18th July 2009
It finished all square at the Bridge Meadow
Haverfordwest County 1 goal – Pontardawe 1 goal
Haverfordwest County surrender a one-goal lead to finish their second pre-season friendly at home against Pontardawe in a draw.
The Swansea based outfit played some silky stuff on a magnificent Bridge Meadow surface and they gave the Bluebirds a thorough workout.
Pontardawe are one of the better teams currently playing in the Welsh League Division One, and included in their outfit was former Swansea City professional Jonathon Coates, who a few seasons ago played for the Bluebirds.
The home side took the lead in the 32
nd
minute. Robbie Walters intelligently set-up strike partner Jack Christopher (second goal in three days) who delightfully clipped the ball over the out-rushing goalkeeper Dean Morgan to make it 1-0 at half time.
The Bluebirds were very unlucky not to extend their lead early in the second half. Midfielder Jarrod Price rattled the crossbar with a fierce drive, and minutes later, substitute striker Nicky Woodrow also hit the crossbar with a well struck edge of the area free kick.
But 15 minutes from full time and the visitors grabbed an equaliser through substitute Liam James after some sloppy Bluebirds’ defending.
Christopher did put the ball into the back of the visitors net near the end of the friendly, but it was ruled out for offside after the deadly striker quickly followed up Walters’ wicked shot that rebounded off the bar.
Haverfordwest County: Lee Idzi, Dylan Blain, Bobby Briers, Kyle Graves, Gareth Elliott, Paul Michael, Jarrod Price, Jamie Bradford, Robbie Walters, Jack Christopher, Jonathan Clarke. Substitutes: Nicky Woodrow, Simon Gilderdale, Matthew Roberts, Steffan Williams, Martin Langdon.
Pontardawe: Dean Morgan, Paul Leninan, Jonathon Coates, Dan McGrath, Stuart Hoskins, Gary Taylor, Andrew Stokes, Mark Napieralla, Steffan Davies, Carl Owen, Richard Evans. Substitutes: Andrew Lewis, Rob Fulford, Steve Hughes, Rhys Whitelock, Christopher Evans, Liam James.
Referee: Alan Boswell.
Assistants: Gareth Elliott, Helmut Reinhardt.
Alan’s comfort zone
The man in the middle who had an excellent game in the friendly between Haverfordwest County and Pontardawe on Saturday (18
th
July) is well-known Pembrokeshire League referee Alan Boswell.
Alan has steadily progressed up the refereeing ladder over the seasons and he certainly didn’t look out of place in charge of the whistle at a higher standard. His no-nonsense approach and constantly chatting to players made an impression on Pembrokeshiresport.co.uk. Keep up the good work Alan! Also his local assistants Gareth Elliott and Helmut Reinhardt definitely enjoyed their summer afternoon running the line at the Bridge Meadow.
15th July 2009
Bluebirds beat Emlyn in pre-season friendly at Bridge Meadow
Haverfordwest County 2 goals – Newcastle Emlyn 1 goal
Welsh Premier Haverfordwest County narrowly defeated Welsh League Division Two outfit Newcastle Emlyn at the Bridge Meadow on Wednesday (15
th
July) night.
This was a perfect opportunity for both sides to try out new players, and play was rather disjointed and understandably both teams struggled to get into their stride.
The Bluebirds led 1-0 at the interval, thanks to former Goytre striker Robbie Walters who bagged an early goal on his debut.
Bluebirds’ manager Derek Brazil and assistant Mark Evans must have felt quietly pleased with the way their side performed, as former Herbrandston goalkeeper Martin Langdon acquitted himself well between the sticks for the home side. Former Swansea City professionals Kyle Graves and Jamie Grimes, playing for the Bluebirds on loan from the Swans, were solid at the heart of the Bluebirds' defence. Former Barry Town Jamie Bradford showed some neat touches in the centre of midfield alongside Bobby Briers, as Casey Thomas also threatened down the right flank.
The home side had to wait until the 80
th
minute before they extended their lead. A neat cross from the right by Steffan Williams led to Jack Christopher making no mistake with trademark far post header past goalkeeper Peter Blain.
New Newcastle Emlyn manager Wayne Jones, a former Bluebirds’ player, was delighted that his team pulled a late goal back through substitute Adrian Maziby, to put a fairer reflection on the final outcome.
Haverfordwest County: Martin Langdon, Jordan Branch, Matthew Roberts, Kyle Graves, Jamie Grimes, Jamie Bradford, Casey Thomas, Bobby Briers, Robbie Walters, Steffan Williams, Jarrod Price. Substitutes: Jack Christopher, Dylan Blain, Jonathan Clarke, Matthew Price, Jason Pena, Jack Jones, Simon Gilderdale.
Newcastle Emlyn: Peter Blain, Ashley Williams, Rhys Parry, Josh Davies, Gary Evans, Shaun Jones, Anthony Owens, Owen Thomas, Shaun Pemberton, Daniel Jones, James Evans. Substitutes: Jake Harries, Craig O’Leary, Dorian Davies, Steve Thomas, Adrian Maziby, Andrew Davies.
Referee: Alan Boswell.
pembrokeshiresport.co.uk would like to thank Rob Summons and Ronnie Beynon for helping us compile this report.
14th July 2009
Bluebirds have a brand-new stand
There is a great deal of excitement at the Bridge Meadow Stadium since the new 550-seater stand has been erected and allows Haverfordwest County to fulfil their need for a 1,000-seater ground to meet the requirements for an EUFA Licence.
The new stand was erected last week after arriving in eight sections and being fitted onto its concrete plinth despite the difficulty of a wet pitch necessitating the use of special mats used at pop concerts on large football grounds like Wembley or the Millennium Stadium, so that the lorry carrying them wouldn’t spoil the hallowed turf at the Bridge Meadow!
Chairman’s delight
Club chairman Rob Summons told pembrokeshiresport.co.uk
“We are always looking to update our facilities for our supporters and are delighted at this next stage in the ground’s development – so we hope that local football lovers, especially families, will flock to the Bridge Meadow to watch Derek Brazil’s team play some good football.”
“We are always aiming to improve on the pitch as well so that when we have a chance of European Football, as happened a few years ago, we won’t have to play our home matches elsewhere but have the facilities right here in Haverfordwest.”
Pembrokeshiresport.co.uk knows full well how hard the current board of directors, well led by Mr Summons and David Hughes, have worked to rebuild a club that was at one stage in danger of extinction – and it is to be hoped that their genuine efforts will see greater support, enjoying the new stand, in the forthcoming season which starts with their first pre-season friendly, against Newcastle Emlyn, on the Bridge Meadow Stadium tomorrow night (Wednesday), starting at 7pm.
24th May 2009
Dublin and Delaney – a top duo at Bluebirds’ dinner
A large crowd of football lovers attended the Haverfordwest County AFC annual dinner where the special guests were Dion Dublin, former England striker, and Mark Delaney, the ex-Welsh international who is Fishguard born and bred, a superb pair of football ambassadors who became firm friends during their time at Aston Villa.
Dublin earned four caps for England and also played for Manchester United and several other clubs during a long career where he scored plenty of goals whilst Delaney was a very stylish defender who also played for Cardiff City and represented Wales on no fewer than 36 times, and appeared for Villa in the last ever FA Cup Final to be played at Wembley. Dion is now a football pundit with Sky Television whilst Mark is making a name for himself as a junior coach at Villa Park.
The pair called on that great wealth of football experience to answer questions put to them by MC Bill Carne from people in the audience, who rightly enjoyed their answers. There was warmth and humour aplenty, and both rightly received a standing ovation when their session finished, and both were delighted to present the awards for the season to all the Haverfordwest County teams. Not only that, but the former football stars mingled with the Haverfordwest players, sponsors, supporters and everyone else involved to sign autographs, have photographs taken and to chat with anyone who was in attendance.
Directors' Delight
As club director David Hughes said,
“Both are a great advertisement for top football and have created a wonderful evening for Haverfordwest County which will be remembered for a long time!”
Also supplying humour aplenty was professional comedian Paul Dazely and a range of sporting memorabilia was auctioned which included an autographed boxing glove from Joe Calzaghe which raised almost £400!
Team manager Derek Brazil also engaged the audience with his typical Irish charm before he was involved with the first team awards, with the second team and youth awards also being presented in turn by Messrs Dublin and Delaney.
Club chairman Rob Summons, a man traditionally of few words, said afterwards,
“It was a pleasure to see so many players and supporters, sponsors and old friends with us here, and it bodes well for the future to see the terrific feeling for Haverfordwest County so much in evidence.”
The awards were as follows:
Youth Player of the Year: Jack Jones
Youth Team manger’s Player of the Year: Nick Squire
Most Improved Youth Player: Morgan Whittaker
Reserve Team Player of the Year: Dai Davies
Clubman of the Year: Kevin Haldane
Young Player of the Year: Lee Idzi
Goal of the Season: Jack Christopher (against Aberystwyth)
Supporters’ Player of the Year: Neil Thomas
Players’ Player of the Year: Lee Idzi
Manager’s Player of the Year: Terry Evans
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