Welsh Cup holders The New Saints had to rely on penalties to defeat Carmarthen Town after being held to a goalless draw at Richmond Park.
The New Saints were reduced to ten men for the final ten minutes after left-back Chris Marriott was sent off, but they held on to take it to a shoot-out.
The away side had the first clear chance of the game in the opening ten minutes. Danny Redmond did well to break into the box, before dragging a pass back to Dean Ebbe. The striker’s shot was wide of the target, however.
A few minutes later, TNS had another opportunity. A corner played in by Marriott led to a scramble in the box, but TNS failed to get a shot through the defence. Eventually, Leo Smith took a shot from the edge of the box, but Trystan Jones was on hand to clear the danger.
After that, the chances were few and far between in the first half. Carmarthen looked to play on the counter, with Greg Walters at the heart of midfield playing some lovely passes for the attackers to get on to, but nothing clear-cut came of this.
It wasn’t until five minutes into the second half that either goalkeeper was called into action. Adrian Cieslewicz tried to curl a shot in from the edge of the box, but Scott James did excellently to parry it wide.
TNS got plenty of opportunities from corners throughout the game, but the closest they came to making it count was on the hour mark, when a header by Leo Smith was headed off the line by a Carmarthen defender.
The away side were clearly in the ascendancy heading into the final half hour, and they brought on their top scorer Declan McManus to try to make the pressure count. After this substitution, the game exploded into life, with a flurry of chances for both sides.
Dean Ebbe was gifted the best chance of the match after a defensive mishap. Jordan Vickers tried to clear the ball when goalkeeper Scott James was ready to collect it, and the ball then fell to Cieslewicz. The winger chipped it across goal, and Ebbe was unmarked with a free header and an open goal, but the Irishman headed it over the bar.
Robles then got himself into a scoring position, showing great pace to beat Trystan Jones. However, Scott James did well in the one-on-one situation.
Carmarthen then got an opportunity of their own – a rare event up to this point. Lively midfielder Tom Dyson tried to curl a shot in from outside the box, but there was too much height on it and it didn’t threaten Connor Roberts’ goal.
Dyson was involved again shortly after, playing a great cross into the box. Sadly for him, there was nobody in a gold shirt ready to reap the rewards.
With Carmarthen now gaining some momentum, TNS got themselves in more trouble when captain Chris Marriott was sent off. The left-back brought Jordan Vickers down, and having already been booked in the opening minutes, he was given his marching orders by Richard Harrington.
Dyson, who was Carmarthen’s main creative outlet, created one more opportunity in stoppage time, playing a dangerous ball across the face of goal, but Keston Davies got there before any Carmarthen player, and the danger was cleared.
The final opportunity of normal time came to the away side, who were awarded a free-kick 25 yards out from goal, but Declan McManus’ strike flew well over the crossbar.
With the game being decided by a penalty shoot-out, it was goalkeeper Connor Roberts who was TNS’ hero. After Ben Steele and Matthew Delaney scored their penalties, Roberts stopped Tom Dyson’s penalty, and the away side had the advantage. With the remaining penalties all being scored, it came down to Danny Redmond for the final penalty of the afternoon. The midfielder fired a powerful effort into the bottom right corner, just out of Scott James’ reach, to ensure TNS’ progress in the cup.
Player of the Match:
Greg Walters – Carmarthen Town
In a game where the Old Gold were under immense pressure for large periods, the captain did his work excellently in all aspects of the game. As always, he was willing to help out the defence, but he also showed good urgency in getting the ball forward when the opportunity arose.
Carmarthen Town: Scott James, Trystan Jones, Lee Surman (Lewis Rocke 90′), Scott Tancock, Greg Walters (C), Tom Dyson, Josh Vickers, Ben Steele, Dion Phillips, Adam John, Matthew Delaney
Unused substitutes: Ifan Knott, Noah Daley, Cameron Berry, Bradley Gibbings
Yellow card: Jordan Vickers 43′
Penalties: Ben Steele ✓, Matthew Delaney ✓, Tom Dyson X, Trystan Jones ✓, Jordan Vickers ✓
The New Saints: Connor Roberts, Chris Marriott (C), Keston Davies, Ryan Astles, Dean Ebbe (Jordan Williams 77′), Danny Redmond, Adrian Cieslewicz, Louis Robles, Leo Smith (Declan McManus 66′), Ash Baker, Tom Holland (Jon Routledge 66′)
Unused substitutes: Ben Clark, Danny Davies
Yellow cards: Chris Marriott 4, Dean Ebbe 56, Declan McManus 84′
Red card: Chris Marriott 81′
Penalties: Declan McManus ✓, Louis Robles ✓, Adrian Cieslewicz ✓, Jon Routledge ✓, Danny Redmond ✓
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