Afan Lido v Abergavenny Town

LIDO

Founded 1967

Ground: Marston’s Stadium, Princess Margaret Way, Aberavon Beach, Port Talbot. Club Telephone Number: 01639 892960 E-mail: afanlido67@btconnect.com Website: www.afanlido.com

President Phil Robinson General Manager Mark Robinson Chief Executive Alan Howells Team Manager Paul Evans Reserve Team Manager Carl Hughes Programme Editor Peter Reynolds Web Master Peter Reynolds Photographer Gareth Elms

Life Members

Steve Cook, David Dale, Alfred Haas, Mark Hanbury, Michael Holmes, Alan Howells, Phil Isaac, Brunhilda Knaur, Harry Leonhardt, Alun Rees, Peter Reynolds, Lynda Robinson, Phil Robinson, Helmut Solowy, Glyn Thomas, Brian Williams, Steve Wood. Vice President Brian Flynn

AFAN LIDO FOOTBALL CLUB HONOURS

UEFA Cup Preliminary Round One 1995-96

FAW Welsh Cup Runners Up 2006-07

Qualification for FAW Premier Cup 2002-03, 2003-04

League of Wales Runners Up 1994-95

League of Wales Cup Winners 1992-93, 1993-94, 2011-12

Welsh League Premier Division Champions 1987-88, 1988-89

Welsh League Cup Winners 2006-07, 2008-09

Welsh League Division One Runners Up 1984-85, 1997-98,2010-11

Welsh Intermediate Cup Winners 1986-87

Welsh League Reserve Division Winners 2001-02, 2003-04, 2004-05, 2010-11

Welsh League Reserve Division Runners Up 1995-96, 1999-2000, 2002-03

Welsh League Reserve Cup Winners 2002-03, 2003-04

Welsh League Reserve Cup Finalists 2010-11

FAW Youth Cup Finalists 1980-81

Welsh League Youth Division Winners

Welsh League Youth Division Runners Up 2015-16, 2017-18 2016-17

Welsh League Youth Cup Winners 1991-92, 2004-05, 2015-16

Welsh League Youth Cup Runners Up 1996-97,1997-98,2016-17 2018-19

SWFA Youth Cup Winners 1980-81

SWFA Youth Cup Finalists 1982-83

South Wales Youth League Winners 2008-09

South Wales Youth League Cup Finalists 2008-09

Port Talbot League Knockout Cup Winners 1968-69, 2014-15

Port Talbot League Reserve Division Winners 2016-17,2017-18

Port Talbot League Reserve Cup Winners 2017-18

Port Talbot Sunday League Division 1

Runners Up 1997-98

Port Talbot Sunday League Cup Winners 1997-98

Welcome

On behalf of the club, I’d like to welcome the officials, players and supporters of Abergavenny Town Football Club to the Marstons Stadium for this afternoon’s Cymru South League match.

I’d also like to welcome our three officials and hope you enjoy the game.

Head to Head

We drew 1-1 at Pen-y-pound Stadium on Friday October 28th 2022, Liam McCreesh scored our equaliser in a game in which we missed several chances. You have to go back to 1997-98 for our previous meetings when they were known as Abergavenny Thursdays. We won 5-0 away on Saturday November 1st 1997 with goals from Chris Piper, Dean Johnston, Mitch Patton, Greg Hurley and Michael Cook. We completed the double on Saturday March 7th 1998 winning 7-2. Shaun O’Leary (3), Mitch Patton (2), Karl Reynolds and Leighton Jones on target.

Previous Games (Tier 2)

At the Marston’s Stadium 2 2 0 0 10 2 6 At Penypound Stadiom 3 2 1 0 9 2 7

Club History

The club was founded in June 2014 after local side Govilon changed their name eleven months after the former club Abergavenny Thursdays folded, citing a lack of players as the reason

The new club was entered into the 5th Tier of the Welsh football pyramid, the Gwent County League First Division for the 2014–15 season. They finished the season as champions of the division after going the entire league campaign unbeaten. This earned the club a place in Tier 4 of the Welsh Football League Success continued during the 2015–16 season as the club won promotion to the 3rd Tier, after finishing second in the league. The club also won the FAW trophy following a 1–0 victory over Sully Sports.

The 2016–17 saw Abergavenny finish 11th in the 3rd Tier of the Welsh football pyramid and the end of the season saw long time servant and Manager Steve “Butch” Morgan leave the club after 20 years of involvement at Govillon and Abergavenny.

Season 2017–18 saw the club promote reserve team player/manager Ben Bannon to first team manager. Bannon led the team to a tenth-place finish in the league The club narrowly missed out on the promotion positions in 2018–19, finishing fifth, just 2 points below third place Caerau (Ely) A.F.C They remained in Tier 3 for the third year running. Abergavenny's 2019–20 season in Tier 3 (the 2019-20 Welsh Football League Division One) was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic. After the Football Association of Wales decided on a points per game basis to conclude the season, Abergavenny finished thirteenth In June 2020 they were awarded a Tier 3 license by the FAW, as part of the restructuring of the Welsh Leagues and joined the new Ardal Leagues structure in the South East Division. After the 2020–21 season was cancelled due to Covid restrictions, the club went on to become the inaugural league champions in the 2021–22 season and gained promotion to the Cymru South for the 2022–23 season

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Forthcoming Fixtures

Next Friday January 13th we host Cambrian, a game that was postponed earlier in the season, kick off is at 07.30 pm. On Saturday January 21st we visit Ammanford for a 2.30 pm kick off before completing our January fixtures with a visit to Goytre United on Friday January 27th, kick off at 07.30 pm

Seasons Greetings

On behalf of everyone in the club I hope you had a pleasant and peaceful Christmas and I’d like to wish everyone a Happy New Year.

Festive Double Header

We picked up four points in the double header with Trefelin. We won 3-1 here and drew 2-2 in the return at Ynys Park. In our home game played in atrocious weather Josh Webber scored inside the first 3 minutes when he picked up a loose ball on half way and sped goalwards. With only Keenan Bailey to beat he drove the ball into the net. Straight from the restart Trefelin should have equalised when they were awarded a penalty but somehow Joe Clarke only managed to scoop the ball up into Aaron Jones’ hands. The game was played at a fast pace and was end to end. Trefelin looked dangerous when around the Lido penalty area but they were unable to level until a brilliant Damon Thomas volley beat Aaron Jones on 35 minutes Joe Jones then had a free header from close range but somehow put it wide. Josh Webber again went through but this time his run was blocked, he tried a shot but it went just wide. A frantic first half ended all square.

Lido came out for the second half with the elements in their favour and as in the first half they made the early breakthrough. Chris Jones picked up the ball just outside the area and hit a powerful shot which gained pace on the wind giving Keenan Bailey no chance. Trefelin again pushed forward looking for the equaliser and forced a number of corners which the Lido defended well. Keeper Aaron Jones was needlessly booked on 58 minutes when he contested a wide ball with Damon Thomas. Damon wasn’t going anywhere and there was cover getting back so to concede a free kick and pick up a booking was rash. Trefelin continued pushing forward looking for another equaliser but Dan Nagle and Jackson Hall were defending well. With a quarter of an hour to go a Trefelin shot from distance clipped the top of the crossbar. Four minutes later Lido picked up their third goal, Liam Griffiths picked up a long through ball beat his marker and squared the ball to Jay Thomas to increase the lead. Liam Griffiths then had a shot tipped over for a corner before Ioan Evans raced away from the half way with Josh Webber in support, a square ball at the right time would make it four but Ioan chose the wrong option, going himself and having his shot saved. Luckily with a two goal advantage with seconds to go it didn’t really make a lot of difference Three more points and a good way to end the year. The return at Ynys Park saw us race into an early two goal lead, Josh Webber continued his goal scoring run with a fifth minute effort. Within a minute Sean Hanbury had doubled the lead with a shot/cross from wide out which went in. In another frantic opening Trefelin attacked and hit the bar. Josh Webber forced a fine save from the Trefelin keeper who denied Lido a 3-0 lead on 16 minutes. Trefelin pulled a goal back on 23 minutes with Scott Tomlinson on target. Ioan Evans pushed a chance just wide but the game calmed down with Lido 2-1 up at half time. It was Trefelin’s turn to fly out of the blocks at the start of the second half but Lido defended well. Aaron Jones did well on 54 minutes to deny Trefelin an equaliser but he could do nothing to stop Roan Piper get the equaliser on 65 minutes. Liam Griffiths was denied by a brilliant sliding tackle going into the final twelve minutes and then we had the ball cleared off the line. Aaron Jones made a couple of saves deep into the last few minutes of the game while a Shaun Hanbury free kick was comfortable held by the keeper.

Mon Jul 25 Briton Ferry/Llansawel * A 2-3 Edwards, McCreesh (P)

Fri Jul 29 Llanelli A 1-3 Hanbury

Tue Aug 2 Barry Town Utd H 1-4 McCreesh (P)

Fri Aug 5 Cwmbran Celtic * H 5-2 Jones C (2), Webber (2), Indjai

Fri Aug 12 Taffs Well H 1-1 Jones C

Fri Aug 19 Llantwit Major H 2-2 Jones C (P), Indjai

Fri Aug 26 Swansea University H 7-1 Webber (3), Keen (2), Griffiths, Jones C

Mon Aug 29 Briton Ferry/Llansawel A 1-1 Jones C (P)

Sat Sep 3 Pontardawe # H 4-0 McCreesh (P), Keen, Evans , Hanbury

Sat Sep 17 Hakin Utd @ H 0-1

Tue Sep 20 Pontypridd * H 2-0 Griffiths, Walters

Fri Sep 23 Ammanford H 2-1 Jones C (P), Griffiths

Sat Oct 1 Carmarthen Town A 3-0 Keen, Griffiths, Evans

Sat Oct 15 Ynyshir Albions # A 0-7

Tue Oct 18 Taffs Well * A 1-2 Keen

Sat Oct 22 Goytre United H 2-0 Webber (2)

Fri Oct 28 Abergavenny Town A 1-1 McCreesh

Sat Nov 5 Pontardawe Town H 3-3 Hanbury (2), Webber

Sat Nov 19 Cwmbran Celtic A 4-1 Keen, Thomas, Flay, Owen

Sat Nov 26 Briton Ferry/Llansawel H 3-2 Griffiths (2), Webber

Tue Dec 6 Ynyshir Albions H 1-0 Griffiths

Tue Dec 27 Trefelin H 3-1 Webber, Jones C, Thomas J

Mon Jan 2 Trefelin A 2-2 Webber, Hanbury

Sat Jan 7 Abergavenny Town H

Fri Jan 13 Cambrian H

Sat Jan 21 Ammanford A

Fri Jan 27 Goytre Utd A

Fri Feb 2 Carmarthen Town H

Sat Feb 11 Pontardawe Town A

Fri Feb 17 Cwmbran Celtic H

Sat Feb 25 Barry Town Utd A

Fri Mar 3 Llanelli H

Sat Mar 11 Taffs Well A

Fri Mar 17 Swansea University A

Sat Mar 25 Llantwit Major A

Fri Apr 7 Cambrian A

Mon Apr 10 Ynyshir Albions A

Welsh Cup @ Premier League Cup * Cymru League Cup #

Cymru South Division

P W D L F A W D L F A PTS

Barry Town Utd 16 9 0 1 23 8 6 0 1 15 6 42

Briton Ferry 18 6 4 0 31 6 5 1 2 21 15 38

Llanelli 16 6 1 2 19 9 5 1 1 15 8 35

Afan Lido 16 6 3 1 25 15 2 3 1 12 8 30

Carmarthen 17 3 2 3 19 14 6 0 3 22 13 29

Trefelin 16 3 1 3 17 17 4 1 4 19 18 23 Cambrian 16 6 0 4 21 20 3 3 1 18 13 27

Cwmbran Celtic 16 2 2 3 20 19 4 1 4 17 14 21

Llantwit Major 16 4 0 4 11 8 2 1 5 12 17 19 Ammanford 16 5 1 3 17 21 0 3 4 8 14 19

Taffs Well 15 3 1 3 14 10 2 2 4 18 20 18

Pontardawe 16 1 0 4 10 14 4 1 6 17 35 16

Swansea University 14 1 1 5 8 16 3 2 5 13 25 15 Goytre Utd 15 3 2 4 15 20 1 0 5 5 18 14

Abergavenny 17 2 3 3 12 14 1 0 8 8 31 12

Ynyshir Albions 15 1 0 5 9 18 1 2 6 9 16 8

Scorers

League Cup Total Pens

Josh Webber 10 2 12 0

Liam Griffiths 7 1 8 0 Chris Jones 6 2 8 3

Ben Keen 4 2 6 0

Sean Hanbury 4 1 5 0

Liam McCreesh 2 2 4 3

Ioan Evans 1 1 2 0 Carlos Indjai 1 1 2 0 Jay Thomas 2 0 2 0

Jordan Edwards 0 1 1 0

Sacha Walters 0 1 1 0

TOTAL 37 14 51 6

Aaron Jones

Represented the Boys Clubs of Wales at all age groups. Played youth football here for a season, also played at Penybont, Cefn Cribwr, Porthcawl Town Athletic and Cornelly United. Re-signed for us in January 2022 from Cefn Cribwr.

Steve Cann

Signed from Briton Ferry Llansawel in October 2017. Signed for them from then Welsh Premier team Port Talbot Town for season 2016/17. South African born he grew up in Briton Ferry and boasts Derby County, Rotherham Utd, Aberystwyth, Carmarthen and Port Talbot as his ex-clubs. Missed season 2018-19 but re-signed ahead of 2019-20. Left in July 2020 but re-signed in June 2022

Steve Morris

Steve signed for the club ahead of the 2019-20 season. Australian by birth he spent 18 months playing in Spain before being a squad member for Penybont in their undefeated season.

Carlos Indjai

Carlos signed for the club ahead of the 2015-16 season from Llantwit Major, also played for Dinas Powys. Is a Wales LD International. Although a winger, he filled in with great success as a full back towards the end of 2017-18 and is now operating as a centre back. Signed for then Welsh Premier Llanelli in July 2018 before re-signing for us in December 2018. Left and joined Newport City before re-signing for the club in January 2022.

Sean Hanbury

Sean progressed through the junior sides within the club before joining Swansea City Academy. Was released at the end of the 2016-17 season and signed for the club in August 2017. Made his debut off the bench at Caerau Ely, made 24 starts scoring 5 goals Signed for WPL Carmarthen Town in June 2018 before re-signing in June 2019. Left in August 2020 for Trefelin but re-signed again in January 2022.

Chris Jones

Played for Swansea City, Grimsby Town, Neath, TNS, Gloucester City, Port Talbot, and also played for Wales at Under 17,19,21 and semi -pro level. Signed during the 2016-17 season playing a handful of games before joining Carmarthen Town. Re-signed for the club in January 2020. Left July 2020 before re-signing in January 2022

Sacha Walters

Sacha first signed for the club in 2001-02 while we were in the Welsh Premier and made 56 starts scoring 27 goals in a 4 year spell. After the club was relegated he left and played for several Welsh Premier clubs before re-signing in August 2016. Brings a wealth of experience to the side. Joined Briton Ferry/Llansawel in 2021 before moving on to Trefelin. Re-signed for the Lido in August 2022.

Daniel Dima

Signd in July 2022 , previous clubs include Newport City and Llanrumny United.

Daniel Nagel

Signd in September 2022 from Ynysygerwn, has also played for Goytre United.

Ben Keen

Ben joined us in September 2020 signing from Penybont. Also played for Porthcawl. Signed for Llantwit Major in August 2021 before re-signing in January 2022.

Josh Webber

Signed in 2014, previous clubs include Pontardawe and Neath. In 2014-15 Josh represented the Wales under 18’s semi-professional side against the Republic of Ireland. He has also represented the Boys Clubs of Wales, was the outfield player in a tournament in Germany.

Jay Thomas

Jay is a youth team player who has represented the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wales. Caught the eye in a number of pre-season matches and held down a first team slot before signing for Goytre United in August 2021. Re-signed for the club in June 2022.

Owen Williams

Owen signed for the club in 2013 from Tata Steel. Made his full debut at Bala in the Welsh Premier League. Transferred away early in 2017-18 but re-signed in February 2018. Joined Port Talbot in November 2018. Re-signed for the club in August 20021.

Ioan Evans

Signed in September 2020 from Cardiff Met; has also played for AFC Llwydcoed. Managers player of the year for season 2021-22.

Liam Griffiths

Joined us in August 2021 from Goytre United. Scored on his debut against Briton Ferry. Previous clubs include Pontardawe Town and Carmarthen Town. Won Players player and Supporters player of the year for 2021-22.

Luke McDonald

Youth player who was involved with the first team before football was suspended. Has represented the Boys and Girls Clubs of Wales.

Bradley Flay

Signed in August 2019. Had spells with the Cardiff City, Newport County and Nike Academies. As a senior player has played for Wrexham, Penybont, Monmouth and Cardiff Met. Has a Welsh Schools cap, represented Welsh Universities and been on the bench in a Europa League tie. Also trialled at Ross County. Is a Masters student in sports coaching and holds a UEFA B licence. Signed for Goytre Utd in July 2020 before re-signing for the club in August 2022.

Ieuan Owen

Signed in September 2022. Previous clubs include Porthcawl Town and Bettws.

Travis James

Signed in July 2022. Previous clubs include Cwmamman United, Llanelli and Pontardawe Town.

Mark Jones- Striker

Jonah came through the junior ranks at the club and signed for Cardiff City Academy. Upon his release he returned to the club before joining Llanelli who at that time were in the Welsh Premier League. Has also played for Aberystwyth, Port Talbot and Carmarthen. He re-signed for the club in ahead of this season and has impressed in pre-season matches. season. Resigned for Carmarthen in the WPL in January 2018 before signing for Llanelli Town in June 2018. Re-signed for the club in November 2018 before signing for Briton Ferry ahead of the 2018-19 season. Had a spell earlier this season at Trefelin before re-signing again for the club in January 2023.

AFAN LIDO v Abergavenny Town

AARON JONES

CONNOR CHRISTIE

STEVE CANN GEORGE CLARKE

DANNY DINA JAC OWEN EVANS

IOAN EVANS DREW HEFFERMAN

BRAD FLAY NATHAN DAVIES

LIAM GRIFFITHS ROSS DAVIES

JACKSON HALL JAMES YOUNG

SEAN HANBURY BEN WATKINS

CARLOS INDJAI R THOMAS

TRAVIS JAMES GREG PREECE

CHRIS JONES RHYS TANDY

MARK JONES LOUIS SEABORNE

BEN KEEN URTIS METHVEN

LIAM MCCREESH JACK WILLIAMS

DANIEL NAGLE LEWIS ELLAWAY

OWEN RHYSB TUTTON

WALTERS RHYS MEADOWS

WEBBER