Welshpool Town Council's Recreation Ground came in for heavy criticism before and after yesterday’s Huws Gray Alliance match between Technogroup Welshpool and Ruthin Town.
The ground was described as ‘almost unplayable’ by Ruthin Town Manager Adrian Jones who was horrified at the length of the grass on the Maesydre pitch.
“We complained immediately,” said Jones. “It was too long and not only did it make playing the game properly virtually impossible but I think it was also dangerous. Players were getting their studs stuck in the grass and it’s lucky that there wasn’t a serious injury.”
A Technogroup Welshpool official confirmed that they too were unhappy with the condition of the playing surface.
“We asked the Town Council groundsman to cut the grass shorter but it looks like our requests have fallen on deaf ears,” he said. “The situation is out of our control and Ruthin officials understood that we were unhappy as well as them.”
No-one from the Town Council was available to comment at the game.
Huws Gray Alliance
Both sides were happy to settle for a 1-1 draw in their bid to pull clear of the relegation zone. Pool, fielding several new faces, dominated the first half and should have had more to show than a single strike from Phil Tomkins after 22 minutes.
But an awful mix up between a defender and goalkeeper, Dave Jones, gifted Eilir Edwards an easy equaliser. There didn’t look much blame on Jones’ part but he more than atoned with a superb last ditch save to deny Ruthin a winner. It was a game Pool should have won but failed badly in front of the Ruthin goal.
Guilsfield recalled experienced Gareth Jones and Graeme McGill into the starting line up at home to Flint but they were always chasing the game against lively opposition. Mike Barton’s men found themselves 2-0 down before a Berbatov-style overhead kick from Ross Frame pulled the hosts back into contention. Flint continued to pose problems and restored the two-goal cushion before Sean Butler scored for the second week running to provide a dramatic final quarter as Flint held on to a 3-2 victory.
Spar Mid Wales League
Russell Cadwallader was far from happy after a controversial late goal denied his Berriew side full points at top of the table Llanrhaeadr.
Victory would have put Berriew top, but his side conceded late in a goalmouth scramble when several Llanrhaeadr players crowded out the Berriew goalkeeper. Until then it had gone to plan for Berriew. Martin Zieman put them ahead before the table toppers drew level. Will Thomas then extended his incredible scoring run to restore Berriew’s advantage before the late drama denied them the three points.
Waterloo Rovers’ season continues to be inconsistent as they went down 3-2 at Newbridge-on-Wye. Llansantffraid Village also took a blow, going down 3-2 at Tywyn Bryncrug.
Division Two
Montgomery Town fell short in the clash of the day at leaders Kerry, losing 3-2. Four Crosses came back from a goal down to win 3-1 at improving Llanfair United with goals from Adam Griffin, Gaz Jones and a Paul Bache screamer. Llanfyllin lost 3-2 at Talgarth and Meifod continue to find the going tough after slumping to a 4-0 home defeat to Llandrindod Wells.
Montgomeryshire Amateur League
Waterloo Colts marched into the third round of the Llanidloes League Cup with a well-earned 2-0 victory at Bettws thanks to goals from Rhys Jones and Chris Lewis. Llansatffraid Reserves cruised through with a 5-2 win at home to Llanidloes Reserves thanks to goals from Craig Scott, Aron Jarvis, Harry Dunn, Steve Jones and Lee Dutton. Llanidloes Reserves replied through Josh Jerman and Craig Stephens. On Friday night, Caersws Reserves beat Guilsfield Reserves 3-0.
In the final first round match, Llanfechain marched past Churchstoke with a 6-0 win with a hat-trick for Lloyd Meredith and goals from Dafydd Williams, Dave Marshall and an own goal.
It was a good day for Waterloo with the Reserves also winning 2-1 at Carno Reserves in Honda Division One. In Mitsubishi Division Two, Luke Weaver continued his fine early season form with a brace as Welshpool Reserves beat Morda Reserves 3-1. Matt Windsor scored Town’s other goal. Llanrhaeadr Reserves won 3-0 at Kerry Reserves while six goals were shared in a thriller between Trefonen and Dyffryn Banw Reserves. Trefonen were 3-0 up through Lee Morris (2) and Mark Gallagher but Llyr Jones, Gerallt Evans and Aaron Coulson were on the mark to pull Banw level.
Huws Gray Alliance
Guilsfield 2, Flint Town United 3
Technogroup Welshpool 1, Ruthin 1
Division 1
Bow Street 1 Builth Wells 0
Presteigne 1 Dolgellau 2
Llanrhaeadr 2 Berriew 2
Newbridge-on-Wye 3 Waterloo 2
Penparcau 1 Carno 1
Tywyn Bryncrug 3 Llansantffraid Village 2
Division 2
Abermule 3 Talgarth 2
Kerry 3 Montgomery 2
Llanfair Utd 1 Four Crosses 3
Meifod 0 Llandrindod Wells 4
Rhosgoch 0 Aberaeron 1
Tregaron 3 Llanfyllin 2
Montgomeryshire Amateur League
Llanidloes League Cup Round One
Churchstoke 0, Llanfechain 6
Llanidloes League Cup Round Two
Llansantffraid Reserves 5, Llanidloes Reserves 2
Bettws 0, Waterloo Colts 2
Caersws Reserves 3, Guilsfield Reserves 0
Honda Division One
Carno Reserves 1, Waterloo Reserves 2
Mitsubishi Division Two
Kerry Reserves 0, Llanrhaeadr Reserves 3
Morda Reserves 1, Welshpool Reserves 3
Trefonen 3, Dyffryn Banw Reserves 3