Welsh Cup

South Section – Preliminary Round

Cwmamman United 1 Ammanford 2 (aet)

Pride. Passion. Belief. Ammanford’s young side gave their hard-pressed fans a performance of raw emotion as they overcame valley rivals Cwmamman United 2-1 after extra-time in a thrilling Welsh Cup tie, writes Nick Davies.

When the draw for the preliminary round of Wales’ showpiece cup trophy pulled the two Amman valley sides out of the hat there was a keen sense of excitement ahead of what was, incredibly, the fist competitive match-up of the near neighbours in history.

And the tie certainly lived up to its pre-match billing when a last-gasp equaliser from Ammanford sent the game into extra-time before Brett Enoch secured a famous win for the visitors with a tremendous free-kick.

Ammanford took an early stranglehold on the game at Grenig Park, with Rhys Owen sending the ball over the bar after latching onto a corner. It was a signal of intent from Gruff Harrison’s young side who made it clear they had no intention of rolling over despite their league turmoil.

With 15 minutes gone, a five-minute frenzy began when Mikey Morris broke through the home defence to find himself one-on-one with the Cwm keeper only for the ball to get stuck between his feet and a good chance go begging.

The main talking point of the half came on two minutes later when Cwmamman’s defender picked up Alec Squires by the legs and drove him backwards before dropping him on his back with a tackle more befitting of a match involving the egg-shaped ball. Much to the fury of the Ammanford faithful, the referee let the player off with nothing more than a stern warning.

The deadlock was broken on 23 minutes when, from their first real attack, the home side flicked the ball over the wall from a free-kick and Liam Soroka fired the hosts in front.

After the break, Ammanford pressed forward in search of an equaliser and on 48 minutes, Matthew Fisher looked to level matters only to fire his effort straight at keeper Mark Snell.

The visitors piled forward, but found chances hard to come with attack after attack snuffed out by a series of bruising Cwmamman challenges.

One reckless challenge earned the visitors a free-kicked and Fisher sent a delivery curling towards the top corner, only for Snell to superbly tip it over.

With time running out, Harrison introduced Luke Fayres and in the 90th minute, the forward nooded Fisher’s throw-on down to Owen, whose shot rebounded back to Ben Soal to smash the ball into the into the corner and send the away fans into raptures.

In extra time, the travelling side carried their momentum forward as they carved open a Cwmamman side that had been on the back foot for 70 minutes.

Luke Squires hit the post and chances went begging. But, when Fisher was brought down on the edge of the area, up stepped Enoch to curl home the free-kick and send the Ammanford staff, fans and players into jubilation.

Late on in extra time, Fisher again came close as his shot trickled just wide of the post. But, it didn’t matter as Ammanford held on for a crucial win in the first ever Amman Valley derby.