Micky's Pembrokeshire
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Welsh County Primary Schools Football Finals - Tom Yeoman Shield:
Pembroke’s young talent reaches Welsh football semis
The best under 11’s footballers in Wales recently competed in the finals of the Tom Yeoman Shield in Wrexham and Pembrokeshire performed superbly before bowing out at the semi-final stage to eventual winners Newport.
The Counties taking part were: Pembrokeshire, Flint, Wrexham, Rhonda Cynon Taff, Newport, Afan Nedd, Conwy and Bangor- and in the group stages Pembrokeshire met Flint, Wrexham and RCT.
Real battles to reach semis
In their first match Pembs met Flint and won 2-0 on aggregate. Alaric Jones scored a good individual goal for the A side and Travis O’Connor scored from the halfway line for the B side.
The games against Wrexham were very close. The A side competed well and earned a well deserved 0-0 draw and the B side also drew 1-1 in a hard fought game with Dan Hopkins scoring for Pembs.
With the matches in the group stage being so tight Pembs needed to win or draw against RCT to qualify for the semi-finals. All the boys played superbly and rose to the challenge and Alaric Jones scored the vital goal within minutes of kick off. Both squads then defended well to protect the score line. Pembs picked up the three points to make them Group One winners.
Just missed out on final place
In the semi-final they met the runners-up of Group Two who were a very strong Newport side. Both were games of two halves, with Pembs being well on top in the first half. The A team made several goal scoring chances and the B side went 1-0 up through Danny Llewellyn. The second half told another story. The A side had a frantic five minutes where Newport scored twice and despite heroic efforts they could not make up the deficit. On the other pitch Pembs again conceded two goals, but Dan Hopkins pulled one back in the dying seconds to draw 2-2. Pembs lost 4-2 on aggregate and once again found themselves missing out on a final place.
In the other semi-final Afan Nedd met Wrexham with Afan Nedd going through to meet Newport, who were the eventual winners, beating Afan Nedd 3-0 on aggregate.
Seven players back next season
Although disappointed, all the Pembrokeshire boys played well throughout the competition and were a credit to their schools. On a positive side, seven players will still be able to play in the squad next season, so the future looked bright for Pembrokeshire Schools’ Football.
Pembrokeshire A Squad:
Max Brindley, Henry McBeth( Tenby); Cameron Thomas, Ben Fawcett, (Hakin); Regan Pallas (Tavernspite); Zac Rowell, (St Teilo’s); Ethan Price (Saundersfoot); Alaric Jones (Burton); Nicholas Jones (Ysgol Glan Cleddau); Jaden Elliott (Pembroke Dock Community School)
Pembrokeshire B Squad:
Morgan Picton (Milford Haven) Jake Houston, Jack Wilson (St Francis); Garin Gardner, (Hakin) Curtis Hicks, Daniel Llewellyn (Ysgol Glan Cleddau) ; Elliott Wherrett (St Teilo’s); Daniel Hopkins (Goodwick); Rowan Nicolson ( Maenclochog) ; Travis O’Connor (Broadhaven);
Pembrokeshire Schools F.A. would like to thank:
Kit Sponsor: Wimpy Haverfordwest.
