Machynlleth 0 Kerry 4

Sunday 26th August 2012
Machynlleth 0 Kerry 4
Spar Mid Wales League Division Two
At: Cae Glas
Kick-off: 6-30 pm
Admission: ticket; Programme: £1 (12 pages)
Weather: cloudy, mild, dry
Attendance: 347
Duration: first-half: 47:13; second-half: 51:00

Of the eleven grounds on this year’s hop, I’d previously visited three of them. So while many were savouring a Division Two ‘Champagne’ job here at Cae Glas, I was left to remember my previous visit to the ground in October 1992. I knew it had a small stand which it still present and which now contains 47 seats, but a sneaking feeling nagged me that the pitch had been turned round 90° during the last 20 years. A subsequent check of my notes back home proved this wasn’t the case.

Back on Sunday 18th October 1992, when Machynlleth beat UCW Aberystwyth 5-2 before a crowd of around 75, the Mid Wales League had just a single division (sponsored by Richards the Builders). Since then, Machynlleth had to drop into ‘grass roots’ football before returning at the start of last season to the recently-formed Division Two.

With just three games and barely 17 miles between the first and last grounds, today was certainly more relaxing with plenty of time to ‘chill out’ before kick-off. Just like New Radnor yesterday, I was attracted to a large monument. The one in Machynlleth, a clock tower, was erected around 1874 to mark the 21st birthday of the son of Viscount Castlereagh. I was also attracted to Dick’s Diner nearby on Heol Maengwyn which I was pleased to find offered spicy bean burger, chips and mushy peas!

While the line-ups were prominently displayed on a white board, Machynlleth also decided to sell teamsheets for 20p each, following a trend which I liked on the recent Central Midlands League hop.

One thing, pre-match, which generated a bit of discussion was the likely size of the attendance. Could the Welsh Hop record of 374 set at Llandrindrod Wells two years ago be bettered?

Machynlleth (in blue and white stripes with a blue shirt back) got the game, and indeed their league campaign, underway attacking from left to right in relation to the stand.

Kerry, like the home side, playing their first league game of the season, went ahead just before the half-hour mark. Max Jones brought down Mat Mumford inside the area who got up to drove home the resulting penalty just out of reach of diving Machynlleth goalkeeper Thomas Jenkins.

The visitors, and more precisely Mat Mumford, doubled their lead eight minutes later. He controlled a long ball from halfway and fired past Jenkins from inside the area.

Just before the break, Richard Evans volleyed past the Kerry goal to the shout from the sidelines of “hit it”.

Being twice tempted into buying a strip of raffle tickets, I felt more confident than normal of bagging a prize. Alas, despite a string of winning tickets being pulled out of a bucket, mine wasn’t one of them. None any of the redrawn tickets were any good either.

The attendance of 347 was announced during the interval as well – the second biggest for a Welsh Hop game and just 27 short of Llandrindrod Wells’ record.

Back to the action and Kerry were awarded a second penalty just after the hour mark for a rash challenge by Robert Davies on Darren Holloway which the nearest assistant referee spotted. Jenkings guessed correctly and produced a fine diving save to deny Mat Mumford a hat-trick.

The miss didn’t matter as the visitors scored a third goal in the 70th minute when Luke Vickers burst through and confidently shot past Jenkins.

Kerry wrapped up their sizeable win with a fourth goal near the end. Moments after coming on, substitute Luke Mumford slotted home after Mat Mumford’s attempts to score were thwarted. Luke picked up a booking for a few ‘words of advice’ to the home bench as he celebrated.

Machynlleth (blue and white stripes / blue / blue): 13. Thomas Jenkins, 2. Dale Thomas, 3. Stuart Roberts, 4. Max Jones, 5. Robert Davies, 6. Sion Jones ( capt), 7. Andrew Page, 8. Michael Price, 9. Richard Evans, 10. Simon Davies, 11. Glyn Howard. Subs: 12. Tom Evans (for Simon Davies, 75), 14. Dafydd Jones (for Max Jones, 84), 15. Iolo Tomlinson (for Howard, 60).

Kerry (white / navy blue / navy blue): 1. Ryan Andrew, 2. Jordan Morris, 3. Tom Jones, 4. Adam Pugh, 5. Liam Andrew, 6. Sam Morgan, 7. Josh Morgan, 8. Jed Renshaw, 9. Mat Mumford (capt), 10. Darren Holloway, 11. Luke Vickers. Subs: 12. Ben Davies (for Vickers, 87), 14. Luke Mumford (for Holloway, 88).

Referee: Neil Rutter. Assistants: Sue Jones and Sam Richards.

Goals:
0-1 Mat Mumford (28 pen)
0-2 Mat Mumford (36)
0-3 Luke Vickers (70)
0-4 Luke Mumford (89)

Cards:
Machynlleth: Andrew Page (YC, 68), Sion Jones (YC, 69), Michael Price (YC, 85)
Kerry: Darren Holloway (YC, 38), Sam Morgan (YC, 69), Luke Mumford (YC, 89)