Fairwater 3 V 1 Pentyrch Rangers
The game against Fairwater was a second round cup game. The team was reasonably confident they could get a result having got a good win in the league earlier in the season. But as we wrote then the scoreline didn't do real justice to the quality of Fairwater's football.
Pentyrch got off to a good start and forced a corner within the first minute. Unfortunately, the inswinging corner went straight out. The Fairwater goalie then quickly played a short ball to their left back who carried it about ten metres before sending a perfectly weighted diagonal ball over the top for their pacey striker to latch on to and slot home. Having caught Pentyrch off-guard Fairwater take the lead. Fairwater 1 - 0 Pentyrch.
Taking a few minutes to get over the shock Pentyrch slowly begin to work themselves back into the game. Aden, Mason and Dylan are working well in the Fairwater midfield, protecting the ball well and maintaining possession with quick neat passing. It is frustrating for Pentyrch who can't get any real rhythm or composure into their game. But on 10 minutes a defence-splitting through ball from Harrison finds Sam who forces a corner. Callum puts the ball across; Lucas rises above the rest and heads the ball across the box to Sam whose header has the goalie beaten, but not the crossbar.
With Pentyrch still chasing the game Fairwater spot their chance five minutes later. Playing with their heads up the Fairwater midfield spot another chance to play a deft little ball over the Pentyrch defence to make the score Fairwater 2 - 0 Pentyrch.
For the remainder of the half Pentyrch pressure Fairwater, but their defence do well in denying us space in their box. On the 18th minute Fairwater concede a free kick twenty five yards out on the right hand side. Leigh tries a shot but the goalie is on to it.
Two minutes later and Lucas releases Callum who rounds his man but is brought down just outside the box. Callum takes the free kick and a good strike is just over. On 25 minutes Fairwater concede another free kick twenty five yards out on the right again. Leigh sends it into the box. The goalie just about gets to it first and under pressure almost loses the ball but then recovers from his fumble. Two minutes on and Pentyrch win another free kick, this time on the left side of the Fairwater penalty box. Leigh puts the ball in the box but no-one is able to make a connection. A minute later and Tom A carries the ball down the line before sliding it forward to Leigh, who cuts inside and shoots, but it goes wide.
Still Pentyrch pressure and are getting more of their passing game going. But Fairwater continue to protect their area well and make it difficult for Pentyrch to get any clean shots on goal. On 36 minutes a cross from Callum on the left finds Leigh but his header is just wide. A minute later and a cross from the opposite flank by Liam is nodded down by Sam to Lucas but again the shot is just wide. From the resulting goal kick, Fairwater play a long ball down the right that is dropping just outside the right hand corner of the Pentyrch penalty box. Nat is taking no chances and is quickly off his line to clear the danger.
On the 39th minute another ball down the line from Tom A to Leigh, who carries the ball forward before whipping in a cross. Sam gets his head on it and nods it down for Callum to unleash a shot, but the goalie makes a good save.
Half-time: Fairwater 2 - 0 Pentyrch
 On 42 minutes Harry joins the field of play. Pentyrch continue where they left off in the first half and continue to pressure. On 44 minutes Lucas slides a ball through to Liam who quickly ships it on again to Leigh who gets off a great shot to find the back of the net. Fairwater 2 - 1 Pentyrch.
46 minutes gone and Harry claims the ball in the middle of the Pentyrch half. He drives forward before sending a weighted pass to Matt overlapping on the left. Matt carries the ball down the wing before crossing into the box. It finds Liam but his shot is just over.
It’s 50 minutes on the clock and Nick now joins play. On 56 minutes Callum wins yet another free kick on the edge of the box. Leigh strikes the ball and rattles the crossbar. The ball drops into the six-yard box. Sam gets a boot on the ball, but it is all so quick that the ball blazes over the crossbar. Ninety nine times out of a hundred Sam can be relied on to put this kind of ball in the back of the net, so it was beginning to look like this was not going to be Pentyrch’s day.
With twenty minutes to go Tom is brought on to boost the attack. On 65 minutes Tom E switched play from the right to the left with a long raking diagonal pass to find Leigh in space. Leigh got off his shot but it was turned over the bar by the Fairwater goalie.
Having absorbed so much pressure, Fairwater began to come back at an increasingly tiring and frustrated Pentyrch. On 71 minutes Fairwater won a corner. It was a Fairwater player who was first to get his head to the ball, scoring a good goal and effectively putting the game out of Pentyrch’s reach. Fairwater 3 - 1 Pentyrch.
A disappointing result for Pentyrch but it was an absorbing game played in a good spirit. Fairwater took their chances well and did a good job in keeping Pentyrch out of the danger areas. Congratulations and good luck to Fairwater in the next round of the cup.
Full-time: Fairwater 3 - 1 Pentyrch Rangers
For the rest of the Saturday's Results click on http://cardifffourfiveone.blogspot.co.uk/
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