Support quality, independent, local journalism…that matters

From just £1 a month you can help fund our work – and use our website without adverts. Become a member today

In a game where Risca United were looking for a bounce-back win following a loss to Newport City, the Cuckoos could only manage a 2-2 draw against Chepstow Town on a Tuesday night at the Centre for Sporting Excellence.

Meanwhile Chepstow entered the game full of confidence, sitting fourth in the Ardal South East league table, and still unbeaten. Their manager Marc Ingles, who was assistant manager at Risca just two seasons ago, was full of smiles before the 7.45pm kick-off.

The game itself was brilliant for the neutral, with both sides having plenty of chances to take all three points. Risca opened the scoring through Daniel Battle before two quick goals from the visitors at the start of the second-half left the hosts scrambling. A late penalty gave Battle his brace and secured a point for the Cuckoos.

Kick-off

Risca just about edged the opening moments of the game, a half chance fell to Finlay Wood, who scored a screamer in the side’s 2-1 loss to Newport on Friday, but this effort was blocked and the ball went out for a corner.

Despite the decent start for the hosts, it was Chepstow who had the first big chance. An in-form Joshua Parsons would have expected better when he had ball at feet running at the Risca keeper. He took the shot on far too early however and fired straight into the gloves of Harry Morris.

Manager Simon Berry had made three changes since the Cuckoos’ last outing, one of which was bringing in Mitchell Palmer – and what a decision it turned out to be when Palmer dinked a lovely ball over the top to Daniel Battle.

The ball took one bounce just inside the box and Battle used that to open his right foot up and delicately lob the onrushing Matthew Swann. Swann had no chance as Battle picked up his third goal of the season. 1-0 to the Cuckoos inside ten minutes.

For the next ten minutes it was all Risca United. They were getting into their flow and if another goal came in this period the game could have got away from the visitors. They defended valiantly however and weathered the storm.

Risca continued to keep the ball well enough, passing it around the back and probing for space. Owen Cuddihy looked especially comfortable and was one of the host’s better players across the full 90 minutes, both defending and getting forward from fullback.

There was a clear shift at around the 25 minute mark for Chepstow. Ingles, like a conductor from the dugout, had his band of players marching high up the pitch and pressing the Risca backline.

The hosts coped for the most part. There was some frustration amongst the players when a ball would end up out of play but at least it wasn’t in the back of the net.

Like any time a side presses however, they are sure to leave space in behind if you can break it. Risca managed to for the first time through Wood, who got the ball wide to Morgan Stead before getting clattered for his efforts.

Referee Brooklyn Lloyd Meek, who called a great game, played the advantage and Stead went motoring down the right wing. He crossed to the feet of Battle who scuffed one goal bound. It beat the keeper but not David Palmer who cleared off the line.

This seemed to wake the visitors up, who closed out the half well. The best chance perhaps fell to substitute Leo Ross who was fed an almost identical ball to Battle earlier in the half. He too tried a lofted shot but got it all wrong and chipped it into the hands of Morris. Disappointing.

Parsons himself had a decent effort a few moments later from the edge of the box. Morris dived to his right as the ball fizzed wide. Risca needed the half-time whistle.

The hosts managed to get one last effort in before the referee blew-up. Battle leapt for a header that was slightly above him. He got a decent contact on it but the ball clipped the top of the crossbar and went harmlessly behind.

Second-half

Berry would have been happy with the scoreline at the half, but the performance was still lacking something. With two losses to their name coming into the match, he would have wanted to see the killer second goal sooner rather than later.

Unfortunately for him and Risca however, Chepstow were awarded a penalty almost immediately from the restart.

Parsons danced through the Cuckoos’ midfield before skipping past defender Shane Parry who mistimed his challenge and brought the forward down. Ross stepped up and dispatched the penalty confidently into the top right corner. 1-1.

Risca needed a response. One nearly came through Arthur Furness after some great play by Leon Thomas down the left led to a pinpoint cross onto the head of Furness who mistimed his jump and nodded over.

The game was approaching the hour mark and neither side were really dominating for extended periods.

Chepstow captain Harry Waterhouse had seen enough. He took the ball from Mallachi Graham in midfield and drove to the edge of the Risca box. He got his shot off quickly and his high curling effort found the inside of the near post, beating Morris. A very nice finish from the skipper to give his side a 2-1 lead.

Risca looked deflated. It was a pretty poor start to the second-half for the hosts who needed a spark to get themselves back into the contest.

The fiery Thomas nearly saw himself taking an early shower for showing the wrong type of spark. When the referee was setting up a free-kick, Chepstow’s Finnan Maguire-Hamblett dropped to the deck, claiming Thomas had elbowed him in the face.

The referee gave himself a couple of minutes as he discussed what had happened with his linesman. It was clear neither saw anything however and both players were warned. The game was certainly heating up.

The visitors were doing their best to kill the game. Players were going down and some clever substitutes from Ingle paused any Risca momentum.

For all their hard work however, it was undone by David Palmer when he hacked down Thomas in the box with just nine minutes to go. There was absolutely no need to make the tackle with Thomas going away from goal.

Battle stepped up and grabbed his second brace of the season with a neat finish into the bottom left. Game on.

It was nearly game over almost immediately. One of the saves of the season by Morris kept his side in it after substitute Daniel Drake flashed one to the far post from the centre of the box. Morris at full stretch somehow produced a fingertip save onto the post.

What a dagger that would have been. That was the last roll of the dice for Chepstow who sat deep for the remaining five minutes as Risca threw everything at them. They held on well however and the game ended 2-2. A fair result.

Post-match reaction

After the match, a frustrated Simon Berry spoke to Caerphilly Observer and said: “I thought we did well enough first-half but it’s the story of our season with too many missed chances.

“Perhaps we could have gone in with two or three but equally we gave them chances like we always do.

“The first 20 minutes of the second-half was really poor and I’ve just let the boys know it. Chepstow got what they deserved, we weren’t good enough.”

Berry went on to say however he was pleased with his team’s response to going 2-1 down, adding “we were the only side who wanted it by the end”.

On the season so far, he said: “I don’t think we’ve played anyone else yet who are better than us but we concede silly goals and don’t take our chances. It’s been like that for a couple of years now I think.”

Risca now face Chepstow once again on Saturday August 19, this time away from home and in an FAW Welsh Cup qualifying game.