Emrys Morgan Cup - Crannog 4 v 0 Maesglas

Score lines in games don't always reflect and this was the case as Crannog fired 4 past a Maesglas side who worked hard but failed to make the pressure count. Crannog had "up and at them" attitude and won a fair share of the spoils by committing players quickly to the second ball, and it’s been mentioned in the past that the young Blues side find the more physical sides harder to break down than a side who play similar football.

Last week against Saints was an example, but against Hay St Marys who are a good footballing side the Blues played quality football.

At Crannog, the Maesglas could have been a goal up after 10 minutes when the excellent and captain on the day Dai Cole broke through but his effort ballooned over the bar, and a similar move saw Rhys Davies effort go straight into the keepers hands, again the finishing let the Blues down as it did last week, and it cost the Blues dearly, Crannog went ahead after a mistake by full back Bleddyn Davies. The Crannog side were working hard to keep Dai Cole and Matthew Smith from playing the football, but with other players on the Maesglas side having an off day it was frustrating football at times for the Maesglas. Crannog now had the bit between their teeth and fought for every ball and in spells played some good football.

The game went into the break at 1-0 with both sides having chances either to level or further their lead, but the crucial point in the game came after 10 minutes of the second half,  when referee Angus Scourfield  gave the home side a penalty, a cross from the left bounced in the area and Matthew Smith was penalised for a handball, the harsh part about this decision was the fact that "Smithy’s" hands were down at his side, and you could say from this point that official Mr Scourfield's game went from bad to worse as did Maesglas game due to the refs' inconsistencies, 4 yellow cards for dissent certainly shows that there was frustrations running through the Blues camp.

Maesglas had a clear cut penalty turned down, the Crannog players’ hands were outwards and this was more clear cut than the Crannog penalty, but ref Angus Scourfield kept the whistle quiet at that time.

As the half wore on the game became scrappy with numerous free kicks being given away and as the game went into the final quarter Maesglas gambled by playing 2 at the back, but Crannog being resilient as ever battled and grabbed two late goals that they deserved. At the end of the day, there are no excuses from the away side today, the only poor thing about the game was the official and this is reflected in the bookings for the Blues, it’s very rare that a team gets frustrated and sees 4 of the quiet members of the team being booked for dissent. 

Maesglas manager Paul Jones was more disappointed by some players efforts than the ref than anything else, " some days you can carry 1 or 2 players but today we had 4 or 5 who just didn't perform and with Crannog playing their best football that I have seen them play for a couple of years we cannot rely on the other half dozen who worked their socks off.

I must compliment Crannog though they deserve to go through, we have had some ding dong battles in the past but today they got the upper hand, and I wish them all the best in the next round and to go on and do the league proud, as for Angus the official, yes  I  had words, as far I am concerned and others watching, he had a poor game today, he was not consistent, but that doesn't change the result, he had his own reasons for some of the decisions, especially the penalty, but as for the bookings, because, after speaking to my players the dissent bookings were through frustrations, rather than dissent aimed at the official."

Maesglas quest for silverware is slowly running thin, a quarter final place at stake in the Ceredigion Cup and the Bay Cup is all that is left, the league is not over, and the Blues were in similar situation when they won the league 2 seasons ago but it’s a long shot. Aberaeron away in the league is next Saturday for the young Blues. A win is a must!!