By James Dow

Haverfordwest County exited the JD Welsh Cup following a 3-0 defeat to fellow JD Cymru Premier side Llanelli Town at Stebonheath Park on Friday evening.

A first-half strike from Joe Lloyd, followed by second-half goals from Bradley Gibbings and Ethan Cann saw the Reds claim their second win over the Bluebirds in three weeks — while also knocking them out of the Welsh Cup for the second consecutive season.

The Bluebirds had their opportunities in the first half, creating good chances through Owain Jones and Dan Hawkins — the latter striking the post shortly before the Town fell behind.

Llanelli were the much stronger side in the second half, however, and made the Bluebirds pay with two goals to reach the third round.

The game had a stop-start rhythm in the early stages, but the first real opportunity fell to the hosts in the 15th minute. A quick break saw Gibbings advance into the area and round goalkeeper Luc Rees, but his strike was blocked on its path to goal by Corey Shephard.

Llanelli continued to threaten the Bluebirds’ defence with Harrison Bright unleashing a powerful strike from inside the area that was well saved by Rees. The rebound was played dangerously across the box, but Rhys Abbruzzese reacted quickly to clear the danger.

County’s first opportunity came minutes later following the Reds’ spell of pressure, when a well-weighted ball over the top from Dylan Rees found Jones. However, the forward’s first-time effort failed to trouble Alex Pennock in goal, flying wide of the right post.

Tony Pennock’s side began to grow into the game as the half went on and went close after a quick free-kick found Greg Walters in the area. His effort was blocked, but the ball fell kindly to Jones, who created space for a shot. However, the Llanelli defence reacted well once again, deflecting the strike wide for a corner.

Jones and Walters linked up once again, with the forward laying the ball off to Walters on the edge of the area, but his low effort bobbled just wide of the right post.

There was a real shift in momentum as chances began to fall the Bluebirds’ way, with a well-worked team move ending in Hawkins finding space inside the area before unleashing a fine effort that crashed off left-hand post.

It would be the home side who struck first however, weathering the Bluebirds’ pressure before capitalising from a corner. Abbruzzese’s initial clearance fell kindly to Lloyd, who struck a first-time right-footed effort beyond Rees and into the bottom left-hand corner.

The Reds almost doubled their lead late in the first half after a swift attacking move saw Cann find space inside the area, but his effort was well saved by Rees, who reacted sharply to parry the ball behind for a corner.

Llanelli came flying out of the blocks in the second half and looked the more likely to extend their lead, with Gibbings finding space to run onto a first-time effort from outside the area, but he fired his shot high over the bar.

Rees was then called into action again minutes later when he made another big save, denying Cann from close range.

Llanelli did manage to double their lead shortly after, with Gibbings beating what appeared to be a dubious offside trap, much to the frustration of the Bluebirds players and supporters, before calmly slotting the ball past Rees.

The Blues responded well, piling the pressure on the hosts with a looping header from Jones testing Pennock, but the goalkeeper reacted well to hold onto the ball.

Ben Ahmun went close to halving the deficit after a Hawkins corner was met by the forward, but his header deflected wide for another corner.

Llanelli sealed the victory with a third goal 17 minutes from time, as a long ball from Pennock sailed over the Bluebirds defence and was met by Cann, who finished first-time into the bottom left-hand corner.

The hosts continued to push for more goals, with Rees producing a remarkable triple save in quick succession to keep the deficit at three.

The Bluebirds searched for a late consolation, but Abbruzzese’s powerful effort from 25 yards was tipped around the post by Pennock, ensuring the hosts claimed both the clean sheet and the victory.

Llanelli Town: Pennock, Bright, Hopkins, Lloyd (Evans 86’), Wharton (Parry 28’), Cann (Baker 86’), Parsons, Gibbings (Booth 83’), Norris, Williams, Sanca

Substitutes not used: Lewis, Jenkins, Smith

Haverfordwest County: L. Rees, Shepherd, Humphreys (Owen 59′), D. Rees (C), Scotcher, Abbruzzese, Shephard, Walters, Hawkins, O. Jones, Ahmun

Substitutes not used: Millichip, Makwirimiti, Hughes, James, McGuire, Thomas