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Caerphilly Athletic FC have thrashed local rivals Cwrt Rawlin FC 10-0 in the second round of the FAW Amateur trophy at the Centre for Sporting Excellence.

An unlikely derby so early on in the competition proved fatal for the visitors, who sit two divisions below Caerphilly in the South Wales Alliance League.

A hat-trick apiece from Dafydd Pearce, Christopher Crane, and Joseph Morelli was enough to see off Rawlin on Saturday September 30.

Kick-off

Cwrt Rawlin opened the game on the front foot to the surprise of many. Caerphilly were caught dawdling on the ball for a bit too long and the visitors were pushing right up in their faces.

This led to some frustration out of captain Arron Hill, who was reminding his side to keep the ball moving.

Winger Harri Morgan especially was catching the eye for Rawlin. His combination of pace and trickery would be something to keep an eye on as the game progressed.

The game didn’t progress for much longer however before Caerphilly got the dam-bursting opener.

A needless free-kick was given away near the halfway line and a decent ball into the box by Adam Williams found the head of Joseph Morelli. The forward had no trouble directing his header back across goal into the top right corner. 1-0 after 14 minutes.

A fairly innocuous tackle ended defender James Corrigan Davies’ afternoon. Jonathan Davies, who scored two from the bench in Caerphilly’s last match, came on in his place.

Rawlin were caught on their heels from the restart as a ball down the right found Zac Bickham in all kinds of space.

His cross eluded Christopher Crane in the centre of the box, but Dafydd Pearce was following in well and slotted past keeper Joseph Gooding to double the hosts lead.

Caerphilly were well up for this one now, hunting down the Rawlin players with real intent.

After 25 minutes played there was a case of déjà vu from the side lines. A long ball from a free-kick was lumped into the box by sub Davies with no Rawlin defender near Pearce.

Pearce wrapped his left foot around the ball nicely and fired home a half volley into the bottom right to secure his brace.

His first half hat-trick was secured only moments later. A corner from Williams was ‘cleared’ by Gooding straight up into the air. The ball fell to Pearce who gladly finished.

The visitors were very frustrated at this point. Half-time was approaching and the game turned into a derby for the first time.

Tom Lawrence left one on Crane before sticking a shoulder into the forward when walking away. He entered referee Mark Hulbert’s book for his troubles.

Things remained fiery for the remaining five minutes before the half. A big tackle from Caerphilly defender Nicholas Hill left him limping but the fans cheering.

Connor Li had a half-chance to grab one before the half for the visitors, but his effort crept wide as the whistle went. 4-0.

Second-half

Despite the scoreline, the half started fairly evenly. Neither side put much together and you wondered if Caerphilly would ease off.

That notion was thrown-out the window after 55 minutes when Crane scored his first of the game with a superb solo effort.

He picked up the ball and went on a mission; skipping past defenders at will, he sat the keeper down and slotted home at the near post to make it five.

Moments later and it was six. Things were getting scary now. Substitute Jamie Morgan dug a brilliant cross out from under his feet with only Crane to aim at. Crane leapt above his man and headed home.

Straight from the kick-off and Gooding was picking another one out of his net. Caught in possession, Max Franke finished from the edge of the area.

Cwrt Rawlin had nothing left at this point. The two division gap was on full display and the visitors could only watch as Caerphilly carved them open at will.

One man who had to watch the rest of the game from the dugout was the Rawlin goalkeeper.

A through ball to Crane was knocked past Gooding who slid straight through the Caerphilly forward on the edge of the box.

The keeper had his shirt off before Hulbert brandished his red card. Who knew how many it would be now with defender Rhys Newton between the posts.

Rawlin managed a solid ten minutes before the eighth was scored, this time through Morelli. In fairness to Newton, no keeper was saving Morelli’s effort, which was smashed into the top left corner.

By the time he’d finished celebrating, Morelli grabbed his hat-trick of goals, Davies grabbed his hat-trick of assists, and Caerphilly Athletic were 9-0 to the good.

There were only minutes left in the game and the visitors would have been pleading to hear the whistle before this became double-digits.

Unfortunately for them, Crane had just enough time to grab his hat-trick, finishing into an empty net from close range to cap-off a fantastic display from the hosts. 10-0.

A ruthless display from Caerphilly then. The gulf in quality was apparent early on, and the hosts never took their foot off the gas. They progress safely through to round three of the FAW Amateur Trophy.

For Cwrt Rawlin, it was clearly a day to forget. Not much to take from that and I’m sure they’ll draw a line under it and turn their attention to the league, in which they sit unbeaten in sixth.