By James Dow
Ahead of today’s encounter with Bala Town at LHP Stadium, we’ve taken a look back at a memorable meeting between the sides from the 2020-21 season!
Bluebirds fans will remember fondly our win against Bala four years ago, where a last minute winner from Jack Wilson saw County win their first game of the season following promotion back to the top-flight.
Prior to the match
The recently-promoted Bluebirds had had a tough start to life in the JD Cymru Premier. They picked up two points from two matches, with draws coming against Cardiff Metropolitan and Newtown. We then then suffered two defeats on the bounce, with a heavy 4-1 defeat to title challengers Connah’s Quay Nomads followed by a narrow 2-1 loss away to Barry Town United.
These results left the Town on two points after four games and one place above the relegation zone, which was being occupied at the time by Penybont and Cefn Druids. A big result was needed for Wayne Jones’ men ahead of their visit to top six side Bala Town.
Team News
Haverfordwest County AFC: Hall, Summerfield, Pemberton (C), Tancock, Watts, Shephard, Fawcett (Wilson 65’), Keetch, Rees (Britton 56’), Lewis, Williams (Griffiths 79’).
Substitutes not used: Le-Grice, Jones
Match Summary
The Bluebirds went 1-0 down in the first half, after the referee had decided that defender Scott Tancock had pushed Bala’s talisman Chris Venables when rising for a cross, with the forward stepping up and fired his penalty past Steve Hall.
We were not behind for long though, as Dan Summerfield produced a fantastic lofted ball to forward Danny Williams, who then lobbed it over Alex Ramsay with his head just after the half hour mark to bring the scores level.
Few chances fell to both sides during the latter part of the first half, and in the beginning of the second, until substitute Wilson was brought on with 25 minutes remaining in place of Ben Fawcett.
Wilson immediately made an impact with the Bala defence struggling to deal with his direct style, having a chance soon after coming on which went wide of the post. As Bala pushed to find the winner, the Bluebirds found themselves with more space, which they were able to capitalise on with Corey Shephard winning the ball in midfield and playing it to Kieran Lewis and, with the Bluebirds having a three on two, Lewis was able to pick out Wilson who cut inside onto his right foot and rifled a powerful effort right into the corner to spark wil scenes of celebration and bring the three points back to Pembrokeshire.
The Bluebirds remained in 10th place after their first win of the season, putting their points tally up to five with four other teams on the same number of points at this stage. The Town would take real confidence from this result and went on to perform well for the remainder of Phase One, narrowly missing out on the top six in their first season back in the JD Cymru Premier.
Key player for the Bluebirds
Forward Danny Williams had three separate spells with the Bluebirds, making 63 appearances in all competitions, scoring 17 goals and registering five assists. Williams joined County as a teenager, where he would spend just under 18 months before being picked up by Cardiff City, joining up with their under-23s side.
The forward spent a year featuring for Cardiff’s academy side before a loan move to English non-league side Merthyr Town. Williams did not make an appearance for the Martyrs however, with their season being cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
Willliams then rejoined the Bluebirds for his second spell down west, where he would go on to score nine goals in 23 appearances during County’s first season back in the Cymru Premier. He was then released by Cardiff the following summer, and immediately joined the Bluebirds on a permanent basis where he would spend one season before moving to Pontypridd United. The 25-year-old spent two seasons with the Dragons, scoring six goals and registering two assists in 49 games across all competitions.
Williams then made the move back down west to JD Cymru South outfit Llanelli Town in 2023, where he still plays today. The forward has had a great start to this season, scoring six league goals in 12 appearances for a Llanelli side that sit second in the JD Cymru South.
Williams will be returning to face the Bluebirds next month, as we host the Reds in the fourth round of the JD Welsh Cup.
Key player for Bala
One very recognisable face that appeared against the Bluebirds in this match was youngster Will Evans. The forward joined the Lakesiders at the start of the 2020-21 season from Cardiff Metropolitan, where he made 125 appearances in all competitions for the Archers before moving up north. Evans spent two seasons with Bala, scoring 24 goals and registering 10 assists in 64 matches before moving to English Football League side Newport County.
The 27-year-old had a very successful two years with the Exiles, making 107 appearances across all competitions, scoring 29 goals, including 21 league goals in his final season at Newport, with his highlight being when he scored against Premier League giants Manchester United in the FA Cup.
Evans then stepped up a division once again, moving to League One side Mansfield Town this summer. So far, Evans has made 17 appearances for the Stags, scoring five times, which his most recent goal coming in a 2-1 away victory against Wigan Athletic.
The forward has also played for his country, making one appearance for Wales C in 2022 when he scored a brace in a convincing 4-0 victory against England C.
