West Wales Premier League

Sunday 24th September 2023

Kick Off 14.30 Actual 14.29

Cwm Wanderers 1 Clydach 4, attendance 280

28’ 0-1

63’ 0-2

68’ 1-2

72’ 1-3

90’ 1-4

@ Parc Afon Twrch

Bethel Road

Cwm-Twrch Isaf

SA9 2PT

£5 Admission* (normal price £3, but forced increase by Groundhop U.K.) included programme, whether you wanted one or not!

This game was moved to a Sunday afternoon as it was part of the West Wales Premier League ‘hop. The only grounds of the six on offer this weekend I hadn’t been to were the two afternoon games. No point wasting a Saturday afternoon visiting C.K.S.V. on a day with all the razzmatazz surrounding a hop, but this afternoon certainly made sense. The drive down took 3 hours 7 minutes, with no hold ups whatsoever, although the return journey took ninety minutes longer, with the usual Sunday evening chaos on the M25 not helped by having to divert off the motorway at J11 and back on at J9.

The West Wales Premier League is Tier 4 in Wales and you don’t need much to play at this level. If the likes of Evans & Williams are allowed in, playing in a 3G cage that allows no spectators inside the mesh fencing, then that tells you all you need to know. Cwm, however, play at a proper ground. It is two and a bit sided as far as spectator viewing is concerned, railed along the sides, with the near goal end having mesh fencing backing onto the car park, whilst the other end was railed from the goal to the far corner. There is a kit stand on the near side, whilst the dugouts are opposite. There was a decent sized clubhouse and the club had also made a proper effort with the catering, making the most of their big payday. I note from other’s visits here that their ‘normal’ home crowd is only sixty odd. The club were charging a fiver today, having been told to do so by the organisers. It didn’t matter if you wanted a programme or not. I was told ‘’you’re being charged for it regardless, as you’re part of ‘the groundhoppers club’ (never knew such a thing existed). I assume it was the English accent that gave me away?…..

Luckily, the rain stayed away during the match, although it had obviously passed through earlier. The pitch was pretty wet, but didn’t cut up too badly. It certainly didn’t affect the game as a spectacle. Both teams went at it full throttle from start to finish as 10th hosted 4th in the league table. Clydach got the only goal of the first half, finishing after being played through one on one with the ‘keeper. Just after the hour it was 0-2, shooting into the top corner from the edge of the box. Cwm hit back within five minutes though, when a deflected free kick wrong footed the ‘keeper, but Clydach restored their two goal lead almost immediately, following in after an initial shot had been saved and they added their fourth goal right on ninety minutes. Not sure how many ‘hoppers will have seen this one though, as a number were already seen creeping away in an effort to get a quick getaway. Pathetic, but it is something that is the norm on these ‘events’.