The eagerly awaited County Motors Cup clash against Caerleon FC finally beat the weather but it was less than a warm welcome at Cold Bath Road for the Excelsiors’ 1st Team, who fell 3-0 to the hosts and saw their cup aspirations for this tournament dashed.
The Division 1 side started out of the blocks early, with the opening minutes of the game seeing them take a hold over a frantic Excelsiors team. The lads would take the bull by the horns soon thereafter though and both teams had flirtatious encounters in the opposing team’s half. Despite the best efforts of captain Brett Morgan and retired-and-returned Dean Morgan to keep composure in the middle of the pitch, the hosts made life difficult all over the park, but with specific focus on midfield. When they did break free from the one-on-one dogfights, Caerleon played long ball to their advantage and although it may not be a pretty way of playing, it was certainly effective, with the first goal coming soon after, an attacker managing to break free from a hounding Excelsiors defence to make it 1-0.
The home team would press forward moments later, grabbing their second with relative ease, leaving a frustrated back line and extending their lead to 2-0.
The game of cat-and-mouse continued as the Excelsiors sought some vengeance for clinical efforts by Caerleon, rallying hard to break down the attacks and in fairness, responding with promising counter-attacks, including a good opportunity for midfielder Lewis Jones, which went wide of the mark.
The home side made their intentions unmistakable with their third goal, slotting a low, driving ball past Kevin Roberts in goal, as the man between the sticks could only watch on, such was Caerleon’s slick finish.
Dean Morgan’s attempt to push back against the tide of momentum being built by the hosts was cut off at the pass by a stoic defender and the rebound to Shaun Smith fared little better, with a goal seemingly elusive in the Saturday sunshine. Employing a pack-mentality, the Excelsiors spent the remainder of the first half trying to close down the goal-hungry home team, who simply had the better 45 minutes of the two teams.
The second half looked certain to be a tough ask of the lads but Dean Morgan showed there was still fire in the belly of the boys with a superb strike early on that pinged off the crossbar and sent the warning to Caerleon that there was life left in their visitors. Zak Kelly followed up with a sublime ball into the box that found the out of position Tyla Preece, but the solid defender was taken down in the box though didn’t get a penalty from the referee. Kelly spent much of the second half in a desperate attempt to help push the boys up the pitch, delivering some great balls in from his position on the wing in the process.
The tough work and mounting pressure of the Excelsiors war machine seemed to have some of the desired effect, as Caerleon began to show cracks in the armour, making silly mistakes that they had shown no sign of making for much of the first half.
Indeed, whether they took their foot off the gas or eye off the ball, a majority of the second half tantalisingly took place in the host’s half of the pitch, as they found themselves inundated with offence from a fevered Excelsiors, with Brett Morgan even firing off an attempt at goal and Tyla Preece also being denied by an on-form goalkeeper.
A penalty for the Excelsiors looked to break the goal-drought for the lads, as Ewan Harty was brought down in the box and the referee instructed a one-vs-one moment to take place. Rhys Jones willingly stepped up to the plate but unlike his definitive finish this past week for the Reserves, the goalkeeper ensured that a clean sheet would remain in his future.
With many of the options and opportunities exhausted, the remaining moments saw Caerleon hold on to their sizeable lead and punch their ticket to the next round of the County Motors Cup, winning a tough challenge against the Excelsiors 3-0 after 90 minutes.
