By James Dow
Goalkeeper Ifan Knott was the hero as 10-man Haverfordwest County AFC reached the third round of the JD Welsh Cup after a 5-3 penalty shoot-out victory over Trethomas Bluebirds at LHP Stadium on Saturday.
With neither side able to find the net in normal time, the tie headed to spot-kicks. Knott made a great save to deny Kallum Thomas with all five Bluebirds penalty takers on target to seal our place in the next round.
County had the better chances in the first half, with Ricky Watts and Harri John both going close. The second half was a much more even affair, with the Town being reduced to 10 men after captain Dylan Rees was shown a second yellow card.
Despite the red card, the Pembrokeshire Bluebirds continued to push for the winning goal, while the visitors also had their chances.
The result means Haverfordwest County are now unbeaten in their last seven matches, as our focus turns to next Saturday’s meeting with Caernarfon Town in front of the live Sgorio cameras at LHP Stadium.
Team news
Manager Tony Pennock made five changes from Tuesday night’s win at Briton Ferry Llansawel, with Rees and Rhys Abbruzzese both returning to the side having been rested in the week. Knott, Harri John and Ben Ahmun also came into the starting XI, replacing Zac Jones, Corey Shephard and Owain Jones.
Haverfordwest County AFC: Knott, J. Owen, Rees (C), Tabone, McCarthy, Abbruzzese (Hawkins 67′), H. John (Shephard 67′), Walters, Watts, Fawcett, Ahmun
Substitutes not used: Z. Jones, D. John, Humphreys
First half
Haverfordwest started strongly and dominated the ball in the opening exchanges. The first clear-cut opportunity fell the way of Harri John after 20 minutes when Watts’ through ball deflected off a Trethomas defender to play his fellow midfielde onside, but the youngster’s effort rolled narrowly wide of the left post.
Ben Ahmun came close to open the scoring minutes later when the striker’s half volley from just outside the area went just wide of the left post.
With County starting to move the ball around with more intent and purpose, Ahmun drove down the wing before playing a low ball into Watts whose effort was cleared off the line by the Trethomas defence.
The first chance for Trethomas fell to striker Gareth Tedstone, who took the ball down well from a long pass and released an audacious half volley which was held by Knott.
Second half
The Pembrokeshire Bluebirds thought they had taken the lead early in the second half when Abbruzzese’s free-kick found its way past Harry Noaks, but the linesman raised his flag to signal offside as the game remained 0-0.
10 minutes after the restart, County were reduced to 10 men when Rees was shown a second yellow card for a late challenge on Ethan Edwards.
Even with a man less, the Town continued to push for the opener, with Greg Walters heading over following a Kyle McCarthy free-kick.
A late chance fell to County when Ahmun was played in by substitute Shephard, but his strike was met by a great save from Noaks who got down quickly to deny the forward.
At the other end of the pitch, Knott was called into action when Andrew Evans produced a neat turn to create space inside the box and released a low effort into the corner which was matched by a fantastic save from the Bluebirds stopper, who got down quickly to parry the ball away from danger.
County thought they had won it right at the death when a scramble in the Trethomas box saw the ball fall to Fawcett, but the forward could not get the ball to fall for him to tap in the winner.
With the game finishing level, the contest headed to a shoot-out. Luke Tabone was first up for the Town, and sent Noaks the wrong way to make it 1-0.
Thomas took the third penalty for Trethomas, but an impressive save from Knott gave the Town the advantage going into the fourth spot-kick.
Substitute Dan Hawkins converted the decisive penalty to see Haverfordwest County in the third round, after Shephard, Ahmun and Fawcett had also converted from 12 yards.
Highlights
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