Micky's Pembrokeshire League History . . . from PembrokeshireSport.co.uk

The Pembrokeshire League
Season 1972-73

Structure – Three leagues comprising of First, Second and Third divisions (each of 13 teams) .

First Division: Fishguard Sports, Hakin United, Carew, St Clears, Goodwick United, Solva, Merlins Bridge, Narberth, Monkton Swifts, Steynton United, Haverfordwest County, Milford United (promoted), RAFA Sports (promoted).

Second Division: Pennar Robins (relegated), Milford Athletic, Clarbeston Road, Fishguard Sports II, Hakin United II, Carew II, Pembroke Boro, St Clears II, Narberth II, Monkton Swifts II, Pendine P & EE, Kilgetty (promoted), Angle (promoted).

Third Division: Manorbier United, Goodwick United II, Hubberston Youth Club, MHPC, Haverfordwest County II, Milford Athletic II, , Penffordd United, Johnston, CEGB Pembroke, New Hedges (New), Solva II (New), and Kilgetty II (New).

Withdrew before the season commenced - Pennar Robins II

Teams withdrawing during season - Steynton (Division 1 without playing a game), and Penffordd United (Division 3 after 13 games).

Division 1

The season started with the news that Steynton United had folded and had thus withdrawn from the First division.

Defending champions Fishguard Sports got off to a flying start, winning their first 5 games and scoring 28 goals in the process. Their first big test of the season came on 7/10 when they travelled to second placed and also unbeaten St Clears. They lost the game 3-2 and the following weekend their conquerors took another unbeaten record when they beat Carew 3-2, thanks to a hat-trick from Jeff Harries. The same day the Sports beat arch rivals Goodwick United 6-1 with a brace for Arwyn Howells and Ken Harries, with Mike Delaney and Stuart Wilson completing the scoring.

By the end of October, St Clears led the table by one point over Fishguard Sports and it looked like it was developing into a two-horse race for the championship. However the first week in November saw the Saints lose the last unbeaten record in the league when they crashed 3-0 at Solva, and they suffered a second defeat on the last Saturday of the month with a 4-2 home defeat by Hakin United. It appeared that the bubble had burst and by the end of December the table looked as follows, with Fishguard two points ahead of their nearest rivals and with games in hand:

Indeed with all their nearest rivals regularly dropping points and with the Sports going on an unbeaten run that lasted 14 games, the Championship was sewn up on the last Saturday in March when they beat north County rivals Solva 3-2 with goals from Eddie Merry, Stuart Wilson and Dai Vittle. Adrian Stephens and Bobby Williams replied for Solva.

They did however suffer one more defeat in the season when they lost at home to St Clears 3-2, giving the Saints an impressive double over them for the season. At the foot of the table Milford United and Merlins Bridge battled it out for the one relegation spot due to the withdrawal of Steynton. It had taken the Bridge 18 games to record their first win of the season with a 4-1 success over Monkton Swifts when two Simon James goals and one each from Kenny Arran and Micky John gave them hope of catching the Robins. However on the same day Milford United recorded only their third win of the season when they beat Narberth 4-1 and even though the Bridge had a second win over high flying St Clears 2-1 at the end of March, a total of six points was never going to be enough to avoid the drop.

Two games of note during the season were the games between Carew and Goodwick United. In the first game at Goodwick in October the home side won 8-4 with a hat-trick from Derry Jenkins, two each for Mike Robb and Rees Harries with an own goal making up the home scorers. In the return leg the roles were reversed with Carew winning 10-1 with hat-tricks for Peter Hall and Graham Jenkins, two for Richard Hughes and one each for Clive Cole and David Sefton. Neil Summers netted the lone away goal. Thus in the two games 23 goals were scored with both sides being able to record a win!

Final table Division 1

Leading goalscorers - some of the leading scorers were Ken Harries, Arwyn Howells & Stuart Wilson (Fishguard Sports), Graham Jenkins (Carew), David Howells (Solva), and Mike Robb (Goodwick United).

Lower Leagues:

Division 2 saw last year’s division three champions Kilgetty get off to a flier and at Christmas they were the only unbeaten side in the division although of their 14 games, four had been drawn. Hot on their tails were Pembroke Boro who had lost only once, against Hakin United II. Regular goal scorers for Kilgetty were Wallace Howells and Maybro James. Pendine who had finished bottom of the table in the previous season, and who had requested to be relegated despite the league restructure, lay in third position. At the other end of the table St Clears II remained pointless after 12 games, with Narberth II being in the other relegation spot.

Kilgetty finally lost their unbeaten record on 10/2 but by that time the Boro were on a bad run themselves and five consecutive defeats put them out of contention for the promotion places. Replacing them in the championship battle were Hakin United II who put together a run of nine consecutive wins so that at the end of March the top of the table looked as follows

On the 7/4 Kilgetty entertained their nearest challengers Pendine and a 3-1 success virtually clinched promotion whilst also taking them a giant step closer towards winning the championship. Two Wallace Howells goals and one from Keith Coleman sealed the success with Andrew Parcell replying for the visitors. Indeed a 7-1 success 4 days later against Pennar Robins sealed their championship success.

The race for the runners up spot continued to be tight though 2 defeats for Pendine in their last two away games, 2-3 away to Milford Athletic, and 1-2 to Narberth II left the door open for Hakin United II, who had to get 5 points from their last 3 games to finish second. This they did easily with 3-1 & 10-1 victories over Clarbeston Road and Fishguard Sports II respectively, and a 7-3 away success against St Clears II.

The final Division 2 table was as follows:

Division 3 saw three new teams, Kilgetty II, New Hedges and Solva II enter the league and these two latter named teams led the table early on, with New Hedges winning their first 9 games and scoring 46 goals in the process. Their first defeat came on the 18/11 at the hand of Solva II 4-0, for whom Adrian Stephens scored 2, and Simon Baker and Barrie Smith netted one each. Oddly enough the first fixture between these sides had taken place the previous week when New Hedges had triumphed 9-3 thanks to a Michael John hat-trick, 2 from Alan Brindley and Mal Brace, an own goal and one from Mal Laing.

At the end of December, any of the top six was in with a chance of promotion with the top of the table looking as follows:

By the end of February, Solva’s challenge petered out and despite a 4-2 defeat away to Manorbier, New Hedges looked certain to be champions. Indeed promotion was sealed on 3/3 with a 12-3 success against Milford Athletic II. Mal Laing (4), Mal Brace (3), Robert Taylor (3) and Don Price (2) were the scorers.

Eventual runners up were Manorbier United who pipped Hubberston Youth club on goal average. Manorbier had won their last 5 games (including a crucial 4-0 success against challengers Goodwick United II), whilst Hubberston had gone one better by winning their last six. However it was goal difference that decided it.

Final Division 3 table:

Divisional Cups

There was a major shock in the first round of the Second Division cup when league leaders Kilgetty, unbeaten during the season to date, crashed out of the cup losing 5-0 at Hakin United II where two apiece for Eddie Collins and John Ough, and a fifth from Dave Wright saw the Vikings through to the 2nd round. However, Hakin themselves were on the receiving end of a cup shock in the next round when they lost 3-2 to second from bottom Narberth II, where goals from David Morgan and Nigel Morgan gave the homesters a surprise victory. However Narberth’s luck ran out in the semi-finals when they were trounced 9-1 by Milford Athletic.

The final brought together Milford Athletic and Fishguard Sports II where a 2-2 draw in the first game resulted in a replay at Marble Hall. This was won 1-0 by the Sports thanks to a Bryn Price goal though the local press reported that had the Sports “taken a third of their chances they could have bottled this one up well before the break”.

The 3^rd Division Cup final saw league champions New Hedges play Goodwick United II at the Bridge Meadow, with the latter winning 2-1.

Roll of Honour

Division 1 Champions – Fishguard Sports
Division 1 runners-up – Carew
Relegated from Division 1 – Merlins Bridge and Milford United
                                                      (even though Steynton United.had withdrawn
                                                      from the division during the season.)
Division 2 Champions – Kilgetty
Division 2 runners-up – Hakin United II
Relegated from Division 2 – Monkton Swifts II & St Clears II
Division 3 Champions – New Hedges
Division 3 runners-up – Manorbier United
Senior Cup winners – Fishguard Sports
Senior Cup runners up – Carew
2^nd Division Cup winners – Fishguard Sports II
2^nd Division Cup runners-up – Milford Athletic
3^rd Division Cup winners – Goodwick United II
3^rd Division Cup runners-up – New Hedges

Officers of the League

• President: Mr TH Arran
• Chairman: Mr J Evans
• Vice Chairman: Mr A Pryer
• Secretary: Mr JH Vernon
• Assistant Secretary: Capt AJ Shears
• Treasurer : Mr K Scourfield
• Senior Cup Final referee: Mr EV Oliver

Result Grids