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In what was surely one of the crazier games to be played at Ystrad Mynach’s Centre for Sporting Excellence, Caerphilly Athletic FC managed to secure a 3-1 win over Trebanog FC in the South Wales Alliance League.
It was nearly a game that never happened, with kick-off delayed by half-an-hour after several of Trebanog’s players were involved in a car crash on their way to the ground.
Committee members had to throw on some jerseys moments before kick-off just so the game could get underway.
That was the build-up and the game was just as chaotic. Caerphilly took an early lead through captain Will Toms before Gavin Wilcocks equalised for the visitors after 36 minutes.
The half ended with an 11-on-11 ‘coming together’ that resulted in a red card for both sides.
Two more red cards were shown in the second half as the game was almost abandoned. Caerphilly ran out comfortable enough winners 3-1 in a match that will live long in the memory.
Kick-off
With the delayed start and heightened emotion amongst the players, it was no surprise to see a frantic and scrappy opening from both sides.
The first real chance of the game came after eight minutes when the man who has 18 assists this season, Will Toms, turned finisher.
Picking the ball up in midfield, Toms drove forward to the edge of the box before hitting low and hard across the keeper into the bottom corner.
Toms continued to dictate the tempo of the game, getting involved whenever Caerphilly had the ball.
After 25 minutes or so the game had settled and Caerphilly saw a lot of the ball. Most of the action came through Joseph Morelli who had a half chance himself before Trebanog goalkeeper made a good tackle in the box.
Iwan John was also a threat, he forced the keeper into a save after 36 minutes with the resulting corner also asking questions of the visitors organisation.
A few minutes later however and it was a set piece that caught Caerphilly out.
The hosts failed to deal with a corner and the ball fell to the feet of Gavin Wilcocks who leathered it goal-bound. The ball struck the underside of the crossbar and in, levelling the game at 1-1.
The half appeared to be coming towards a gentle conclusion before a late tackle on captain Toms sparked a fight between all of the players.
It didn’t look like any punches were thrown, but after a few minutes of thinking, referee Alun Thomas sent both Toms and the Trebanog defender who made the initial tackle for an early shower.
The half-time whistle blew and Caerphilly would have been disappointed to not be ahead.
Second half
The hosts opened the half as the stronger side but it wasn’t long before tempers began to flair once again.
After 50 minutes or so, the game had become increasingly stop-start, with the referee letting the players know who was in charge.
The first decent chance of the half came to John, who tried his luck from distance but didn’t trouble the keeper.
Caerphilly continued to find joy through John on the right flank. While his crosses were testing, they never found any attackers.
By the hour mark it was clear Caerphilly were missing Toms’ quality in midfield. Passes weren’t quite so sharp and opportunities not as frequent.
Christopher Crane had a decent attempt from a free-kick outside the visitors’ box that narrowly skipped wide.
It was substitute Jonathon Davies who eventually broke the deadlock after 73 minutes thanks to a brilliant through ball by Morelli found the feet of Davies who rounded the keeper and finished from a narrow angle.
However only minutes later, the match turned very ugly.
A Trebanog midfielder made a late tackle that the referee was going to show him yellow for, before he received some verbal abuse from the player.
Thomas reached to his top pocket to show red for the third time.
There was some back and forth between players and spectators at this point, as frustration grew.
The third and final goal came in the 78th minute through Crane after a brilliant cross from player of the second half, John, finally found his man.
Crane angled his diving header superbly to the keepers near post who could do nothing. 3-1 and three points for the hosts.
The game wasn’t finished there however. On the 82nd minute a Trebanog player went down injured and Thomas didn’t blow his whistle to pause play.
This led to the injured man shouting some choice phrases at the referee. He was swiftly given his marching orders which left the tie at real risk of being called off if Trebanog lost another man.
They managed to hang on until the full time whistle however, Caerphilly controlled the game for the remaining ten minutes and everyone could breathe again as Alun blew up for the final time.
A spirited performance by the visitors, but Caerphilly will be happy with those three points that puts them right on the heels of league leaders Treherbert with four games in hand.
Reaction
Caerphilly Observer spoke to Caerphilly Athletic co-manager Rhys Whatley after the game. He said: “Crazy game. Disappointed we let it get to us in the first half, despite trying to play a bit of football. We got the three points though and that’s the main thing.”
Asked about the red cards, Whatley said: “Some of them were a little bit needless I think. I can understand their frustration, especially with everything going on before the game.”
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