South Wales F.A. Senior Cup
1st Round
Tuesday 23rd September 2025
Kick Off 19.00 Actual 19.03
Trelewis Welfare 1 A.F.C. Wattstown 2, attendance 82
39’ 1-0
59’ 1-1
66’ 1-2
@ Afon Taf High School, 3G Pitch
Yew Street
Troedyrhiw
CF48 4ED
No Admission or Programme.
This game was postponed on Saturday and re-arranged to be played on the 3G pitch at Afan Taf High School in Troedyrhiw. The pitch has only been open a matter of weeks, having been laid on top of what was previously a grass pitch. It’s a good couple of hundred yards walk from the car park/changing rooms, past a floodlit running track and a number of tennis courts. It’s a cage set up, but one with a bit of thought put into it. Spectator access is along the near side and behind the left hand goal end, with a pair of dugouts on the far side, with a totally unobstructed view of the pitch, which is set about 5 yards in from the barrier, which also helps. At the halfway line the hard standing has a recessed area that would easily fit a kit stand, which may be what is planned in the future? The added bonus of tonight’s game being a 7pm kick off meant there was still daylight for a good portion of the first half, so you even got the chance to see the scenic backdrop too, which certainly adds to the experience. If train spotting is your thing, the Cardiff-Merthyr Tydfil line runs behind one end, although only two or three trains passed during the match.
The game itself was 4th in Merthyr League (Tier 7) versus 8th in South Wales Premier League Championship Division (Tier 5), with little to choose between them. Wattstown had an early effort disallowed for offside, before suffering a double sin bin after twenty four minutes. They survived with their goal intact whilst down to nine men, but conceded six minutes before halftime, when a ball over the top beat the offside trap and was finished with a low shot into the bottom corner. A shot from the edge of the D, that found the bottom corner, saw Wattstown draw level just before the hour mark and seven minutes later they got what turned out to be the winner, when a break down the right saw a one two on the edge of the box that was crossed to the far post for an unmarked tap in. Any hope Trelewis had of getting back into it disappeared when they had a man red carded with eighteen minutes left, having retaliated to a foul.
Journey down to Wales was trouble free, via A449 and A465 Heads of the Valleys Road once crossing the border. Back via A470 to the M4 on the return. Good journey until arriving at the M3/M25 junction which was closed (not advertised on overhead signs or picked up on SatNav) meaning a twelve mile diversion and then half a mile before getting back on the M25, the overhead signs were showing that the M25 was closed from J10 to J9….just a few weeks after the new junction works had been ‘completed’ after twelve years!
