By James Dow

Haverfordwest County AFC were knocked out of the Nathaniel MG Cup at the hands of Penybont last night, after a narrow 1-0 defeat at SDM Glass Stadium.

A fine strike from midfielder Owen Pritchard early in the second half saw Penybont keep their unbeaten start to the season in all competitions to reach the quarter-finals.

Both teams fielded young sides as they gave youth a chance, with chances in the first half split evenly between Bont and the Bluebirds. James Crole went closest for the hosts, with Luc Owen coming even closer to opening the scoring for the Town.

County saw the majority of the ball throughout the contest and had plenty of good spells in the game, however Pritchard’s goal ultimately proved to be the difference between the two sides.

We will be looking to bounce back on Friday evening when we visit Park Avenue to take on Aberystwyth Town on JD Cymru Premier MD8.

Team news

Manager Tony Pennock made seven changes to the team from Saturday’s defeat to Flint Town United, with Ifan Knott, Alaric Jones, Seth Woodhouse, Dan John, Luc Owen, Kyle Kenniford and Harri John – who was handed the captain’s armband for the first time- all coming into the side. It was a special occasion for the John and Owen brothers, as Harri, Dan, Jacob and Luc all started together for the first time.

On the bench, there was a very welcome return for Dylan Rees, who was named in a Bluebirds squad for a competitive game for the first time since the victory over Newtown in the 2022-23 JD Cymru Premier European play-off final.

Haverfordwest County: Knott, Humphreys, A. Jones, Tabone, Woodhouse (Ahmun 64′), J. Owen (Rees 64′), L. Owen, Kenniford, H. John, D. John (McCarthy 76′), Fawcett (Picton 72′)

Substitutes not used: Z. Jones

First half

The first chance of the match fell to the hosts, with Lewys Ware delivering a dangerous ball into the penalty area which was met by Crole, but Knott reacted quickly to deny the forward.

The Bluebirds responded with a half chance through Ben Fawcett, who won the ball high up the pitch but saw his effort from distance fly over the crossbar.

County had another great chance to open the scoring minutes later when Fawcett played the ball into Luc Owen, whose left-footed curling effort from just outside the area came back off the left post.

Ware kept threatening down the left side for Bont and put another dangerous ball into Jasper Jones, however he was unable to keep his shot down.

Second half

The Bluebirds started the second half strongly, with the first effort falling to Fawcett who once again struck his effort over the bar.

Woodhouse was next to have an attempt at goal minutes later when Jones played a fantastic long range diagonal ball to the young defender, whose near-post effort saved by Lewis.

The hosts took the lead just after the 50 minute mark when Pritchard received the ball from a Kai Ludvigsen pass before opening up space for a shot and unleashing a curling effort from 25 yards into the top left-hand corner of the net, leaving Knott with no chance in the Bluebirds goal.

The Bluebirds nearly found an instant through Fawcett, with the forward striking the ball at Lewis following a long ball over the top from Jacob Owen. Dan John was then played into the box minutes later, but his strong effort was saved by Lewis from close range.

County kept piling the pressure on the Penybont defence with Dan John racing through and setting up a chance for Luc Owen, who couldn’t generate enough power on his shot which was saved low down by Lewis.

Having introduced a number of first team players from the bench, Rhys Griffiths’ side showed their experience late on and were able to control the latter stages of the match, limiting the Town to speculative chances as they held on to advance to the last eight of the competition.