Tuesday 3 April to Saturday 21 April
"As always at the end of the season many games take place in midweek, so the first game of this week's roundup starts last Tuesday (17th April) as Tregaron managed to keep the pressure on Bow Street with a 3-1 victory over Bont. Gethin Jones, Aled Evans and Dorian Coleman got the Turfs' goals, with Robin Duffee replying for Bont.
Also on Tuesday night in Division Two, Machynlleth defeated Dolgellau Reserves 3-1, Llanilar Reserves slipped to the bottom after a 2-0 defeat at home to Bow Street Reserves, and Trawsgoed and Llanon battled to a 3-3 draw.
So Saturday came around, and as the day dawned brightly I decided to make the short trip to Padarn to watch the relegation-threatened side make possibly their last stand in Division One against Bont.
I arrived at Padarn's unique ground, situated between two railway lines, about 10 minutes late, and was disgruntled to learn I had already missed a Bont goal, which was scored by Peter Horton. Clearly this was a big game for Padarn, as defeat would almost certainly condemn them to Division Two next season.
However Bont did look the better side in the first half, and it's easy to understand why they set the pace at the start of the season, as they passed the ball around well and showed plenty of good touches. Padarn seemed content to try and hit Bont on the break but their attacks amounted to very little. Indeed the first half performance from the home team was quite uninspired considering what was at stake.
Half-time came around, and Padarn were treated to a stern lecture, from the management, exhorting them to greater efforts and emphasizing that this was perhaps the most important 45 minutes of the season, and they responded after the break as Mark Gittins scored to draw the home team level.
It seemed to me Padarn were getting on top, as they were disrupting Bont's play and pressing the away defence with greater urgency. A couple of shots on the Bont goal went wide, misses that would return to haunt the hosts. Just as it seemed Padarn's survival chances were on, Bont took the lead again courtesy of an excellent strike from Rhydian Jones.
To be honest, I expected Bont to push on from that, but credit to Padarn, they never gave up and somehow forced an equalizer with about five minutes left courtesy of Will Johnson. Padarn now appeared to be playing with three up front and the goalkeeper was going up for corners, such was their determination to force the winner. I myself was hoping for the draw so my 2-2 prediction from last week would be right.
Unfortunately it wasn't meant to be, and the home team's hearts were broken with a couple of minutes left when Bont secured the three points with a scrambled winner from Ben Jenkins. It was difficult not to feel sympathy for Padarn, who had deserved at least a draw for their battling second-half display.
While not relegated mathematically, their chances of staying up were now slimmer than size zero. I also knew how their fans felt, after finding out when I got home that Leeds had been beaten by a late goal at Southampton.
Anyway, enough about my day, elsewhere on Saturday my powers of prophecy gave me the correct result at Talybont, as two John Evans strikes and an own goal gave Tregaron a 3-1 victory over the home team, whose consolation came via Siriol Evans.
Unfortunately the aforementioned prophetic powers did not give me the correct score at Min-y-Ddol, as Penparcau won by just a single Lee Jones goal over Dolgellau. At Cae Piod, goals from Peter James, Gerwyn Loosely and Martin Williams gave Bow Street an important 3-1 win over Penrhyn Reserves, who could only respond with a single Gareth Hughes strike.
In Division Two, Dolgellau Reserves and Talybont Reserves shared 12 goals, Dolgellau emerging the 8-4 winners, while Corris moved off the bottom with a 1-1 draw at home to Llanon.
In the Consolation Cup, Llanilar's appalling run continued with a 2-0 loss at home to Aberdyfi, who progressed to round 2 through a Danny Williams brace. Padarn's loss made Aberdyfi safe for another season, and their fans have not been slow to point out this makes my early season prediction of relegation for their team incorrect. But perhaps I helped motivate Aberdyfi to survival, so I can be happy either way.
In the Second Division Trophy semi-finals, Tywyn/Bryncrug defeated Trawsgoed 11-0 on aggregate; their opponents in the final will be either Penrhyn Thirds or Penparcau Reserves, with Penrhyn holding a 1-0 lead after the first leg.
On Monday, Tywyn Reserves closed the gap on Aber Thirds at the top of Division Two to eight points with a 6-1 win over Penparcau Reserves. Trawsgoed gained a welcome 4-3 win at UWA Thirds, Penrhyn Thirds defeated Dolgellau Reserves 2-0, while Bow Street Reserves emerged victorious from a close fought 3-2 game with Llanon.
On Tuesday, Bow Street took a step closer to the title with a 3-1 win at Llanilar, Darren Middleton, Mark Evans and Gerwyn Loosely getting the Magpies' goals, with Martin Davies scoring Llanilar's consolation.
All this means Bow Street have a six point lead over Tregaron at the top, having played a game more. Penparcau are a further four points back, they have played two games less than the leaders. At the bottom Padarn needed to beat Dolgellau on Wednesday (I don't know the result) and then hope Llanilar sustain two heavy defeats to avoid relegation. Although the way Llanilar have been playing, that's not beyond the realms of possibility.
Predictions:
Bont v. UWA Reserves
Should be straightforward for Bont, as they looked in good form against Padarn. The students have struggled again this season in a disappointing campaign, and they will do well to win here.
Prediction: Bont 3-1 UWA Res.
Llanrhystud v. Dolgellau
Llanrhystud have been on a bad run, but they will want to end their season on a high. Dolgellau have been quite enigmatic this year, flashes of form have given way to poor runs that has seen them just behind the top teams. However they do have a lot of games in hand (I think they still have six fixtures left) and I can see the away side sneaking the win here, but only just.
Prediction: Llanrhystud 1-2 Dolgellau
Talybont v. Penparcau
Make or break for Penparcau, now is the time to move for them if they want to break up the Bow Street-Tregaron party at the top. A win here would keep them in touch, and I can't see them blowing it against a slightly off-form Talybont with one eye on their cup semi-final in midweek.
Prediction: Talybont 0-2 Penparcau
Tregaron v. Aberdyfi
So, can Tregaron catch Bow Street? A win here would hand the title on a plate to the Magpies, but the Turfs have proved they have the bottle, having won the Emrys Morgan. Aberdyfi can relax now, so I expect the Turfs to win.
Prediction: Tregaron 4-1 Aberdyfi. "
Written by Lee Taylor from Aberystwyth.
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