Carmarthen 2XI v Llanybydder 1XI

On Saturday 7th December, Carmarthen 2XI travelled to Lampeter for their last league game before Christmas against Llanybydder 1XI.

Carmarthen started strong, using their centre and skill to work their way past Llanybydder players. Effective 1,2’s from midfielders Mirain Morgan and Kate Howell to forwards Charlotte Harries, Bethany James and Ffion Raymond allowed Carmarthen to gain great confidence early on and attack hard to try to find the back of the net. A ball from Morgan found Harries who dribbled passed a defender to get a shot on goal, a quick ball out from the goal keeper found Bethany James’ stick who slotted the ball away with ease to give Carmarthen the lead, 1-0.

At this point in the game Carmarthen were playing great hockey with their wingbacks Phebe Burton, Tirion Evans and Isabel Lavery defending Llanybydder breaks and transferring the ball from the defenders quickly back up the pitch ready for Carmarthen to attack again. As the game got more physical, a skilful break from Llanybydder found the back of the net, 1-1.

With the game even again both teams pushed hard to gain the important next goal in the game. Carmarthen continued to use their centre to drive down the middle and release the ball to their forwards who attacked well and put constant pressure on Llanybydder’s defence. A ball from Howell in the middle to Thaia Davies on the wing allowed the young player to use her speed to get around Llanybydder’s defence and push the ball in the goal, the first ball was saved but with quick reactions by Davies, she had no problem finding the back of the net with her re-bound ball. Half time, 2-1 to Carmarthen.

After a positive half time team talk, Carmarthen were eager to go back out in the second half to push themselves and keep their close lead. The game re-started fast with Llanybydder out marking Carmarthen’s strong centre midfield and using experienced players to work around Carmarthen. Carmarthen’s defence- Kate Williams, Leia Thomas, Ellie Routley and Marianne Spratt, who had been on fire all game, continued to be the brick wall Carmarthen needed as they continued to work together to clear the ball away and work well with goal keeper Lowri Davies who cleared every dangerous ball in site. Unfortunately, with constant pressure from Llanybydder which lead to a short corner, an unstoppable shot found the back of the net, 2-2. 

With the game as close as ever and both teams continued to tire, Carmarthen kept fighting until the final whistle where they were unlucky not to add one more goal to the scoresheet. Carmarthen’s defence were also commended for keeping a calm head with a last minute defending short corner where Lowri Davies cleared the ball out to keep the score even. The final whistle blew with the score being 2-2 in an excellent constant between the two teams. 

An exciting return encounter in Carmarthen later in the season is already looked forward to by both spectators and players. 

Man of the Match was awarded to Mirain Morgan for her strong play in the centre and her ability to create promising play throughout the game.

Carmarthen will enjoy their Christmas break but ensure that moving forward they work on using their wings more to take advantage of the space on the pitch. The first half of season has seen a young and newly formed Carmarthen team work together and across a few months develop into a strong and diverse team who have a very promising second half of the season in front of them, watch out!