Dinas Powys Football Club 3rd Team

Dinas' Vale Prem side picked up their first League win on Saturday at Jenner Park with an emphatic 3-0 score line. With a depleted squad, due to illness and injury, Dinas had to field several players out of position for this crucial match. Each and every player responded to the cause and showed the team spirit and determination that has been evident throughout the season so far. Although man-of-the-match Will Ponissi pulled off three or four great saves, this was a well-deserved win for the Black and Reds.

Ben Paul-David did well to open the scoring in the first half. After receiving a through ball to his wrong foot, Ben drove the ball fiercely into the net, giving the Barry keeper no chance. Dinas continued to play well throughout the first half, creating several chances with good movement from both strikers allowing gaps for the midfield players to attack. In spite of playing so well, Dinas took only a 1-0 lead into half-time.

Throughout the first half, the most dangerous Barry moves all came from down the Dinas left flank. For the second half, Dinas made a tactical switch to cut out this threat. Bubba moved from left-back to centre-forward, with the centre-forward moving to left wing and Simon Driscoll dropping to left back. Simon, who had played very well in the first half adapted quickly to his new position. His selfless performance was instrumental in cutting the main threat from Barry. Meanwhile, the midfield partnership of Blakey and Sam David battled valiantly - against superior numbers at times. It was especially good to see the Dinas players keep their discipline in the face of abuse from one or two of the opposition players.

In the end it was a well-struck penalty from Ben Paul-David that extended Dinas' lead. Ben was clearly pleased to see himself credited with his second goal (after his first had been mis-called by the tannoy announcer as an own goal).

With so many players just back from injury (and in some cases semi-retirement), it was not surprising to see players tire as the second half progressed. Lee Phillips entered the fray in midfield, with Sam David leaving the field nursing an injury. Lee did his bit to ensure that Barry chances were limited whilst putting his usual "bombs" into the box with each throw in. This week, however, it wasn't Lee-s corner-like throw-ins that led to a goal but an actual corner. A 3-0 win was ensured by a great Darren George corner which found some part of Graeme Terrar's body before nestling in the back of the Barry net. Darren, resurrecting his playing career, had come on a substitute for Bubba with 15 minutes remaining.

Unsurprisingly the last quarter of the match saw Barry throw everything they had at Dinas. Whatever wasn't swallowed up by the towering wall of the Mills-Terrar centre-back partnership, was dealt with by the heroics of Will, the clear players' and manager's choice of man of the match.

With all three senior teams winning today, this was a good Saturday for the club. For this Vale Prem side, this should mark the beginning of a change in fortunes. After playing the top three sides in the previous three League matches, Dinas now have a string of very winnable games. Next stop, SP Construction!

Having gone down to there biggest loss of the season the previous week, (albeit with a weakened side), it was clear to see the home side were in determined mood to make up for that result. However it was the away side who started the stronger creating some early chances that were well saved by the home Keeper. The Dinas lads gradually gained a foothold in the game and it was no surprise when young forward Carl Huntley prodded home to make the score 1-0 at half-time.

The second half saw a very disciplined and composed display by the Dinas defence with centre backs Davies and Terrar marking the Cadoxton forwards out of the game, whilst full backs Sadler and Fairhurst were getting forward at every opportunity. The Dinas midfield were also working hard with Hills and Harding showing a strong work ethic in the middle of the park. Dinas did not get another goal until the 80th minute when Russell broke down the right and crossed for Stewert to steer home. The 3rd and 4th goal did not arrive until the dying seconds of the game and were very cruel on the away side who put up a strong battling performance.

With the Vale side in the bottom 3 for the first time this season. This became a 'must win' game.

The First half saw an inspired performance with some superb passing and movement, so much so, the game had been killed as a contest by the 30th minute, Dinas lead 3-0, thanks to 3 goals in quick succession from Hamonnet (2) and Stewart. The Dinas lads continued to dominate and front runner O'Gorman was unlucky with several attempts. The defensive unit led by Davies and Taylor looked comfortable and never allowed the Elec-tec forwards to get into the game. However an unbelievable decision by referee Millar changed the entire pattern of the game. The ref sent off young Dinas forward Alderman for an apparent kick off the ball, an incident he accepted he had not seen!!!.

The second half turned into something of a debacle with the ref giving a penalty and 4 indirect free kicks inside the box to Elec-Tec for reasons that baffled both sides. He also booked 6 Dinas players, (the first booking for any Dinas player in the Vale league this year), of which only 1 was justified. The ref played 57 minutes second half although there were no injuries of note. The final whistle was greeted by relief from both sides with Dinas £54 out of pocket for unjust fines and Elec-Tec embarrassed by the biased 2nd half refereeing performance. This was a very focused performance by a strong 3rd side resulting in a 3-1 victory. It is just a shame the gloss was taken off it by such inept refereeing.

Playing down the hill and with the wind in the first half the away side knew they would need to take a lead at half time; but only had a solitary goal by Andrew Salvidge to show for their dominance.

The second half saw the Dinas defence come under increased pressure and Llantwit drew level from a scrappy goalmouth scramble. Llantwit continued to dominate possession and it was no surprise when they took the lead midway through the second half. In reply to this Dinas brought on lively forwards Gareth Corcoran and Sam Alderman, who caused no end of problems for the Llantwit defence. Alderman bagged the equaliser with 10 minutes to go and Dinas were unlucky not to snatch a victory late on when Corcoran was unlucky with 2 good efforts.

Dinas Powys 2 Sully 0 - Saturday 14th October 2006

The Vale side beat Sully 2-0 on a pitch that would have been more suited to rugby!!! Dinas produced their poorest performance of the season and were grateful to Andrew Salvidge with a fine header and Sam Alderman with a superb top corner strike to give them the 3 points. Numerous excuses can be made for this poor performance including the appalling state of the pitch and the fact 4 players became unavailable on the morning of the game. However the poor preparation for the game by many of the players, (they thought they would win by just turning up) was a major contributing factor to a disappointing display.

On a personal note; I would like to congratulate Tom Borrill and Sam Alderman on their recent call ups to the first team. It is nice to see young Dinas talent being given their chance in the welsh league.

The vale side suffered their first defeat of the season against a more experienced Admiral team.

A young Dinas side, (decimated by injuries and other commitments) battled hard against there more physical opposition but a highly controversial penalty decision midway through the first half allowed Admiral to take the lead. Admiral increased there lead just before the break, when a route one ball caught the Dinas defence napping and the flick on from the useful Admiral forward found his strike partner in acres of space to slot home.

The second half brought a much improved Dinas performance and it was no surprise when Dinas pulled one back through Dave O'Gorman. The Dinas lads poured forward in search of the equaliser and wasted several set-piece chances. The best of which came back off the crossbar and was about to be knocked in for the equaliser when the referees whistle went for off-side, (a slightly baffling decision as the home side had 2 players on the goal line!).

This was a hard working performance from a young side and will be a good learning curve for the future.