Penrhiwceiber Rangers  1

Garden Village  2
Steven Evans (79' & 90')

Welsh League Division 2
Saturday December 3rd, 2005

Garden Village left it late to secure all three points at Glasbrook Field against Penrhiwceiber to extend their unbeaten run to five matches in all competitions.

The home side had taken a 24th minute lead but were reduced to 10-men on 64 minutes when their striker head butted Chris Thomas. Steven Evans went on to score the two goals that won the match for Village but if it were not for some superb saves from 'keeper Simon Cole, Penrhiwceiber could have gone on to score more than the one that they did.

Village were without the suspended Craig Blake after he saw red in the last match at Merthyr Saints two weeks ago, but there was a return to action for forward Derrick Jenkins who had been missing for the last month through injury. There was also a place on the bench for Lee Waite after a long absence from first-team action.

All in all it was a scrappy game of few chances for both sides on a very soft pitch, but the home side could have taken the lead early on. A misjudged back pass from Paul Bromage left Simon Cole stranded as a 'Ceiber forward went one-on-one with the ex-Swans' shot-stopper but from the shot Cole produced a fine save from the initial shot, and with the goal gaping another Penrhiwceiber played blazed over.

Very little happened for a while after that, bar a few challenges coming in from both sets of players, but it was the home side that broke the deadlock on 24 minutes totally against the run of play. The ball was knocked into the area, made contact with a player and after clipping in the inside of the post squeezed between Simon Cole and the woodwork. Nobody was quite sure of who the ball made contact with - some people say it came off the back of a defender, some say it came off one of the Penrhiwceiber players - but it went in and the home side were one-up.

Steven Evans had a glorious chance to equalise on 33 minutes when the ball from Dayle Selvage's cross landed at his feet just yards from goal, he sliced his shot against a defender which saw the ball take a wicked deflection but, to the relief of Penrhiwceiber, the ball ended up in the goalkeeper's arms. Marc Lloyd also had a chance to level the score but he sent his shot just wide on the stroke of half-time.

The second-half was as quiet as the first with both goalkeeper's rarely tested. The major talking point of the game came in the 64th minute when a 'Ceiber striker was dismissed by referee Andy Bachelor for head butting Chris Thomas. All Village could do now was throw everything they had at the 10-men of Penrhiwceiber, and by the end it paid off spectacularly.

Soon after the sending off, Derrick Jenkins was introduced in place of Dayle Selvage to make his return from injury and went straight into attack alongside Ashley Richards, allowing Marc Lloyd to move back to his usual wing-back position. David Rimmer also came on for Chris Thomas, who had been booked - Rimmer moved to the back while Steve Bater moved up into midfield.

The comeback that overturned the half-time deficit began with only 11 minutes to go thanks to a stunning strike from Steven Evans, who drilled the ball beyond the home 'keeper from the edge of the box. Lee Waite was introduced shortly before the end and he can be credited with the assist for the winning goal in the very last minute.

With time running out Derrick Jenkins chased a hopeful long ball down towards the left corner of the Penrhiwceiber half, he managed to beat the goalkeeper to the ball and then squared it to Waite, the substitute then laid it off to Steven Evans who, from similar distance to his first goal, put the ball in the bottom corner of the net to claim a dramatic late winner for Garden Village.

Both the players and management were over the moon at the final whistle, as were the small band of supporters - eleven to be exact - that made the trip the Cynon Valley for our first ever match on a Saturday afternoon at Glasbrook Field.

The return match against 'Ceiber at Stafford Common is on Saturday April 1st - we look forward to your visit!

Village: Simon Cole; Jamie Mansell, Steve Bater, David Evans; Dayle Selvage (Derrick Jenkins 67'), Paul Bromage, Chris Thomas (David Rimmer 74'), Steven Evans, Jack Jenkins; Marc Lloyd, Ashley Richards (Lee Waite 82').