JD Welsh Cup

Starting with Ben Leahy of South Gower, here he takes time out to tell us about his role and background at the club and how preparations have gone for Saturday.

“I played all my Junior Football at Goodwock United in Pembrokeshire, my hometown club coached by Darren ‘Dapper’ John. The highs were winning the League and Cup.”

“Personally my playing football career has been short lived through a number of different reasons, university then injuries and my young start to coaching. I played all my junior football at Goodwick United in Pembrokeshire, my hometown club coached by Darren ‘Dapper’ John. The highs in that would’ve been winning the league and cup with them and the lows would’ve been losing in the West Wales Semi Final. Hopefully fitness pending, I will be able to help the reserve team out come the new year, but at the moment I am content with coaching at a higher level than being able to play.”

“This is now my third year in Senior Football Management / Coaching and definitely the most challenging. I’ve jumped up a tier each year and there is definitely a standard difference in each step you go up.” 

“I began my coaching career through the encouragement of Dan Bellis and Matthew Lamb, where I started coaching in Fishguard sports at the age of 16, I grew into quite quickly and within two years I had my own Under 15’s side in Goodwick United along with my C license at the age of 18. I then went away to university to study an undergraduate degree in Sports Coaching and a Master’s in Business, before returning back home and becoming Assistant Manager of Goodwick United First Team under Wayne O’Sullivan. I would have to give a massive thank you to Wayne for giving me the chance, at the age of 21 and no experience in the Senior Saturday game. He gave me a shot and has led me to where I am today. This is now my third year in Senior Football Management / Coaching and definitely the most challenging. I’ve jumped up a tier each year and there is definitely a standard difference in each step you go up.” 

“After my short one year spell at my hometown club a change in management saw me being moved on, and through word of mouth I had Sean Harris on the phone offering me a role with South Gower then in the West Wales Premier League. It was a no brainer for me even with the travelling difference, the step up in leagues and the ambitions to go higher were the main attractions. In my short spell here so far there have been a number of highlights, the FAW Trophy win in North Wales, the home win versus Morriston Town which ultimately secured us promotion or our first win in the league this season proving that we could do it. Hopefully there is a lot more to come.”

“It’s a very loyal and tight group, a few of the boys were offered money to go other places, but have remained at the club and pay to play. I believe it’s only four we’ve signed and three came to us, loyalty works both ways.”

“Our squad is in a very good place at the moment, the depth we have I think is up there with some of the best in the league. If you look at our teams we have had so far, we’ve used so many different boys and other than two or three games everyone has been well up to the task. It’s a very young squad with a few wise older players keeping us grounded. It’s a very loyal and tight group, a few of the boys were offered money to go other places, but have remained at the club and pay to play. A lot of people expected us to sign a number of players in the summer and to continue to throughout the season, but I believe it’s only four we’ve signed and three came to us, loyalty works both ways. With boys staying and putting the work in, they should be rewarded with the opportunities.” 

“We had a harsh awaken away to Cardiff Draconians on the opening day this season, playing a poor first 45 minutes and then switching off in injury time to concede a 95th minute winner. I feel we have adapted well to the league while also keeping our own identity, we won a few early games by being hard to beat and just backing ourselves to create a chance on the break. However, in recent weeks, I feel we’ve grown into the game, which was most prevalent away to Cardiff Corries in our last game. It’s a league we definitely want to play in and compete in, the hard work last year has given this opportunity and hopefully be a fuel to get us in the top half this season.” 

“We will try our best to  prepare for the game ahead and hopefully do it in 90 minutes and not on pens again, however I would take any form of win this Saturday.

“We will take it as a normal week as much as we can, obviously everyone knows the magnitude of the game and the added of extras of it such as me doing an interview like this. We’ll train as normal Tuesday and Thursday, and have the boys watching the juniors Saturday morning like every other week. We will try our best to  prepare for the game ahead and hopefully do it in 90 minutes and not on pens again, however I would take any form of win this Saturday. I think my background and age goes against me at times in not knowing much about any teams we play, however I get to a game every Friday to try and bridge the gap. Unfortunately I haven’t been able to get to a Chepstow game as of yet, so it will be a fresh experience for me watching them play and I would imagine the same for them with us. League form this early on is a difficult one to go on, I think at this time last season Caerau (Ely) were below mid table and then went onto win the league, so Chepstow’s league position is not coming into any of our thoughts. We prepare and plan the best we can for what’s ahead of us on the weekend while still focusing on the targets we want from the game. I expect the game to be a close affair and hopefully we can produce enough quality on the day to get the job done.

“Adrian Giardelli and Sean Harries have been a huge a part of getting the club to where we are now but have now both taken a step back from the senior set up but can’t go unmentioned.”

“On the Coaching side and looking at clubs we’ve come up against we’re a very small unit, but probably on purpose. We have Daniel Davies who is our goal keeping coach and the longest serving in the senior set up, Ben Jenkins (coach) who joined us in the summer has headed up the Reserve Team this year along with Josh Higgins. Ben has also been a part of the First Team staff throughout the year. Adrian Giardelli and Sean Harries have been a huge a part of getting the club to where we are now but have now both taken a step back from the senior set up but can’t go unmentioned. We’re a hungry group all looking to improve our coaching and management and work well in our small group. The group favourite though unfortunately wouldn’t be me, and it falls with our physio/first aider Owen Darrah, we both joined at similar times but I think the boys would prefer me to leave over him.”

“This season is only my second year in the JD Welsh Cup competition, with last year ending in the first preliminary round away to Evans & Williams on penalties. Other than league success this was at the top of our list of targets to go deep in, the exposure and opportunities that can arise from this competition are endless. The opportunity for either us or Chepstow is not one that’s easy to come by and it will be great to see an Ardal Southern side in with the big boys for the last 16. I believe getting this far is a new height for the club, is going one further and raising the bar again would be great.”
    “Obviously coming into the season being written off by most, the aim was and still is survival, first time in the league, with one of the youngest squads and managers, a few poor early results and we could’ve been right up against it. However, I always believed having watched the league a lot last year we had the quality to compete. I am very level headed in the fact we’re only ten games in, but we’re already more than half way to the points total that would have made you safe last year. I’m ambitious for myself, this group of players and the club. The club is more than just the First Team and we are really pushing that at the club. More and more Seniors getting involved with the Juniors so that we can set a platform for Juniors to come through and a clear pathway for them to the First Team. Short term goals are obviously to finish as high as we can this season, giving our boys a solid platform of experience in the league, with the ambition of challenging at the top next season. For myself as long as I am wanted I can’t see myself leaving anytime soon.”