The first local derby of the season ended with a frustrating 0-0 draw on Saturday September 21.
The Welfare returned to league action with their toughest test of the season in a local derby against table toppers Cefn Fforest.
The game started off with Cefn on the front foot. Their midfield three of Danny Thomas, Wayne Tancock and Ryan Hawkins were outnumbering the Welfare midfield of two and using the ball very well.
Wayne Tancock in particular was causing problems with some excellent passing.
The Welfare breathed a sigh of relief when a goal was judged to be offside.
A tackle inside the box by Cefn Forest centre back Luke was waved on by the referee to The Welfare’s amazement.
A tackle by the goalkeeper on The Welfare’s Coles was not deemed to be red card worthy by the referee.
The resulting free kick from Gareth Knott was then saved well by the keeper.
At half time the scores were still Ynysddu 0 Cefn 0.
The second half started in the same fashion. Cefn had several opportunities to take the lead but Luke Morgan was saving everything that came his way.
The Welfare struggled to get on top in the second half but again had another penalty turned down after calls for hand-ball.
For the remainder of the game The Welfare were on the back foot. Cefn Were playing very well going forward and created some excellent chances. Some good defending and even better keeping kept them at bay.
The closest they came was a fierce shot from Luke Bowen that smashed against the outside of the post. Both sides will be dissapointed not to have picked up the three points. Cefn had the better chances and were the better side, but The Welfare were on the wrong side of 3 very poor refereeing decisions, so a draw was a fair result.
Ynysddu lose to Mardy
After a draw against table toppers Cefn Fforest in their last outing, The Welfare went into this game on Saturday September 28 with the confidence that they could finally get their first win.
The game got off to the worst possible start, The Welfare taking kick off and immediately giving the ball away. Two passes later and it was in the net, 1-0 to Mardy.
To The Welfare’s credit they responded very well and spent the next 30 minutes dominating the game, playing some nice football and well on top of Mardy.
After a good goal from Coles and a reply from Mardy, The Welfare were 2-1 down at half time.
As The Welfare started to get on top they soon went 3-1 down, only to reply with a great goal. Jack Pewtner curled the ball in from thirty yards to make it 3-2 with seven minutes left, but couldn’t do enough to take the three points.
• Report supplied by Ben Murphy of Ynysddu Welfare FC
• Reports supplied by Ben Murphy of Ynysddu Welfare FC