Genero Adran Leagues roundup: Matchday 4

After last week’s cup football action, the Adran North, and the Adran South both returned to action, in a full week of Adran football.

Goals, drama, and scuffles; perhaps all the ingredients required for a fascinating weekend of football. We had all that and more in matchday four of the Adran Leagues.

Adran Premier

We start this week’s roundup at Jenner Park, where after three consecutive games away from home, Barry Town United finally welcomed their home fans as they took on the league leaders Cardiff City. In football there are classic pairings that produce when required. Erling Haaland and Kevin De Bruyne, Trent Alexander-Arnold and Andy Robertson, and now you can add to that list Phoebie Poole and Ffion Price. They inspired the Bluebirds to maintain their 100% record as they won 3-0.

They combined for the first goal before Price’s cross found the head of Zoe Atkins, and they Bluebirds were in a comfortable position going into half time. Barry did put in a solid performance, but this City team seem to be playing on a different level this season. Midfielder Danielle Broadhurst scored her third of the season in the second half and Cardiff took all three points away from sunny Barrybados.

A team who have had a good turnaround lately is TNS, and they continued their good form with a 4-2 win away to Abergavenny Town, who remain rooted to the bottom of the table. The Saints blew away their opposition in the first half scoring three goals: a penalty from Beth Lewis, one for Isobel Redding and one for Danielle Staley.

The Pennies needed a response and got one five minutes into the second half through Ellis Lunn. However, new manager Josh Anderson got sent off in the second half, and that seemed to sway the game away from the home team, and Staley compounded their misery by grabbing her second in the 90^th minute. Lunn got her second in stoppage time, but it was nothing more than a consolation goal. The result sees TNS go up to fourth place.

Behind the Bluebirds in second place are Cardiff Met thanks to a 4-0 win away to Aberystwyth Town. The Seasiders made numerous changes in an attempt to put a stop to their poor run of form, but the Archers were in a goalscoring mood on Sunday. Three first half goals from Emily Allen, Shannon Evans and Steph Turner made it a mountain to climb for the hosts.

While they defended better in the second half, Met still had time to grab their fourth in the 90^th minute through Allen. The result sees Aber stay in seventh place in what has been an underwhelming start for Gavin Allen’s side.

The final game in the Adran Prem saw Swansea City get back to winning ways, with a 4-0 victory over Pontypridd United. Like TNS and Cardiff Met, the Swans had a 3-0 lead at half time, with goals from Jessica Williams, Katy Hosford, and Monet Legall, her first for the club. Ellie Lake, who assisted two goals in the first half, then grabbed a goal for herself ten minutes into the second half, in what was a player of the match performance by the midfielder.

While Ponty will be disappointed with the result, they have played all of last season’s top three in their first four games. James Fishlock and his side will surely fancy themselves in their upcoming fixtures. Swansea’s win sees them climb to third in the table.

Adran North

Perhaps the most thrilling game of the entire weekend was at Cae Seilo, where Y Felinheli beat Y Rhyl 4-3. The home side went two up within the first quarter of an hour through Nel Huws and Fflur Williams. Rhyl didn’t lie down and accept defeat however, and hit back with two goals before the break, thanks to Niomi Taylor and Rebecca Bannister.

With the game finely in the balance, the next goal was obviously going to be crucial, and it was Y Felinheli who got it through Jordan Roberts. But, yet again, the visitors hit back with another equaliser through Bannister. Eventually, it was another Roberts goal that settled the tie, as Y Felinheli secured their first win of the season.

At the top of the table, we still have Llandudno, as they hammered Llanfair United 6-0 away from home. The Seasiders were efficient in front of goal, scoring three in the first half and three in the second. Jasmin Dutton, Maddie Williams, and India Hassall all scored in the first half, before Mari Gibbard, Ceri Slaney and another Hassall goal in the second half secured a second big win in a row for Llandudno.

The final game in the Adran North this weekend saw Connah’s Quay Nomads defeat Airbus 3-0. This was Airbus’ first game of the season, and it turned out to be a tricky task against a talent Nomads team.

Shannon Hobbs scored in the first half before Amber Bailey and Sienna Strapp secured all three points for the home side. The result sees them right on the heels of Llandudno in the table, and both sides will take on each other in two weeks’ time, in what promises to be a thriller.

Adran South

Cascade YC got their Adran South campaign underway with a 4-2 victory away to Pontardawe Town, in a fiery affair. The away side raced into a two-goal lead with goals from Abbie Davies and Chrystella Moreton, but Pontardawe hit back with a goal from Catryn Cook, and the game was evenly matched at the break.

Pontardawe got an equaliser seven minutes into the half with a goal by Beth Kennedy, before a scuffle occurred, resulting in Cascade’s Moreton and Pontardawe’s Sophie Cardy receiving their marching orders from the referee. The game was on a knife edge, before Rosie Morrisey turned the ball into her own net to put Cascade ahead, with Davies then sticking in the dagger by grabbing a fourth, and with that, all three points.

Swansea University claimed their first win of the season with a 5-2 win over Caldicot Town. Within a period of 25 minutes, the university side were three up, with goals from Katie Horsburgh, Freya Sullivan, and Elizabeth Ferrar. Ashleigh Harris grabbed a goal back before half time to set up a possible comeback, but it wasn’t to be.

Hannah Pinney’s goal on the stroke of the hour and Horsburgh’s second made it 5-1. Harris’ second was merely a consolation goal for Caldicot, who remain bottom of the table. Victories for Swansea Uni and Cascade YC mean four of the five teams in the Adran South are level on three points each.