PHOTO:
Man of the match Rhys Dalling has a shot at goal
Special award for Rhys
Rhys Dalling was nominated by several pundits as a potential match winner and they were right because he grabbed the only goal of the game. He was chosen as man of the match by Chris Tansey and Dai Malloy of sponsors Manderwood and received the man of the match ball, donated as ever by Ocky White Travel Ltd, which he gave to his grandparents for safe keeping so that he could get it signed by all the Goodwick boys on Sunday.
Dai is employee of the Month at Manderwoods
On the subject of Manderwoods, Dai Malloy braved the elements to lead out the officials and teams prior to the start, whilst Chris Tansey and Jimmy Yeoman stayed in the warmth of the bar. When asked why Dai was being given the honour Mr Tansey said it was reward for Dai being employee of the month – but suspect it might be something to do with the wind and rain!
Good grub at Goodwick
Goodwick United started out their day with food at their Phoenix Park headquarters, followed by a quiz organised by top club man Brian Morris, with the most food allegedly eaten by skipper Wayne O’Sullivan. Brian Morris looked on in amazement as he told us,
“A lot of them were eating stuff like pasta, not like in my day when we had a proper fried breakfast!”
Nomads opt for their regular routine
Neyland opted for a ‘no fuss’ pre-match as they met at the Athletic Club and some of them had food there. Then it was a quiet word together and on the mini-bus to Haverfordwest, which was driven by manager Ian Baker. He didn’t want to get to the ground too early and jokingly told me that he had driven around the new Churn Works complex to while away a couple of minutes!
Smaller crowd but fewer idiots
The wet weather might have accounted for the fact that it was a smaller crowd than usual but it is nice to report that there were few idiots unable to control their language – and plenty of support from the families in both camps who had made the journey to cheer on their players.
Nigel receives the Lilian Holman trophy
Goodwick United manager Nigel Delany received the Lilian Holman Trophy, awarded each year to the winning boss by Royston Holman, a Pembrokeshire League life vice-president, in memory of his late wife. It is always a nice moment and this year was no different.
Mike makes things tick over well
Well done to league sec Mike Phillips for all his work towards the final, although he did show a few pre-match nerves when he told one manager he wanted the teams out at 2.40, which was ten minutes after the official start! But he was involved alongside the likes of Brian Hawkins, David Olyott and the rest of the committee – and Mike also did a yeoman job on the microphone at the presentations. He is a man of many talents and local football will be a sadder place if he steps down as sec, although he will stay as treasurer!
Crowded press box
The press box was as full as I’ve ever seen it as female journalistic employees at the Western Telegraph invited themselves in, with family members as a crowd increaser, alongside James Southon, my Radio Pembrokeshire buddie, and old timer Ian Ashworth. In our annual forecasting competition I am astounded to say that I was the only one to tip the winners, although I said the score would be 2-1 (not 1-0) with Gordon Thomas and Fraser Watson opting for Neyland.
Even pundits couldn’t predict correct scoreline
In our annual pundits’ corner, no-one got the score right, for the first time ever, but well done to Matthew Price, Lee Morgan, Lee Hudgell, Ben Evans and Craig Weston for picking the winning team.
Refs rally round to support Paul
One of the nice traditions of the Senior Cup Final is the way that referees meet up at The Friars for a pre-match brunch, with Paul Rooney and assistants Angus Scourfield and the Boswell boys joined by lots of other officials. Gordon Thomas, Fraser Watson and I joined them, as usual, and there was a terrific hwyl from the men with the whistles.
Scott’s hopes were well and truly spiked!
Neyland were understandably disappointed to miss out in their first final but they are a useful team and their time will come again – but spare an extra thought for talented young midfielder Scott Jones. His place was in doubt early on the build-up after a hand injury – but he still held out hopes of playing until he took part in a games lesson in school and a friend and he were tidying up the javelins when one accidentally stuck in his foot. It was a certainty that he would be out of action after that but he was there in support of his team-mates – and could even muster a rueful smile as he told me his sad story!
At least it was played!
Although the final was relatively low-key in terms of goal chances it was a credit to both clubs and referee Paul Rooney – and after so much doubt it was just nice to see the match played to maintain the tradition of the most important game in Pembrokeshire Football!
