Haverfordwest County Academy under 12s 1

Rhyl Academy

under 12s 1 (aet).

Haverfordwest

won 4-3 on penalties

Matches between Haverfordwest and Rhyl in the Welsh Premier League always created plenty of talking points and this Academy Cup Final involving the next generation of players proved to be no exception.

Haverfordwest County Football Academy Under 12s were deserved winners in a dramatic match at Newtown, where after leading 1-0 up to the last five minutes of normal time, they played through extra-time against a battling Rhyl team with the game ending 1-1.

Rhyl were awarded the equaliser with a penalty which looked rather dubious when shown on the television the next evening. The final result was decided on sudden death penalties, when Ethan Price put his team in an unstoppable position to record a 5-4 win for Haverfordwest Academy.

The game was played at a fast pace and Haverfordwest looked impressive at the front, with Alex Varney and Morgan Thomas giving the Rhyl defence plenty of headaches.

Travis O'Connor and Danny Hopkin cover a lot of ground in midfield and when Rhyl did attack, the Blues back four of Henry Macbeth, Garin Gardner, Curtis Hicks and James Williams tackled and covered in a very professional manner.

Haverfordwest looked compact in attack, with Ethan Price and Rowan Nicolson being prepared to run at defenders both through the middle and wide on the pitch to give a lot of mobility.

Morgan Thomas scored a good goal to put his team 1-0 ahead and Haverfordwest seemed eager enough to record an historic win until five minutes were left and Rhyl were awarded a penalty to take the match into extra-time.

Haverfordwest had the ball in the net through Rowan Nicolson, but this was disallowed for reasons unknown to the crowd and the game went to penalties.

Haverfordwest were soon 2-0 behind on penalties, but Travis O'Connor and Henry McBeth put them on the path to recovery, before Morgan Picton made two saves to give the Blues the chance to win. Ethan Price made no mistake when shooting high into the net to give the Academy its first ever trophy.

Play had been fast and furious and rolling substitutes kept up a high tempo to the match. Danny Llewellyn ran well up front, while Charlie Davies combined well with Max Brindley. Tobias Nash ran on the right flank and Morgan Picton made several good saves in goal. Nicholas Jones showed great composure when he came on for the extra-time period.

The result was a tribute to the hard work put in by the squad, coach Angie Nicholls, assistant Blayne Wherrett and goalkeeping coach Bernard Steer, and this was a good example of squad players working for each other.

The Academy Cup was presented to the team by Mr. Emir Preece, of Newton Football Club, who hosted the event.

Haverfordwest County Academy squad (Under 12s): Max Brindley, Charlie Davies, Garin Gardner, Curtis Hicks, Danny Hopkin, Nick Jones, Danny Llewellyn, Henry McBeth, Tobias Nash, Rowan Nicolson, Travis O'Connor, Morgan Picton, Ethan Price (capt.), Morgan Thomas, Alex Varney, James Williams. Highlights of the game can be seen on the Sgorio website.