeep Bacheta, Chris Evans, Lee Thomas, Leigh Riby.

    Referee: - Nigel Howes (Llanelli). Assistant Referees: - Gary Hire (Llanelli), Jeff Moore (Llanelli). Fourth Official: - Mark Evans  (Llanelli).