Pontypridd’s last hope of a cup run this season came to an end on Saturday after they were eliminated from the South Wales FA Intermediate Cup by Welfare Park FC in a game that saw THIRTEEN goals scored during two hours of pulsating football.
With the sides sharing eight goals in the regulation 90 minutes at the Maritime Recreation Ground, visitors Welfare Park edged out their hosts 7-6 after extra time despite a hat-trick from Pontypridd’s Lewis Taylor.
The 2nd round tie was originally scheduled to take place a week previously at Welfare Park’s (of the Bridgend & District League) home ground in the village of Bryn near Maesteg but a waterlogged pitch meant a postponement. The sides agreed to switch the fixture to Pontypridd to make use of the all-weather 3G surface at the Maritime and ensure the game went ahead.
There were several changes to the side from Pontypridd’s last outing – a 5-0 loss in the TERVA League to Cefn Hengoed. Top scorer Liam Griffiths replaced Gareth Davies, who remains sidelined with a hamstring injury; Kieron Cook, Gareth Kear, Aron Barnes and Josh Husband also returned to the starting line-up at the expense of Owain Lewis, Huw Morgan, Artur Cegielka and Hywel Patterson.
Pontypridd started strongly. Inside the first minute, Husband crossed from the left for Taylor whose effort ricocheted off the crossbar. There were also good chances for Husband and Aled Evans to open the scoring while Piotr Tolak had to deny a Welfare attacker in a one-on-one situation. Pontypridd certainly had the better of the chances in the opening half-hour and eventually broke the deadlock when Kieron Cook caught the visitors napping to score with a quickly taken free-kick.
The home side felt they should have had an opportunity to double the lead when Liam Griffiths went down under a challenge but the referee waved play on and to add insult to injury, Welfare scored immediately off the counter attack.
There was a chance for Pontypridd to quickly re-take the lead hwoever. Evans found himself in position and space to shoot, his goalbound effort was saved on the line and Aron Barnes tumbled as he tried to convert the rebound and the opportunity went by. Griffiths had a half-chance, after another good run and centre by Husband, but fired wide under pressure. With all these chances going begging, Pontypridd then found themselves facing a half-time deficit when a free header was converted from a corner on the stroke of half-time.
HALF-TIME | Pontypridd 1-2 Welfare Park
Welfare came closest to scoring first early in the second-half, a free kick thundering off the crossbar. Shortly after Brad Harris threaded a through ball for Lewis Taylor, who had too much pace for his marker and fired emphatically past the visiting custodian to level the scores.
Welfare only had to wait five minutes to restore their lead as a solo run from one of their attackers evaded some half-hearted Pontypridd challenges and was finished low past Tolak. But Ponty showed their pluck to come back again, this time Liam Griffiths pouncing on a long ball to round the goalkeeper and slide into an unguarded net to score his 6th goal of the season.
Tolak twice denied Welfare before Pontypridd re-asserted their first-half ascendancy and Josh Husband might have given them the lead with 13 minutes left but he was first denied with an attempt lob before firing his follow-up effort across goal from a tight angle. Welfare then struck in the final 10 minutes, another effective and quick counter attack giving them the lead for the third time in the match.
Welfare were denied inside the 90 minutes though when Taylor ran on to substitute Patterson’s flick and notched his second goal to force extra time.
FULL-TIME (90 minutes) | Pontypridd 4-4 Welfare Park
Although Welfare Park had led three times in the game it looked impossible to call the winner but there was a feeling the first goal in extra time could be pivotal. So it proved.
Within three minutes of the first period a long free kick looked like an easy catch for Tolak but he fumbled the ball and it dropped over the line. Within two minutes Welfare took a two-goal lead for the first time. A mix-up at an attacking free kick presented Welfare with another counter-attack and with just a solitary defender, the big Welfare centre forward run through and finished magnificently into the top corner.
Shortly after the start of the second period of extra-time Welfare grabbed their 7th goal, again from an attack out of transition exploiting a tired Pontypridd defence at sixes and sevens. Yet there was more drama to come.
Debutant Ciprian Sava (on as an extra time substitute) won a penalty, which Kieron Cook converted flawlessy. That left Pontypridd 10 minutes to find two goals to force a penalty shoot-out. As time drifted by it looked like the comeback wouldn’t come. Until the final minute.
From 40 yards Lewis Taylor stepped up to score a truly world class knuckle ball free kick, repeating the trick he performed earlier in the campaign versus Talbot Green, to complete his first hat-trick for the club. That left a minute to find a goal and incredibly Taylor had another dead-ball shot at goal. This time he could only hit the side-netting and from the goal-kick re-start the final whistle was blown and with it went Pontypridd’s cup hopes for another campaign.
FULL-TIME (after extra time) | Pontypridd 6-7 Welfare Park
Pontypridd FC: Piotr Tolak [gk], Bradley Harris, Daniel Perry, Dan Outing, Gareth Kear (Artur Cegielka 88), Aron Barnes (Huw Morgan 79), Aled Evans (Ryan Wheeler 99), Kieron Cook [c], Josh Husband (Ciprian Sava 99), Lewis Taylor, Liam Griffiths (Hywel Patterson 79)
Goals: K. Cook (26, 100), L. Taylor (51, 86, 119), L. Griffiths (66)
Yellow card: Daniel Perry
Referee: Michael Harris
[featured image: Marie Ward / Muddy Wellies Photography]
