St Patrick’s Rovers (2) vs (7) Garth Vader FC (Open Cup Quarter Final)
December 14th, 2015 // Match Reports // Richard Boydell
After the disappointment of last week’s postponement due to the St Pats being scared of a little water, the Vaders needed to back up the verbal onslaught they threw the Pats’ way the previous week, and did so in style.
From start to finish the Vaders bossed the Pats all over the park. Lloyd Ham scored a very early opener, which in truth was a pretty tame effort turned into his own net by a pissed up Ken ‘the cat’ Kehoe. But it set the tone for the whole game, where the Vaders were first to every ball and won nearly every second ball.
Captain for the day Stephen Gould was at the heart of it, as he clipped the heels of their ‘superstar’ midfielders throughout the 90 minutes, in a tireless performance that saw him constantly regain possession for the Vaders and allowed his midfield partner Nathan Whelan the freedom to concentrate on spraying balls left, right and centre. Alex Blacker did the same at the back as he dominated anything that came in the air and put in a few crunching tackles on the ground too.
After hitting the bar 3 times, the Vaders finally got their deserved reward of a second, as a visibly fucked Lewis Kingdon some how mustered the energy to run wide and deep into the Pats box a supply a simple centre for Joe Galaffant to scramble home his first of the match.
The Pats looked for a response before half time and came close a few times, but new ‘keeper Tom Whelan pulled off 3 remarkable saves to keep the Vaders 2 up. It was a pivotal moment of the game as a goal would have got the Pats heads up going into the second half.
The word at half time was to keep going, we were bossing every aspect of the game and there were more goals there for us. And it didn’t take long for Lewis Kingdon to pick the ball up in the Pats half and rifle a 25 yard strike past a motionless Kehoe in goal.
Moments later, Nathan Whelan struck from even further out as Kehoe could only watch as it flew over his head and outstretched arms. 4-0 the the Vaders and it was looking like a drubbing.
The Pats had enough of Ken in goal and took him off to try and lessen the embarrassment, but the Vaders kept pushing forward and punishing them with some great football. Kingdon and Whelan combining to set up Joe Gallafant for his second which was well taken from the left of the goal.
Next up, club captain Christian Powys stepped off the bench to make it 6-0 with a close range finish after another good centre from Kingdon, who somehow completed 90 minutes while dying on his feet.
The Vaders threw on all their subs for the last 10 and the change in personnel caused a little disorganisation and allowed the Pats to score 2 quick-fire goals, but just as any small thoughts they may of had of rescuing a dramatic comeback, Gareth Blackwell took a quick kick off and Lee ‘Gump’ Jones scored from the half way line as Jay Lewis left his goal unattended after the Pats got their second. Game over.
The Vaders advance to the Semi Finals with a very satisfying and convincing win over their closest rivals. We didn’t even bring Kurt.
Every player can be happy with their performance, Lloyd Jenkins and Rhys Richards worked tirelessly on the wings, helping out the back 3 and setting up attacks from the back. Tom ‘Chocky’ Thornton and Alan Harris were solid at the back and Tom Whelan was superb in goal. Well done boys.
Finally, congratulations to Robert Boydell on becoming the first player to make 100 appearances for the Vaders. And he harshly picked up Cock of the Week for his troubles.
Match stats:
Lloyd Ham
Joe Gallafant (2)
Lewis Kingdon
Nathan Whelan
Christian Powys
Lee Jones
Man of the Match: Stephen Gould
Cock of the Week: Robert Boydell
Garth Vader FC (8) vs (1) Walnut Wildcats
November 23rd, 2015 // Match Reports // Richard Boydell
No Report.
Match stats:
Joe Gallafant (4)
Lewis Kingdon (3)
Rhodri Thomas
Man of the Match: Joe Gallafant
Cock of the Week: Tom Evans (welcome back pal)
Garth Vader FC (4) vs (2) Seahorse
November 9th, 2015 // Match Reports // Richard Boydell
No Report.
Match stats:
Joe Gallafant (2)
Nathan Whelan
Lewis Kingdon
Man of the Match: Tom Thornton
Cock of the Week: Joe Gallafant
Tyn-y-Coed (1) vs (6) Garth Vader FC
November 2nd, 2015 // Match Reports // Richard Boydell
No Report.
Match stats:
Lewis Kingdon (5)
Joe Gallafant
Man of the Match: Lewis Kingdon
Cock of the Week: Lloyd Jenkins
Rage FFC (6) vs (2) Garth Vader FC
October 26th, 2015 // Match Reports // Richard Boydell
No Report.
Match stats:
Richard Boydell
Rhys Richards
Lloyd Jenkins
Alex Blacker
Man of the Match: Rhys Richards
Cock of the Week: Gareth Blackwell
