As we were having our own pre-match kickabout using the nets adjacent to the main Y Traeth party centre, Andy remarked that Porthmadog were a club he wouldn't mind supporting. A view he abandoned at the entrance gate as, after Dixon and myself had asked for (and received) reduced entry cos of our student cards, some miserable old bugger selling raffle tickets starts yelling at, first, me and Dixon, second the man on the gate and finally,
Andy and Dave who still hadn't paid. Thus Andy and Dave had to pay the full price and me and Dixon got glared at. Well, such is life but still the least friendly start to a League of Wales match I've ever encountered.
The match itself was rarely entertaining, though I am sure that every single Porth supporter in attendance will disagree. Abersytwyth, wearing their hideous white shorts and socks, in which they always seem to lose, took the lead through a shot from Martyn Griffiths direct from a free kick that Kenny Dixon was obviously too busy laughing at to actually want to save it. Our cries of "Dodgy Keeper" were short lived though as within 30
seconds, the boys from the red and black stuff had equalised courtesy of K's worst handling mistake of all time.
The next thirty or so minutes were fairly even with Aber's midfield, particularly Dai "Please More Like This" Parry looking quite strong. Such was the surreal nature of play, Martyn Griffiths won more tackles than he lost. For Porth, Geraint Jones played like a star throughout, so much so that when he was subbed I even thought he was worth some applause. By that time though, it was all over.
Porthmadog got two goals in quick succession before the break via the booties of Mike Davies and Steven Pugh and thus the match was over. At half time we had some glorious "Top Deck" orange-ade which drowned our sorrows nicely and will no doubt puzzle some doctor in thirty years time when my stomach suddenly vanishes in an acidic rotting incident. Porthmadog were 5-1 before an hour had been played, Saynor got the first of the second half and Steven Pugh added to his tally. The rain fell intermittently so we wandered backwards and forwards to and from the shed behind the goal and our regular standing position in line with the eighteen yard box.
Aber got two back, first from Gavin Allen and then from Andy "Abuse Me for I am Not Good Enough" Evans, who finally scored with his head. Aberystwyth and Porthmadog both used subs, though Porth as a consolidation exercise and Aber in desperation. Merion Appleton should hopefully get a huge kick up the arse for not playing Wyn Thomas from the start. His mother says that she wishes he'd see sense and move to Carmarthen where he'd be virtually guaranteed first team football.
According to their fixture list, Porth have Bangor on Wednesday in the League Cup at home. If they play to their strengths (ie: Geraint Jones and running down the right) they might do something. For Aber, there are three potentially nightmare cup ties looming. First up, Ebbw Vale at Eugene Cross Park in the League Cup, Porthcawl in the Welsh Cup on Saturday and next
Tuesday, the Green and Blacks do battle with the new force in mid Wales soccer, Penrhyncoch in the Floodlit Cup. Needless to say, none of us in the car were bricking ourselves over any of those as we lost radio contact with the outside world just by Dolgellau.
JDS Nov 97
LoW
26.03.97 Aberystwyth Town 3-0 Porthmadog AFC
Well having spotted none of the internet bunch were at the match, I thought
I would just give you a little summary of that action.
The First half was dire to say the least. Gav hit the crossbar from a
freekick 25 yards out, but apart from that nothing happened - well apart
from a few yellow cards being given for various players being nasty to each
other.
The Second half was much more interesting - there were goals! Well three
to be exact and all to the same side - Aber - and the same player - Gavin Allen.
The first was a penalty after Paddy and John Morris were both bundled over
at a corner - i think the penalty was for PAddy as the ref only signalled
after he went down (o-oer) but Morris seemed to hit the post and went off
the field in a bad way on the trolley/stretcher. After that Porth came out
of their shell and tried attacking a bit - it failed! Shortly afterwards
a seemingly aimless ball that was going for the byline was cutout by Gavin
on the goal line, controlled it and promptly curled it from the joining of
the 18 yard box and the goal line into the far top corner - not a bad stike
that one! We were still busy debating whether it was a cross for Paddy or a
shot when goal number THREE came in. Porth were all over the place when
Nicholas raced 70 yards, slipped a rather poor ball into the box that hit a
rather disinterested Porth defender on the foot, found Gav who slotted past
their goalie.
3-0 TO ABER!!!!
A couple of points to note:
1) Aizlewood didnt play
2) Aber kept a clean sheet
Spot a common theme here?
Assessment: Aber won - after 10 minutes it didnt look at all likely, but
they deserved to. Saying that, if Gav's first touch was at all effective
they could and should have had 6. But never mind - a clean sheet, three
goals and a happy appy ( he even applauded the third goal!) - lets hope
friday's crunch match against caresws goes to plan - we are smack bang on
level terms with them so it matters a lot!
"Aber Jack" (Alias Andrew Godden)
LoW
06/11/96 Porthmadog AFC 2-2 Aberystwyth Town
Croeso cynnes ir Traeth, a warm welcome to Y Traeth.
Yeah, right. The freezing, windswept conditions meant that watching this game meant guarding all parts against hypothermia. And the game itself wasn't really
a classic to warm the soul, especially when Aber spent the second half
clearing the ball into the headwind and kept getting it blown back at them.
However, the lads came away with a point so we can't really complain.
Porthmadog are on a bit of a good run at the minute, thanks in the
main to their welsh U21 striker, Paul Roberts, who wasn't on display today.
Otherwise, the Porthmadog team looked worryingly settled and self-assured.
The Green and Blacks, with Wyn Thomas starting a game in the absence
of Matthew Harrison, had most of the early pressure, but failed to use the
wind to any great advantage. Gavin Allen gave them the lead
after neat heading play from Glyndwr Hughes and Martyn Griffiths
(Gav looked out of sorts for the entire match).
Porth equalised from a goal that Mark Aizelwood got booked protesting about,
and which looked to be offside. The second half was pretty dire,
with Porth having the majority of the chances
but not really being able to finish. Their second goal was a stunning shot
that I felt the need to applaud but it wasn't enough to beat the Seasiders who
equalised with a Ryan Nicolls penalty (given for a handball which none
of us saw but the Aber team appealed for) near the end.
On the way back we saw Phil McNeil at a garage in Aberystwyth,
listened to the Spice Girls and laughed quite a lot when the DJ on Radio
Ceredigion said "Well, Aber might have played really well."
All in all, though, an excellent result to take back down the Cambrian Coast.
J.D.Smalldon Nov 1996
