JD Welsh Cup

“To be honest I wasn’t the best of players, I always claim to be a Number 10 even though I played in goal. I never really played at a decent level. I was Cwmbran Celtic Juniors growing up, with a stint of senior football at Coed Eva, Cwmbran Town in Gwent County and then back to Celtic. I officially stopped playing when I was 22 and I’m 29 now, I have had the odd game here and there for our Reserve/Third teams, but that’s not very often. I was fortunate to play here all through Juniors/Youth and I started when I was 7 years old. Celtic was a club that my Dad played for when he was younger so it made sense when he took me and my younger brother to Celtic. When I came back as a coach in my 20s my brother was a regular with the first team under Lee Challenger, so to be asked to come in as a Goalkeeper Coach at the time was great, as I got to experience the level for the first time.”

“Some of the best players I have managed is tricky because from my current squad they all have their own unique reason for being in my squad. We have our goalscorers the likes of Lewis Iles, Alex Bonthron and Tom Meechan, then there is players like Issac Powell and Kian Bodenham who are still very young but technically speaking very gifted players. I was lucky enough previously to have had a small time with players like Rakesh Patel, Chris Ham, Simon Prangley and Louis Feeley, who have all played at high levels in Wales with three of them playing in England too.”

“In terms of opposition players, the Cymru South is one of the hardest leagues to be in and some of the squads that managers have are unbelievable. Greg Walters The Carmarthen Town Captain is a fantastic player, doesn’t stop for 90 minutes he is relentless. Liam Griffiths at Lido is another who somehow always seems to score past us when he has played against us, he is a great player. When you talk about goals too it is hard to look past players like Tom Walters and Luke Bowen who are obviously both at Briton Ferry Llansawel and are ridiculous in front of goal. But as I say the list of players you play against I honestly could go on and on.”

“I have not been blessed with always being at a high level or had a glamorous professional career but I would definitely say I have had some moments. Such as ‘The Great Escape’ of staying up last season on the last day is up there, however draining that 90 minutes felt. My first game as Interim manager away to Goytre United when Niall Yeates scored late on for us to win 1-0. I would also have to say winning the Reserve League in my very first season as a Senior manager would be up there too. I always look at one of my best moments in football when I was a Youth Manager and we managed to come from 3-0 down to 4-3 away at Taffs Well on a Monday night which was has always been a real highlight of mine.”

“I have had disappointments too. I could list many of these over the past few seasons especially, but the main one that stands out for me is losing 6-0 away to Briton Ferry on a Friday night last season. We hardly touched the ball, was outclassed from minute 1 to minute 90 and made a lot of mistakes. This was one of the first fixtures of the season so we learnt a lot about ourselves that night as players and managers and as a club we needed to change things quickly and was lucky that we did manage to and ended up staying up.”

How have preparation gone for the game?

We know a little bit, we know they are mid table in their division a bit like our selves. We actually played them last season in round 1 of this competition and we lost 1-0. Kerry has some very good attacking players at his disposable which will pose a huge threat to us, the likes of Keating, Caffell and Colvin to name a couple. Pennydarren have done excellent in this competition over the past few seasons too so we won’t be taking them lightly at all.

I am quite fortunate with my staff as I have Matthew Williams as an Assistant Manager, Conor James as Physio, Sam Lewis as a Goal Keeper Coach and Neil Jones doubles up as a coach.

We have been very lucky in a way that all three of our Welsh Cup ties have been home draws. We have managed to Draw a Cymru South side in every round so far except this one too. Beating Ammanford 1-0 in Round 1, Round 2 we managed to score 2 goals in the last 8 minutes to take Llantwit Major to penalties winning 3-0 in the shootout. Round 3 saw us host Carmarthen Town and after going in front twice thanks to Alex Bonthron x2 and Shaun Moss we were pegged back to 3-3, Andy Hewitt managed to score a 91st minute winner to see us through.

Looking to the future what are your ambitions as a club?

Obviously everyone aims to be a Welsh Premier League side and we are no different, one day we hope we can be there and cement our mark. We have big plans for the future, as a club we are very excited as in two years’ time will see us reach our 100thyear. We just agreed that we wanted to better last season’s great escape this year and go about our business under the radar. We want to focus on staying in the top half of the division this season, and then potentially kicking on and trying to maintain our form as we have been a bit inconsistent over the past few seasons.

John Stockwell, Cwmbran Celtic Club President now looks back to Celtics run to the Quarter Finals in 2015-16 and how preparations have gone for this game.

We were then playing at Welsh League Division 2 level and entered into the competition with a 3-0 win v Llanwern in the 2nd Qualifying round. Having then beaten Llandrindod Wells and West End away the cub was again drawn away in the 3rd round against Penrhyncoch. The boys stayed overnight at Aberystwyth. They started in terrific fashion going 2-0 up. The hosts pulled both goals back but Celtic scored the winner in the last minute through a Lee Challenger penalty.

Celtic had a 4th round home tie against First Division Goytre. The week before in the league match at AFC Porth there was a disagreement between Celtic’s coach about the format of the team which was seen as preparation for the cup game. This resulted in the coach resigning and manager Nicky Church announced that the Goytre game would be his last game. Celtic caused a shock by beating Goytre 5-3. Chris Ham scored what many consider to be the finest ever goal at Celtic Park, smashing a cross from Rakesh Patel into the corner of the net earning him the Player of the Round award. The quarter-final at home to Welsh Premier Port Talbot Town was a tight affair. The difference was Luke Bowen who scored both Town goals, the second a superb 25 yard strike. Celtic went on to win their last 9 games to finish runners-up in the 2nd Division under new manager Dean Morris.

Celtic had two outstanding strikers in the 2015-16 team. Josh Bull ended the season as top scorer in the Welsh League with 34 goals. The following season Chris Ham was the Division 1 top scorer & player of the season with 31 goals. The side had a great defence with right back Rakesh Patel, left back Richard Crees and centre back & Captain Rhys Williams (a former (First Division League & Cup Winner). In midfield Owen Cook was at the top of his game and Lee Challenger was on a run of 20 successive penalty goals.

In 2016-17 this side went to the top of the 1st Division and finished 6th. A number of players from the team are still with the club are goalkeeper Lewis Watkins, captain and centre back Andrew Larcombe and left wing Dominic Connor who was a substitute that day.

The club relies heavily on its committee and volunteers. Former Secretary Malcolm Jarrett and current Secretary Tony Strange have proved to be among the best administrators in the Welsh and Cymru Leagues. The club has one of the best match day programmes under the editorship of Tony Strange and myself, augmented by photographer Steve Roberts.

Obviously our aim is to gain promotion to the Welsh Premier and we are encouraged by the fact that in the last 14 seasons the tier 2 title has been won by 14 different clubs. However, it is most important to preserve the longevity of the club as it nears its centenary in 2024. This means living within its means. Too many clubs have splashed money to achieve success only to falter when the money runs out, 7 of these are former league winners in the 21st century. Our ambitions are the same as this season really to remain as competitive as possible at a new level. And to introduce as many homegrown players into Cymru Leagues Football as possible.

We now switch our attention to Kerry Mullin (below), Manager of Penydarren Boys & Girls Club, and here he tells us of his playing and coaching background and how preparations have gone for Saturday.

I played for Penydarren BGC from 7 until 16 years old, gaining Boys Club of Wales Caps at Under 14 &Under 16 level. At 11 when playing for Merthyr Schools we played Deeside Schools, where we were lucky enough to share the field with Michael Owen. He was a year younger than me and scored all 4 goals in Deeside’s 4-2 win. At 16 I moved to Aberaman (now Aberdare Town) and gained an Under 18 Schoolboy Cap. I played there for four seasons in the then Welsh League Division 1 (now Cymru South). At 20 I had two seasons at Hoover Sports (now Merthyr Saints) in Welsh League Division 2 where we narrowly missed out on promotion both seasons. At 22 I returned to Penydarren for two seasons in the South Wales Amateur League before returning to Hoover Sports in Welsh League Division 2. I moved between both Penydarren and the Saints which included a spell as Player-Manager of both. In 2007 I had a season with Pantyscallog where we won the South Wales Amateur Cup. In 2008 I returned to Penydarren where I have stayed since. I took over as Manager of Penydarren in November 2013, when Julian Barsi finished in mid-season. I was on a break from football but some of the senior players at the time contacted me to step in and the rest is history. Although it was a proud moment for me, it marked the end of my playing career and there is no substitute for playing. Since then we have won South Wales Amateur Cup, South Wales Alliance Cup, South Wales Intermediate Cup, South Wales Alliance League, Welsh League Division 3 and the last ever Welsh League Cup.

What are your memories from reaching the Quarter Finals in 2018?

When we reached the Quarter Finals of the Welsh Cup in 2018 it was a proud moment for all at the club. Then to be involved in the media circus topped by our live coverage which put Penydarren BGC on the football map in Wales was amazing. I remember us being the underdog for all but the Brecon Corries and Cardiff Corinthians games. I think that took a bit of pressure off us and allowed us to enjoy ourselves. We started with a great win over Penrhiwceiber Rangers (5-3), then had to two games against Brecon Corries (3-1) and Cardiff Corinthians (4-0), where we were the favourites. We then produced three amazing performances against STM Sports (2-1), Llandudno Junction (4-0) and Pontypridd Town (2-1) to reach the Quarter Finals, where we had a massive following from our supporters. We lost to Bangor City (7-0) in the last 8 but it was a great experience for us all, which we hope to emulate on Saturday. However we are not under estimating the task we face and are definitely the underdogs.

The majority of our current squad were involved that day. We have made some good signings since that season. Steve Price, Alex Long, Aaron Caffell and Levi Jones along with us bringing in players from our own grassroots to improve the squad. We are able to be competitive now In the Ardal Southern South West, FAW Reserve League and FAW Youth League.

How have preparation gone for the game?

Preparations for the game have been terrible though as we have played one game since start of December and training has been hampered heavily by the weather but it was good for us to get a game under our belts last Saturday with our Ardal Southern League Cup win at RTB Ebbw Vale.

Our staff have been working hard with the players this week. I’m assisted by Andrew Thomas who has been with me since I started at Penydarren. Tomo has been with the club since age of 7 and coached at all levels from Mini’s to Under 18. While Iain Pike is our physio and assists with coaching in his eighth year with is now after we prised him from local side Pant. Other important back room staff are Secretary Rob Type who has come on board this season to help us. Mackenzie Thomas, Tomo’s son who is our media guru and helps with all matchday preparation and Peter Thomas Tomo’s dad completes the 3 generations in my team. Peter does everything and more from team sheet to washing the kit. We have also added Tom Harris who is a B licence holder and Andrew Gunter who has transitioned into a Player-Coach.

It will be a tough challenge at Cwmbran Celtic. We played them in the cup last season and nicked a 1-0 win. We both have similar squads as last year so we know we have to be at the top of our game to compete, never mind win. We have had fantastic support throughout our cup run this season and there is no doubt we will again at Cwmbran. Apart from the first game against Clwb Sparta (6-0) we have had a tough run (Pontyclun (3-2), Ynyshir Albions (4-0) and Swansea University (2-1), but been lucky enough to have the last three games at home which helps. Trethomas Bluebirds (1-0) in the last round was very tough and we probably scored the only clear chance of the game from both sides.

Looking to the future what are your ambitions as a club?

Our main ambition is to get into Tier 2. This will be tough after a poor start to the league campaign. We don’t expect to get past the last 16 of the Welsh Cup, so anything from here is a bonus we would like to get to a final of one of the other two cups, the FAW Trophy and the Ardal Southern Cup for our supporters as they love a cup. I personally would like to get the final of the FAW Trophy as Covid robbed us of the chance after getting to the Final in 2020. Having the competition cancelled and not even given a share of the trophy with Llandudno Albion in the record books was very disappointing. The club has made massive improvements. We have a 3G surface and floodlights. We gained Tier 2 standard approval. We have gone up 2 Tiers since our 2017-18 campaign and have developed the Junior and Youth set up to feed the senior set up with three Youth players in Saturday’s squad.