Martin Townley rounds up all the weekend’s action in the Adran Trophy Semi-Finals, plus all the latest events in the tier two Adran North and South, with thanks to Aberystwyth Town Women’s media team (14/2/23).
Above: Cardiff City’s Phoebe Poole celebrates after scoring the decisive goal in their Adran Trophy semi-final against The New Saints. Photo: Perry Dobbins.
The Adran Trophy final will see a Cardiff derby as both Cardiff Met and Cardiff City won their semi-finals. In the Adran North, both of the leading sides, Wrexham and Connah’s Quay Nomads won again as they pull away from the rest of the pack. Cascade closed the gap at the top of the Adran South to two points as they win at Caldicot.
Adran Trophy Semi-Finals
Cardiff City 3-1 The New Saints
The Bluebirds had to come from behind to book their place in the final after Caitlin Chapman had given the Saints the lead in the 56th minute.
Phoebie Poole missed the chance to level when she sent her penalty wide of the goal. Manon Pearce did get the equaliser for City as she fired in from the edge of the box with her team pushing forward.
Siobhan Walsh headed City ahead in the 82nd minute from a superb delivery from Ffion Price. Poole added a third for City in the 83rd minute with a lifted effort over Sarah Parkes.
Cardiff Met 3-1 Aberystwyth Town
Aberystwyth Town Women bowed out of the Genero Adran Trophy at the semi-final stage, falling to Cardiff Met 3-1 at Cyncoed Campus writes the ATFC Women media team.
Amy Jenkins grabbed what turned out to be the Seasiders’ consolation goal in the 50th minute after Ellie Preece, Tija Richardson, and Emily Allen had put the Archers ahead.
“When you’re going to top teams like Cardiff Met, who were excellent on the day, you can’t afford to make any mistakes,” said Aberystwyth manager Gav Allen. “We grafted, we worked hard, but we came up short.”
Without centre-half Elin Jones – whose ACL injury was confirmed this week – and midfielder Shauna Chambers, Aber’s starting line-up included 15-year-old Modlen Gwynne, with another youngster Ella Thomas on the bench. Both had been given the thumbs-up to compete in senior football just last week.
With Elan Jones, just 17 making her third senior appearance, coming on as a second-half substitute, Allen was pleased with how the youngsters acquitted themselves.
“It was great to have those three on the pitch,” he said. “None of them looked out of place on such a big occasion.”
Adran North
CPD Y Rhyl 1879 0-1 Connah’s Quay Nomads
Connah’s Quay remain top of the Adran North with a 1-0 win over Rhyl. Rhyl made it tough for the Nomads who had to wait until the 71st minute to take the lead. Elana Harley came off the bench to get the winner.
Connah’s Quay are a point ahead of Wrexham but have played a game more. With the two sides due to meet twice before the end of the season, there may well be more twists in this title race.
Wrexham 6-0 Llanfair United
Wrexham maintain their 100% record with a 6-0 win over Llanfair United. In a one-sided contest, Wrexham’s Rosie Hughes scored a hat trick taking her total in the league to 13 this season. Amber Lightfoot got two and Lily Whitefoot added a sixth in added time as Wrexham ran out comprehensive winners.
CPDM Y Felinheli 6-1 Airbus UK Broughton
Felinheli won against Airbus as the visitors fell to their ninth defeat of the season. Katie Midwinter (2), Ffion Williams (2), Jordanne Greenough, and an own goal for Felinheli. Jade Scott provided a limited consolation when she scored for Airbus who remain bottom of the table. Felinheli are fifth.
Adran South
Caldicot Town 0-3 Cascade YC
Cascade keep Briton Ferry on their toes with their win at Caldicot Town. Annaliese Lewis gave Cascade the lead in the 39th minute as the visitors went into halftime ahead. Chrystalla Moreton added a second in the 68th minute and Jess Pascoe made it three in the 81st minute.
Cascade go just two points behind Briton Ferry and Caldicot remain bottom of the table.
impetusfootball.org 