Aberbargoed Buds survived a scare in the Welsh Cup as two-first half goals were enough to secure a 2-1 win over Cefn Hengoed at Hengoed Road.
Goals from Owen Thomas and Levi Rees scored within eight minutes of each other saw the Ardal Leagues side defeat the underdogs, who were ranked four divisions below them.
The home side, backed by their local community, did have a moment to cheer however when Jake Lewis scores in the last quarter of the match.
Cefn Hengoed set out their stall early on as Rhys Carroll’s tough tackle gave Aber a free-kick inside two minutes. The resulting set-piece went into the wall and out for a corner as Aber put the pressure on early.
A good inswinging corner was not met but early warning signs for Cefn Hengoed. Aber kept the pressure on with Macsen Evan’s long-range effort going over the bar.
The Ardal South East side were off a flying start and with some good passing found Owen Thomas in on goal. Cefn Hengoed keeper Gavyn Hegarty coming out quickly to take the ball.
Despite being under pressure Hengoed did manage to move up the field. A good corner into the six-yard box was just too high for anyone to connect with.
Early dominance paid off as Aber had the lead thanks to Josh Thomas. After some good play down the right, the ball was cross into the box for Thomas to head in from close range.
Not content with one goal, the away side kept charging forward looking for a second. Thomas Davies smashing a long-range shot onto the crossbar.
The Hengoed goal was breached for a second time as Levi Rees turned in from close range. Rees got behind the home defence and rolled the ball past the advancing Hegarty.
Before the interval, Hegarty’s young side had a great chance to pull a goal back before the break. A nice passing move starting out on the right found Jake Lewis inside the box. He sent the ball to Callum Paget but his close effort was saved well by Tom Broder.
The second half became a scrappy affair with lots of strong tackles. Aber started the second half as they did in the first with Rees’ long-range shot in the opening minute of the half going wide.
Hengoed’s persistence told as they got a goal back to set up a grandstand finish. A defensive mistake allowed Lewis though on goal and he calmly rolled the ball past the keeper into the net.
In a ploy to put more pressure on the Buds, player-manager Hegarty dropped the gloves and joined the Goed’s attack.
Pushing forward Aber almost finished the game off on the counter-attack by getting the ball into the six-yard box with a header cleared off the line.
Despite a late push, Buds were able to hold on to win the match and take their place into Monday’s draw.
Cefn Hengoed: Gavyn Hegarty (G), Daniel Bird, Joshua Lewis, Rhys Carroll, Christopher Quirk, Calvin Probert-Roberts (Acer Terry 71), Corey Powell (C), Daniel Jones, Jake Lewis, Callum Paget, Yarden Ahron.
Goals: Jake Lewis 80.
Aberbargoed Buds: Tom Broder (G), Liam Vaughan, Cian Trollope, Kieran Thomas, Thomas Davies (C), Macsen Evans, Owen Thomas (Cowan Lewis 57), Jak Lewis, Kane Giffard (Joseff Speicher 54), Zak Jones (Billy Romais 71), Levi Rees.
Yellow Cards: Zak Jones 30,
Goals: Owen Thomas 9, Levi Rees 16.
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