Penrhiwfer boss Anthony Wathan says Cup victory over Pontypridd would be an excellent result
It’s an all local affair for Penrhiwfer in the JD Welsh Cup as they host ambitious Division Two side Pontypridd Town in Round Two of Qualifying.
The two sides are separated by four divisions but both sides have made impressive starts in their respective divisions in what is shaping up to be an exciting tie.
And Penrhiwfer boss Anthony Wathan who has had a long-outstanding contribution to the Rhondda club is looking forward to coming up against higher league opposition in the Welsh Cup this weekend.
“Being a local derby plus higher league opposition makes this a really hard task for ourselves, Pontypridd Town are looking really strong beating higher league opposition in recent weeks convincingly so this would be a excellent result for us as a club.”
To get to this stage of the Cup, Penrhiwfer had to overcome Clwb Cymric who play in a higher division, so they could use that experience already in this week’s match with Pontypridd.
We started the game really well with plenty of chances during the game but not capitalising on any Clwb Cymric didn’t really cause us to many problems but were big strong team.
The boys really dug in for the ninety minutes with us finally getting the goal we needed to take us into the next round.
Wathan who played for seventeen years for Penrhiwfer, only giving up playing back in 2006, captained the team for over ten years and even took over as a player-coach will be tasked with the job of overcoming an ambitious Pontypridd side who have gone strong in the League and Cups this season.
But despite having home advantage, the 45 year-old has said that it won’t provide an advantage for his side going into the game.
“I don’t think so this game will be a very hard task for us but we will give it our best shot.”
One player that could play a part in any kind of cupset is Steven Weston who has led the front-line well for Penrhiwfer this season, after they scored thirteen goals in the four-league games they’ve played so far.
“Steven has worked on his fitness and this is showing with his box to box performances where he’s getting goals from plus set pieces.
The team in general are working hard together and have done through all pre-season being lead from the front by our Captain James Trembeth with our motto the same as Wales in Together Stronger.”
Going in to the game as under-dogs, the Rhonda League and Cup winner has called on his side to put in the effort and with that, the result may come.
“We will enjoy the day and hopefully we will have a great game of football from both sides and just nick it with the result, as long has our players give 100% that’s all we can ask for.”
(Featured Image: Will Cheshire)
