Rhun Owen noted in his 'Ramblings' before the match that Aber had not beaten
Cemaes in the League of Wales. Three meetings had produced two draws and that
hideous defeat at Park Avenue last season when Cemaes came back from 1-0 down
at half time. This year, it was the home side who stormed to victory after the
game had looked beyond them.
Cemaes Bay arrived late causing a 2:30 kick off to become a 2:36 one and on
ten minutes they put the ball past a despairing Richard Morgan, who improved
as the match went on. Peter Daley was the scorer from a well hit drive that
Morgan flapped at. Then Aber attacked, for twenty minutes they bombarded the
Demolition Squad who never looked troubled despite having to clear off the line
twice. Their tall #5, Simon Flower, dealt with everything and was in the right
position every time. Their tactic was to hoof it upfield and leave it for
the midfield and forwards to do the interesting stuff. And it was a tactic
that appeared to have paid off when Peter Edwards put one past the out of
position Morgan and the ground was silenced. The Cemaes players themselves
seemed too surprised to celebrate adequately. Gavin Allen and Ryan Nicholls,
who was restored to the forward line, looked at the muddy ground in disgust,
unable to comprehend what had just happened. It could have been worse for the
Seasiders as they did not mount another serious attack for the remainder of
the half and it was left for Morgan to redeem himself via a series of fine
saves, the most notable being a one on one following a defensive error.
The second half started in much the same way as the first with neither team
looking very impressive. Aber needed a spark and Cemaes were content to let
them attack. It took a fantastic shot from David Parry on the hour to turn
the tide and restore Aber's belief in themselves.
Aber drew level ten minutes later after a solo effort from Ryan Nicholls and
took the lead moments after when Allen got his first. This comeback was
starting to cause me some embarassment as in my effort to avoid getting
drenched, I had wrapped my scarf around my head and was not going to change
anything lest the gods of fate got upset and gave Cemaes a goal. Not that they
looked like getting back into the game as Aber surged forward. Allen made it
4-2 after a well worked move left him with the difficult task of tapping into
an empty goal from two yards out and he got his hat-trick with five minutes
left to leave the visitors wondering precisely what had happened. They
introduced Steve Humphries into the action and he forced a save out of the by
now confident Morgan. The sixth goal was the result of an Appy substitution
as Standen, with his first touch, crossed the ball to Wyn Thomas who had been
on the pitch for less than a minute, beat the keeper to the ball to grab
his first league goal.
Cemaes will be wondering how they came to lose this match so heavily but they
were never really deserving of their lead and their long ball tactics are
negative in the extreme. Their keeper, Dave Turner, played well and kept the
score lower than it might otherwise have been. Aber looked like a unit for
the first time in some time, although Aizlewood and Dai Blair did not play
well. In short, this was a match that Aber deserved to win but the way that
victory was acheived at a muddy Park Avenue made the match more memorable than
the soccer skills on display actually deserved.
