Gwent Premier League
Division 2
Wednesday 15th September 2021
Kick Off 18.00. On Time !
Llanhilleth Athletic 5 Trinant 0, attendance 62
45’ 1-0 (pen)
69’ 2-0
71’ 3-0
77’ 4-0
87’ 5-0
@ Brynithel R.U.F.C.
Dai Jayne Recreation Ground
Mount Pleasant Court
Brynithel
NP13 2GZ
No Admission or Programme.
Tonight’s match was bringing down the curtain on the midweek early kick offs, with the end of March feeling a long way off, before we next get an opportunity for clubs without floodlights to play games on weekdays. The Gwent Premier League had near enough a full programme of matches, spread across it’s three divisions, of which six of the games were at grounds I hadn’t yet visited. Of course, the options are narrowed down by who else is going, as they may not need the same grounds as me. There is also the ‘programme problem’, where some hoppers won’t attend a game without one and finally who can, or are able, to get to the designated meeting point. In the end, neither of my two regular passengers were interested, but somehow I was still heading to Wales with a full car.
I had been to a Llanhilleth home game before, when I saw them lose 2-7 to A.C. Pontymister back on 7th April 2010 in a Gwent County League Division 2 match. In those days they played at Llanhilleth Park, but this season they have moved to the next village up the valley and are now playing at Brynithel rugby ground. The club had been quick to reply via Twitter that the game was indeed here and also that it was an 18.00 kick off, so this was number one choice tonight.
The two sides were evenly matched during the opening half hour, but Llanhilleth started to gain the upper hand and it just seemed a matter of when, and not if, they would break the deadlock. The breakthrough finally came in the final minute of the first half, when the home No.11 J. Thompson cut inside and was fouled inside the box and the resultant penalty was dispatched to make it 1-0.
Having ‘won’ the penalty, the No.11 had an easy tap in from 6 yards to put the hosts 2-0 up on sixty nine minutes and two minutes later he sent an unstoppable shot into the far corner to make it 3-0 and the points were safe. Trinant never looked like getting back into it and it was no surprise to see Llanhilleth add a couple more goals for a resounding 5-0 win, which sees them go third in the table, level on points with second placed Cromwell. Llanhilleth visit league leaders Cwmffrwdoer Sports Club on Saturday, hoping to cut the 8 point gap at the top. As for Trinant, they will hope I’m not at any of their other matches this season, as I’ve seen them twice so far, seeing them lose 0-7 and 0-5, so not exactly a good luck charm!
Full credit must go to both teams and the Referee tonight. They were all there well before kick off and we started dead on time. A quick turnaround at halftime meant the game was all over by 19.36, so no problem whatsoever with lack of light. It was also good news for heading home. Despite the overhead signs on the M4 motorway showing it was closed between J12 and J11, it wasn’t and having dropped my passengers off near J11 of the M25, I was home for 22.30.
