The weekend kicked-off with a 3-3 draw at a wet and windy Stafford Common against fourth-placed Caldicot, but the match was overshadowed by a controversial incident which left players, management and the 60 spectators present baffled.

With a few minutes remaining visiting midfielder Garry Moores went down in his own area after taking a ball in the face and after a few minutes of receiving treatment was taken off to be seated behind the goal. In an instance like this play is re-started when the ball is returned to the team that was in possession when the referee blew up for the injury - in this case Garden Village - but instead Village striker Rob Shannon opted to re-start play.

But instead of returning it to Caldicot he converted past a bewildered James Smallcombe in the visitors' goal, which left referee Mark Evans with no choice but to award the goal which made it 3-2 to Garden Village.

Naturally the visiting Monmouthshire side felt, in the interest of fair play, they should be given the freedom of the pitch to level the score at 3-3. Eventually they equalised through Jason Thorn four minutes into injury-time.

Now back to the football. Garden Village were the first side to draw blood in this encounter between two sides gunning for a top-three spot come May. On 18 minutes Rob Shannon was fouled on the edge of the area and Ashley Richards stepped-up to convert his second spot-kick in the space of seven days.

Cameron Hopkins was making his debut after the midfielder made the switch from Briton Ferry two days before and on 26 minutes came close but saw his effort saved by Smallcombe from point-blank range. Stuart Lloyd, meanwhile, made an excellent save two minutes later to deny Caldicot an equaliser.

The home side couldn't have asked for a worse start to the second-half as Caldicot grabbed themselves an early goal. Richard Sharratt was the hero as he lobbed Lloyd in the Village goal two minutes in, and the side from Jubilee Way added extra pressure on the home side as they battled to take the lead on 76 minutes. A low cross from the left-hand side was met by striker Mark Williams whose header squeezed its way in between the post and Stuart Lloyd.

But Caldi's celebrations were short-lived as Village hit-back immediately with a well-struck equalising goal. Steve Devonald's long throw into the area was flicked on by Ashley Richards and then driven into the bottom corner by Rob Shannon.

The visitors hit the post with five minutes remaining and what happened after that is explained at the top of this page.

Village: Stuart Lloyd; Michael Harvey, Jamie Mansell, David Evans; Cameron Hopkins, Rob Shannon, Scott Evans, Phil John, Dayle Selvage (Steve Devonald, 67'); Derek James (Steven Evans, 77'), Ashley Richards.

Not Used: Chris Morgan.

Caldicot: James Smallcombe; Andrew Wenzel, Peter Little, Gareth Heywood, Jacob Guy, Richard Sharratt, Gareth Cullimore, David Lloyd, Mark Williams, Jason Thorn, Garry Moores (Will Vers, 90').

Not Used: Andrew Edwards, Steve Lane.

On Sunday we made the short trip west to Carmarthenshire League outfit Dafen Welfare for our first round tie in the West Wales Senior Cup.

Changes were made to the side that drew with Caldicot but it was the home side who took a shock lead in the first-half, and it remained 1-0 to the Dafen Park outfit until the break. Bob Lloyd introduced Ashley Richards to the game for the second-half and the striker rewarded Lloyd with two goals that saw Village progress into the last eight of the competition.

Lloyd felt that the tie wouldn't have gone their way if not for a few players' excellent performances.

He said after the tie: "We would have been well-beaten if not for Stuart Lloyd, Chris Morgan and Scott Evans."

Meanwhile, in the FAW Welsh Youth Cup, the youngsters progressed into round 3 of the competition after an extra-time victory over Pontardawe Town at the Recreation Ground on Sunday. The match ended 3-3 after 90 minutes but Village were able to put in that little bit extra and come out 5-3 winners.

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