LoW
24/9/97 Aberystwyth Town 1-0 Caersws

The more things change the more they stay the same, as any pretentious type could tell you. Aberystwyth unveiled a new strip, a new programme cover and a new temporary captain but it was the old route for the goal. The new strip has more white than black but at least it has FFIGAR written in professional style on it, though Cemaes Ynys Mon have UMBRO. The new programme cover is best left undescribed though it now boasts a picture of a footballer with a seagull's head which is the sort of thing normally reserved for the Weekly World News next to the 'JFK Still Alive' article. Gari Lewis took over the captaincy with no major problems. Ryan Nicholls is out for a few weeks and he strode around the pitch in a long leather jacket before the match, like a general inspecting his men. After all the change, the game was rather uninspring as Aber, watched by a very large crowd including some first timers from Mid Wales' lesser academic institution.

Although Aber attacked often, they were frequently caught offside, or caught thinking about being offside and thus there were few shots on goal. The visitors forced some saves out of K, but Aber's strong tackling saw that it remained goal-less until the eightieth minute. Prior to the goal, 'Mad' Glyndwr Hughes had been introduced and his strong, erratic, thrusts forward actually led to the generation of some crowd noise, a sort of cross between laughter and cheering but at least it was exciting. Gavin Allen, got the goal from rebound off the post and after that not much happened. The referee didn't seem to want to get involved in any of the niggly stuff so Caersws' Graham Evans and Rob Hamer, and the combined defences went unpunished save for Martyn Griffiths' missed penalty on 35 minutes. So, not much fun and the question has to be asked about whether the fayre on offer will bring the students back. Caersws will be disappointed about not taking a point but a season in which they are hard to beat but score few goals is surely beckoning. I look forward to them becoming NASA Rocket Fuels Caersws in the next few weeks.

JDS Sept 97

BAAAAAACK! 1