Boded into Welsh Cup Round 1 at the expense of Berffro

Poor show at Anglesey rivals leads to Welsh Cup exit

On Saturday we faced neighbours Boded for the second match in succession as we lined up in qualifying round 2 of the JD Welsh Cup hoping to fair better than our previous meeting following a 1-4 home defeat in the Welsh Alliance.

Unlike previous encounters between the sides, this cup tie started at a slightly laboured pace with neither side really forcing too much by way of an real openings, the home side perhaps shaded the early possession stats, looking to play in their pacey wingers with some neat passing whilst we took a more direct approach in looking to utilise the pace of Rich and Scott up top during the opening proceedings. It was Jacob who was the first goalkeeper forced into action as he did well to smother a chance for Boded's winger Shaun Jenkins after he was played in behind but it wasn't long before the hosts custodian was involved, turning a fierce Rich Pdoing drive away for a corner after he was found in space by Connor from midfield. With both sides having settled into the game quite well, it was Boded who seemed to kick on after the half hour mark and upped the tempo. A few long range efforts threatened Jacob between the sticks, but some good defending, in particular from Jenks and Connor who did well to block a few goal-bound efforts, kept the scores level. Al Llan and Iwan were being kept on their toes out wide against the lively Boded wingers, and defended well against them both but on 38 minutes our back-line was breached as a ball was played in-between Harper and Al Llan, which found Shaun Jenkins bearing down on Jacob and he finished clinically to put the hosts 1-0 up, Berffro's appeals for offside all in vain. Boded sensed a chance to double their advantage before half time and but for an outstanding quick double save from close range from Jacob they would have had a second as he stood up tall and showed quick reactions to deny them. A key moment in the match came minutes before the interval when Boded's number 1 needlessly kicked out at Rich Pdoing despite him having claimed possession of the ball, the referee having no option but to send him off and award us a penalty. The perfect chance to level matters just before the break was missed however as at the crucial moment in his run up, Nath Moore slipped before striking the ball over the bar. 1-0 half time.

The message at the break was that there were no reason to panic, we still had a huge chunk of the cup tie to play and our first half performance was positive albeit we were trailing. Now was our chance to kick on and really put the hosts under pressure but in reality this never happened. We dominated possession, as was to be expected, Harper and Jenks saw plenty of the ball at the back and looked to spread the play with Iwan and Al keeping the width, but try as we might we couldn't create any clear cut chances whatsoever. Bolton and then Ieu Lloyd, on as a sub, tried hard to deliver some telling crosses in from the right hand side but everything was dealt with comfortably by the Boded defence with their number 4 in particular in impressive form. Connor continued to work hard in midfield and his movement was excellent at times but we just couldn't muster any sort of half opening to force our way back into the match and in fact it was Boded, dangerous on the counter attack, who looked most likely to score next. With the clock ticking towards the last quarter it was indeed the home side who grabbed a second and effectively killed off the game, Harper made a tackle on the edge of the box but the ball ran loose with Tyco bearing down on Jacob, the Boded front-man went down with Jacob pulling his arms away, however the referee deemed there to be enough intent and contact to award the penalty which was duly dispatched by their skipper. With little time remaining we continued to huff and puff but if truth be told we never looked like scoring and Boded were able to see out the remainder of the match quite comfortably and it is they who advance in round 1 proper of the JD Welsh Cup. Final Score 2-0, Man of the Match Steve Jenks.

A performance that, as we will all agree, was nowhere near good enough and of the standards expected, in particular the second half. Against ten men we knew Boded would make it as difficult as possible for us but we lacked any sort of penetration or creativity to open them up and but for a few weak set pieces we failed to register any real efforts on target. Ccredit to Boded, they deserved the win and defended well with ten men and we wish them the best of luck in the next round. For us, a disappointing display, and one that we will be keen to atone for and put right on Saturday when we travel to in-form and much fancied Pentraeth in yet another Anglesey derby.