League Cup - Maesglas 2 v 5 St Dogmaels (aet) 2-2 after 90 mins

Saints edged through to the quarter finals of the Easter Monday League Cup after a thrilling cup encounter which was a credit to the league. A young Maesglas side will be kicking themselves after creating numerous chances but failing to finish the tie off in the opening 90 minutes, and with the extra time the Saints got a grip of the game and somehow got to the finishing line. The Saints were the more sharper after the first 15 minutes or so but the Blues soon got their passing game together and took a deserved lead when Dai Cole's deft free kick found Llifon Howell darting across goal and getting the faintest of touches to head the ball passed Saints keeper Casey Walters. It’s also an old cliché when saying that half time came too soon for  the Blues as they were playing their best football up till that point and a second goal would have given that extra breathing space.

But the Saints reshuffled a few things after the break and started to pressurise  the Blues. The Saints nudged level after a ground level corner totally caught out the Blues defence and was fired home from close range.

The Saints then in similar fashion got the goal that put them ahead in the tie; the Blues were reeling as all the hard work had been undone by two soft goals. In a gamble to get back into the game full back Rhys Davies switched to the front line and this paid dividends, after some long periods of good Blues possession but without finishing off the chances created, the Blues levelled the tie when a cross across goal found Rhys Davies at the far post and the 16 year old rifled in the goal that squared the match.

At this point there looked to be only one winner in the game and Maesglas came close to winning the game with some chances that on another day would have sealed the cup tie. One superb effort from Rhys Davies, a cracking drive from 25 yards thumped the post and the rebound was blasted wide from 8 yards out.

The game was all square and went into extra time and with the pitch cutting up, it seemed to suit Saints who started to knock long balls to the newly added strike force of manager Steve "Jerry" Williams and ex Maesglas front runner Johnny James, and the experienced pair held the ball up for the likes of Dan Bellis and Neil Evans who contributed to the goals that finished the Blues off.

A cracking game for the neutral and in all honesty both managers will probably have their own opinions on the game. But in the aftermath of the tie it was good to hear the Saints players complementing the Blues and even to say that we deserved to win the game in the 90 minutes.

As for the Blues it’s about taking chances and this was the only criticism that can be aimed at the Blues, for the football they played at times was of good quality but without the end result, also Saints can give themselves a pat on the back for digging in when looking dead and buried at times, ‘but they dug deep and found extra legs, and this is down to the more experienced lads in the squad.

Maesglas boss Paul Hope paid tribute to both sets of players for giving everything, but reflected on the chances that should have been taken, " how many times do we see games like this when a team dominates large periods of the game but fail to finish teams off and this we failed to do, the Saints took their chances and are in the hat for the next round, but I can’t fault my players in fact I'm very proud of them because we worked our socks off today and they gave the club everything bar the win.