AFC Porth 1-2 Maesteg Park: Late but great as Nicholas and White strike for Park
Cory Nicholas of Maesteg Park celebrates scoring his sides equaliser. AFC Porth v Maesteg Park in the FAW Welsh Cup at Dinas Park on the 10th July 2021. Credit: Lewis Mitchell
Maesteg Park came from behind to secure a stunning Welsh Cup upset in a 2-1 victory AFC Porth at Dinas Park.
Ashton White scored an injury-time winner for the team ranked two divisions below the hosts after Cory Nicholas had five minutes earlier cancelled out Nathan Wiggins’ opener.
Park, a phoenix club of the Maesteg Park FC, a team that had memorable Welsh Cup runs in the seventies and eighties, were deserving of their victory in what was an old-fashioned Cup tie.
It was an end-to-end start to the game as both sides began to spray the ball on the long pitch in each other’s boxes.
Porth provided the first real chance as Charlie Fripp’s snuffed effort forced Sam Richards to block with his leg.
Maesteg had to be patient after riding a wave of Porth pressure and they almost capitalised on an error as Chris Lewis lost out to White but the winger could not put enough lift on his chip over Tomos Bodger.
Another chance followed with White finding Lewis Kingdon in space but his laced shot was saved well by the Porth goalkeeper, with the half-ending scoreless, though not for the art of trying.
A spell of pressure came for Maesteg Kingdon and White were involved once with the first forcing Bodger to palm away a smacked effort to White who also had the same outcome.
Full-back Sean Lake then found himself in the box after a marauding run but hit his shot into the side netting.
A stoppage in play came as both sides felt fatigued following a 15-month break from competitive football and it was Porth who benefitted.
Dean Raven was found by a delicious ball from Chris Richards and he danced past the defenders, almost overcomplicating things, before making Richards work as he attempted a shot from an acute angle.
A flurry of attacks came as adventurous defender Jordan Jones found defender Brython Payne in space for a bullet header but the Maesteg keeper expertly tipped it over the bar.
Further lapse in concentration came from Maesteg but Matt Humphreys on his own was unable to punish it as he failed to get around Richards. Quickly after Fripp put a shot just wide of the target from close-range after being found by Raven.
The pressure finally paid off for Porth as they broke the deadlock after a number of corners in quick succession. Raven found Wiggins in free space in the centre of the box and his sliding effort looped over the goalkeeper.
The Bridgend side began to tire and Kingdon, an isolated figure up top, frustratingly hit the side netting. He later earned a yellow card for pushing Scott Badman as the game began to get away from them.
Maesteg however found a second wind and got back on level terms through an unlikely source in Nicholas.
Surprising everybody with his positioning, the defender side-footed an effort into the net to revive Maesteg’s hopes of progression with penalties looming.
Eager not to give either side a look in, a number of cheap yellow cards were earned through dissent and time-wasting.
Maesteg though would have alternative plans to spot-kicks and instead sparked jubilant celebrations with a match-winning goal to have the final say. White gathered a hopeful ball from over the top before producing a deft, decisive finish.
To add insult to injury, Wiggins was red-carded for the Black Dragons, making any fight back harder with a man light.
Porth did threaten in the last stages of the match from a corner-kick but Eduardo Santos’ shot was closed down and the referee blew to bring to an end an old-fashioned cup tie.
For Andrew Jones’ side, they are a far way from matching their semi-final run in 1992 but claiming a scalp over the Black Dragons puts them in Monday’s draw where they await their next giant-killing.
AFC Porth: Tomos Bodger, Charlie Fripp, Jordan Jones, David Matthews (Sam Weaver, 71), Christopher Lewis (C), Nathan Wiggins, Callum Richards, Scott Badman, Dean Raven, Matt Humphreys, Joseph Holman (Brython Payne, 45), (Eduardo Santos, 85)
Goals: Nathan Wiggins 74′
Yellow Cards: Nathan Wiggins 50, 90, Dean Raven, Charlie Fripp 82’
Red Card: Nathan Wiggins 91′
Maesteg Park AFC: Samuel Richards, Sean Lake, Cory Nicholas, Gethin Hall, Ellis Horrigan, Matthew Rogers, Ashton White, Luke Howells (C), Lewis Kingdon (Thomas J Lewis, 89), Shaun Mizen (Caleb Davies, 81), Jack Lewis.
Goals: Cory Nicholas 85, Ashton White 90+1
Yellow Cards: Lewis Kingdon 57, Shaun Mizen 78, Thomas J Lewis 78, Ellis Horrigan 82’
