2pm 2 December 2017
Welsh League, Division Two
Pontardawe Town 1 Garden Village 2 (att 58)
Occasionally I get reminders of just how long I've been visiting non League football grounds. I was amazed to realise it was over 25 years ago that I saw Pontardawe lose a West Wales Senior Cup tie at their former ground.
A quarter of a century later and I returned to the Swansea Valley town to visit their new home, Parc Ynysderw. It's still a work in progress, but plenty of progress has been made in the relatively short time they've played here.
It's an enclosed football pitch that's part of a large playing field, and Pontardawe Town's pitch was looking an lot better than what teams in a trio of local games had to contend with elsewhere in the park.
There's small stand on one side, portable buildings providing pitchside changing rooms, and a snack bar to keep spectators supplied with food and drink.
Both these sides are on the fringes of the promotion battle, and Garden Village were celebrating a hard won three points at the end of 90 minutes.
They looked the better side, just about, but they had good fortune on their side. A first half lead looked to have been cancelled out by a Pontardawe equaliser, only for the referee, having initially given a goal, to have second thoughts when faced with vociferous complaints by Garden Village.
After consulting his assistant he changed his mind and ruled the goal out. From where I was standing I don't know if he eventually made the right call or not, but if Garden Village hadn't complained as vehemently as they did I'm sure it would have been 1-1.
Garden Village doubled their lead before the break. A second half goal for Pontardawe kept the game interesting for neutrals like me, but Garden Village defended well to hold out and earn all three points.
Welsh League, Division Two
Pontardawe Town 1 Garden Village 2 (att 58)
Occasionally I get reminders of just how long I've been visiting non League football grounds. I was amazed to realise it was over 25 years ago that I saw Pontardawe lose a West Wales Senior Cup tie at their former ground.
A quarter of a century later and I returned to the Swansea Valley town to visit their new home, Parc Ynysderw. It's still a work in progress, but plenty of progress has been made in the relatively short time they've played here.
It's an enclosed football pitch that's part of a large playing field, and Pontardawe Town's pitch was looking an lot better than what teams in a trio of local games had to contend with elsewhere in the park.
There's small stand on one side, portable buildings providing pitchside changing rooms, and a snack bar to keep spectators supplied with food and drink.
Both these sides are on the fringes of the promotion battle, and Garden Village were celebrating a hard won three points at the end of 90 minutes.
They looked the better side, just about, but they had good fortune on their side. A first half lead looked to have been cancelled out by a Pontardawe equaliser, only for the referee, having initially given a goal, to have second thoughts when faced with vociferous complaints by Garden Village.
After consulting his assistant he changed his mind and ruled the goal out. From where I was standing I don't know if he eventually made the right call or not, but if Garden Village hadn't complained as vehemently as they did I'm sure it would have been 1-1.
Garden Village doubled their lead before the break. A second half goal for Pontardawe kept the game interesting for neutrals like me, but Garden Village defended well to hold out and earn all three points.
Glad you enjoyed the visit. Shame we didn't get the home win but it was a cracker of a local derby. Don't wait ao long to visit hs again.. Gary of Pontardawe Town FC
ReplyDeleteI really enjoy your posts Steve. Keep supporting grassroots/3G roots. I admire your commitment. Pete - long suffering Tranmere fan.
ReplyDelete