After the weather took a few games away from us last weekend, the Adran Premier roared back into action with a full fixture list.
As well as four games in the topflight, we had seven fixtures across the Adran North and the Adran South.
Let’s take a look back at the week that was.
Adran Premier
We begin this week down in Leckwith. Cardiff City were still sitting pretty at the top of the table, and with only a few games to go before Christmas, they were looking to make sure they maintained their advantage on top of the tree. Making the trip south were Wrexham, who still hadn’t beaten the Bluebirds in seven previous attempts. That run stretched to eight games on Sunday, as City ran out 4-1 winners.
Iain Darbyshire’s team began the first half well and were on the front foot from the very start. After spurning a few chances, City opened the deadlock before the half hour mark, with Laura Curnock finishing beautifully from Meg Bowen’s pass through. They wouldn’t have to wait long for their second. Mikayla Cook ran with purpose down the wing and into the box, only to be fouled in the area. Penalty given. Up stepped Ffion Price who converted with ease. Eight goals now for the wing-back, as she leads the race for the Golden Boot.
Into the second half and it was more one way traffic, with the hosts extending their lead a mere five minutes into it, with Cook converting from Fiona Barry’s ball through. Having had nothing to shout home about, Wrexham eventually found a way past Ceryn Chamberlain through Ava Suckley to make it 3-1.
But it was the champions who had the last laugh, as Lily Billingham beat the offside trap to ensure a comfortable win. City shining at the top, but Wrexham are now four points off the top four, with not many games remaining until the end of phase one.
Looking to keep pace with City were TNS, who as top scorers in the division, were relishing the opportunity to play Cardiff Met away from home, who had the leakiest defence in the division. It wasn’t an easy-going ride for the Saints, but they came away from Cyncoed with a 2-1 win.
From the off, TNS were relentless in their pressing, and that allowed them to create a number of chances. Poppy Kendrick-Jones, Helen Evans, and Chantelle Teare all tried their arm on goal, but on every occasion, Charlotte Smith was equal to their attempts. But the keeper wasn’t able to keep them out forever, as TNS took the lead with four minutes remaining in the half, with Olivia Buckland scoring her first goal of the campaign.
To their credit, the Archers looked better in the second half, and most of their good work came through Ruby Colleton. The 21-year-old twice took aim on goal, but she was unable to find a way past Becca Elliott. At the other end, the Saints doubled their advantage, with Evans firing in a spellbinding free kick from 35-yards out.
Met did pull one back with 15 minutes to go through Faith Mulenga’s deflected shot into the back of the net, but they were unable to find that all-important equaliser. A dominant display sees the Saints stay in second place, while Met stay bottom of the pile.
Another side who were looking to keep pace at the top of the Adran Premier were Swansea City. They welcomed Aberystwyth Town to Llandarcy, a place where they had never lost. That remarkable run ended on Sunday, with the Swans winning 3-1.
The hosts made a quick start to the game and found themselves ahead seven minutes into the tie; Jess Williams’ nod down being turned in by Nia Jones. And only ten minutes later they had doubled their lead, with Emily Richards heading past Chelsea Herbert.
It certainly looked like Swansea could run away with the game, but Aber hit back and reduced the deficit down to one midway through the half, as Rebecca Mathias’ cross turned shot snuck into the back of the net.
The second half was more of a scrappy affair, with neither side able to have long spells of possession. Yet, Swansea did find a way through to grab their third and final goal of the game, as Aimee Deacon’s low finish nestled in the bottom corner. Swansea’s title hopes are still on, while Aber stay one place above the relegation zone.
The early kick-off saw two teams in Barry Town and Briton Ferry looking to strengthen their top four hopes. Perhaps the result wasn’t a surprise, as two evenly matched teams drew 0-0 at Jenner Park.
Ferry created the better opportunities through Laura-May Walkley and Tija Richardson, but neither could test Molly Arnesen. Alison Witts went the closest in the second half, but a draw sees both teams keep their top four hopes alive.
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Adran North
The game of the weekend could be found in the Adran North, as the two heavyweights of the division, Llandudno and Connah’s Quay, went head-to-head. It’s still early in the season, but a win for either side would be huge, and it was the Nomads who got it, winning a thriller 5-2.
Dudno could not have made a better start to the game, as they got themselves two up inside seven minutes with strikes from Rebecca Jarvis-Evans and Erin Doran. It almost felt like Connah’s Quay needed those two goals to wake up, and they responded in fine fashion by drawing level heading into the break thanks to Ella Jones and Polly Wild-McGregor.
While the first half was even, the Nomads found a new gear in the second and motored away from their title challenging opponents. Jones continued to haunt her former side by scoring her second of the game, as did Wild-McGregor, before Anais Bathily added a fifth with eight minutes remaining. Connah’s Quay now leapfrog Llandudno into first place.
Another team enjoying a fine start to the season is Llanfair United, and they jumped to third in the table with a 3-2 win over Rhyl.
In what was a quiet first half, Paris Schofield scored the only goal for Llanfair, but Sade Benjamin would eventually level for Rhyl midway through the second half.
However, two goals inside three minutes from Harriet Davies and Sophie Cook gave the Powys side a strong advantage. Rebecca Bannister pulled one back for the Lilywhites from the penalty spot with a minute remaining, but Llanfair held on to a crucial three points.
The best individual performance of the day was produced by Zoe Stopford, as she scored all four goals in Flint Town United’s 4-1 win over Felinheli.
Having scored one in the first half, Stopford scored a second half hat-trick to make it four for the afternoon and take Flint up to fourth. Rosie Hughes too also worth a mention with three assists. Llywela Edwards had originally put Felinheli ahead, but they fell away in the second half.
The final game in the Adran North saw Bangor draw 1-1 with NFA.
Amy Webster had put NFA ahead on the half hour mark, but Bangor rescued a point with three minutes remaining through Georgia Owen-Lewis. The draw does however mean NFA pick up their first point of the season.
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Adran South
We have a new leader in the Adran South, and it’s Cwmbran Celtic after they beat Penybont 2-0 away from home.
Both goals came in the first half; one from Jade Crofts and one from Lauren Boyd’s penalty. Both Crofts and Boyd top the scoring charts in the Adran South, while Katie Williams, who assisted Crofts’ goal, sits top of the assist’s column.
The reason why Celtic are top is because Pontypridd United lost 2-1 at home to Cascade.
All the goals came in the first half, and the opener came from Ponty’s Lauren Payne. But Cascade have performed exceptionally against both Cardiff Met and Cardiff City in recent weeks, and their resilience was on show once more here, as they mounted a comeback. Ellis Lunn’s brace was enough for them to seal a big win.
And finally, Swansea University rise to third place in the Adran South with a 1-0 win over Caldicot Town.
Ellie Raggett scored a third minute winner for the Students, who also kept their first clean sheet of the season. Caldicot, meanwhile, stay in sixth.
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