The second of our new series of ‘Sporting Memories’ goes back  to 1975, exactly 45 years ago, when sport of all kinds was going on – and with some of those to the forefront still as leading lights still going strong and watching as keenly as they used to play.

Football firing on all cylinders as . . .

Sports make it four league titles on the trot . . .

On the football front it was Carew who looked favourites to win the first division championship as they were level at the top with Kilgetty but had played three games fewer, with Monkton Swifts third.

But also close by were Fishguard Sports, lurking in fourth spot but with three games fewer played than The Rooks and winning 4-1 at St Ishmaels thanks to goals by Patrick Pearce, Billy Robb (his first ever), Dennis Walsh and David O’Connor.

Carew lost 2-0 at home to MHPC, Kilgetty went down 1-0 at Merlins Bridge as Arthur Chapman scored the only goal for The Wizards, whilst the Swifts won 2-0 against Narberth as Charlie and Richard Evans were the scorers.

. . . And soon added the Senior Cup too!

A few weeks later saw Fishguard take the silverware from Carew – their fourth of five titles on the trot - and made it a deserved double a few weeks later as the late Joe Payne inspired them to a 3-0 win over Monkton Swifts with his goal alongside two by ace scorer Ken Harries taking them to their ninth Senior Cup success.

Payne was normally a defender but he was moved up front on his return for a serious injury and skipper John Luke was understandably delighted with his team, with Charlie Howells in fine fettle at the heart of the defence – whilst Archie James was The Swifts’ best player on the day.

In the other divisions there was action aplenty and it wasn’t long before Milford United (section winners) and New Hedges were promoted from Division Two, with Neyland (divisional champs) and Milford Athletic moving up from Division Three as Peter Burton was an ace goal-grabber for The Nomads!.

Borough unearth new local talents

In the Welsh League there was a great 3-0 win for Pembroke Borough at Penydarren Park against Merthyr Tydfil as 17 year old local schoolboy John Hay made a very promising debut as another youngster in Roy Davies also played well.

Local players Gerald Hicks, Martin Cole and Stuart ‘Matey’ Wilson were key players, with Cole scoring a cracking goal in the first minute before Bobby Bell and Keith Todd made the game safe.

Boro manager Des Shanklin, who was recovering from illness, was delighted by the result – especially after beating Llanelli 1-0 the previous week with a goal by Martin Cole which his brother Clive helped to create alongside Hicks and Wilson - and who could blame the late, great Mr Shanklin!

Lots of rugby as The Blues bag the county title

Mariners win a massive match

There was great excitement in Milford Haven as the local rugby team caused a big upset by travelling to Haverfordwest to beat the high-flying Blues by 11-6 in the semi-final of the KO Cup.

The reporter described the homesters as being ‘out-schemed, outfoxed and out-gunned’ despite there being just a five-point margin – and mentioned the fact that The Blues had beaten The Mariners by 33 points a few weeks before at The Obs.

Be that as it may, Milford had two tries set up by Dai Griffiths for winger Keith Mitchell and outside half Keith Phillips, either side of a penalty from home skipper Anthony Lawrence – with ace kicker Keith Fletcher adding a Mariners’ penalty after missing with five other attempts.

All The Blues could muster in response was a second Lawrence penalty as The Mariners then had to wait to see whether they would meet Narberth or Cardigan in the final.

Blues bounce back to take the title

There was a measure of compensation for Haverfordwest a few weeks later though as they won the league title with a fine 6-0 win away to previous champs Whitland, with full back Dai John and scrum half Gelly James singled out for their performances alongside Keith Fleming and Lawrence up front.

Tony Bowen and Mansell Evans were singled out for praise in the Whitland camp but after a scoreless first half it was dynamic flanker Peter Lacey who scored the only try, converted by Bill Martin (four points for a try in those days!) to earn the silverware!

There were certainly mixed fortunes for Pembroke as they were thrashed 58-0 by Haverfordwest but won 15-12 at Narberth as fly half Rod Cadogan starred, as he so often did.

County Junior Union celebrate in style

The Pembrokeshire Junior team also had cause for celebration as they reached the Welsh Districts’ Final after a magnificent 10-4 win against their counterparts from the Aberavon and District under the floodlights at the Talbot Athletic Ground.

The county team had already beaten both the Swansea and Llanelli Districts’ teams and after missing two early penalties eventually went ahead after 25 minutes when a probing kick ahead by astute No 10 Dave Banner allowed outstanding flanker Andy Welsh (Pembroke) to claim a storming try as reward for his great solo performance, but Brian Harries (Whitland) was unable to add the difficult extra points to give them a 4-0 lead (only four points for a try in those days!).

Within five minutes they added another six points when Pembroke’s diminutive winger Geoff Cole showed his undoubted class and pace with a clever chip over the top before winning the race for the touchdown – and skipper Harries duly notched the conversion.

Keith Thomas and Tony Bowen (Whitland) both went close – and Aberavon made them pay because within three minutes of the second period from a forward surge.

But with Dai Brown  and Glyn Cole (Tenby) prominent up front, alongside terrific surges from Morgan Lewis (Pembroke), Eifion Griffiths and Dave Merritt, plus Richard Ormond at the back, the county took a step further towards winning the Percy Howells Cup.

There was also a Pembrokeshire connection with regards to that magnificent trophy because the donor, Percy Howells, was a well-known jeweller in Haverfordwest and a well-known Welsh RU official in his time.

Great table tennis – and an embarrassing moment for the umpire!

Table Tennis was very popular at the time, with The South Pembs and Mid Pembs Leagues going strong and also playing each other annually to see who held the county’s bragging rights.

Those was a real treat in store because on the 10^th March of that year there was an international challenge match to celebrate the opening of the new Pembroke Sports Centre between the mighty Hungarians, who boasted world champion Istvan Jonyer and his world doubles-winning partner Gabor Gregely, and a Czechoslovakian side boosted by the inclusion of Milan Orlowski, who was the European Champion.

The gallery at Pembroke was packed and some thrilling table tennis ensued, with a wonderful exhibition between Messrs Jonyer and Orlowski thrilling everyone. For one local player there was the amazing chance to umpire all the matches because the organisers had forgotten to bring one of their own.

That lucky person was me! I was chairman of South Pembs and was roped in to be the umpire – and when I made an error with one call Mr Jonyer told me I was wrong but was a ‘nice man’ as he ruffled my hair, which I had in those days!

Incidentally, the cost of admission was a huge 50p for adults and 25p for OAPS!

Great amateur boxing show – put on by Haverfordwest RFC!

It was also a busy time for boxing as Haverfordwest RFC celebrated their centenary by holding a 16-bout tournament at the Old Market Hall in Haverfordwest, with boxers from all over Wales coming to take on Pembrokeshire’s best.

Current Merlins Bridge head coach Graham Brockway suffered a rare defeat against Dale Martin (Gwent ABC) and another top local star in Tim Bonwick lost narrowly to Welsh champion Keith Phillips (North Wales).

William David (Pembroke) won against Steve George (Towy), Brian ‘Snags’ Nicolas (Pembroke) beat Mark Vegar (Merthyr) on points but the late Eric Pennington (Pembroke) was beaten on points in a light heavyweight bout by John Jenkins (Aberystwyth.

It was generally agreed it had been a cracking evening showing off the ‘Noble Art’ and that The Blues Rugby should hold another one the following year.

Also worth a mention in the ring was Chris Lawson, who boxed for Pembroke and trained Cardigan with the help of a real character in his dad Mannie – and eventually went on to win the Welsh ABC Heavyweight title and make a real name for himself as a professional fighter.