REDS BOOK ANOTHER PARC Y SCARLETS DATE

LLANELLI 1 THE NEW SAINTS 0

WELSH CUP – SEMI – FINAL

A Chris Venables goal six minutes from normal time eased the Reds through to a Welsh Cup final where they will meet Bangor City on Sunday, 8th May, at Parc-y-Scarlets in a repeat of the 2008 final which the north Wales club won in controversial circumstances at Newtwon.

Both sides had chances during the game with the Saints the first to threaten when Matthew Williams pursued a ball over the top by Danny Holmes, forcing Ashley Morris out of his goal to challenge, with Wyn Thomas finally clearing the danger.

Chris Thomas blasted over the Saints goal from a good position when he met an Andy Legg throw at the far post, and Danny Holmes did well to deny Craig Moses when the striker got on the end of a long kick out by Morris and made inroads into the box.

Rhys Griffiths headed on another ball which again led to Moses being this time challenged by Tommy Holmes who managed to force it for a corner.

A near post shot by Griffiths was kept out by goalkeeper Paul Harrison, and when a Legg throw into the area led to the striker going down under a challenge there were appeals for a penalty, but referee Kevin Morgan was uninterested.

On the stroke of half time, a Legg corner saw Venables direct a header towards the goal which was cleared off the line by Scott Ruscoe with Harrison beaten.

Having had the better of the first half, the Reds were put under some pressure after the restart as their opponents upped the tempo.

Morris was forced to sprint off his line to clear from the oncoming Chris Sharp when a ball over the top set up the chance, but the Reds probably should have gone ahead following an Antonio Corbisiero free kick which Stuart Jones met at the far post to head into the middle where Griffiths might have done better rather than direct his header into the hands of Harrison from ten yards out.

The Saints created the best chance of the game with Craig Jones being found in space from a long clearance on the edge of the box, but with Morris off his line, his lob over him was wide of the unguarded net.

Jones was involved again, this time firing just wide of the near post from a Chris Sergeant corner, and he missed another wonderful opportunity following a ball into the area by Ruscoe, but again was wasteful, shooting over the bar with only Morris to beat.

Jordan Follows replaced Moses on 73 minutes, but again the Saints might well have taken the lead following a ball by Ruscoe for Williams but who failed to get it under control, allowing Morris to get a touch before eventually gathering it as it rolled towards the net.

With time running out, it seemed as if the tie would got into extra time, but a good build up involving Follows and Venables led to the latter gaining possession and evading a couple of tackles before finishing well with a shot into the bottom corner past Harrison after 84 minutes.

Minutes later, Follows himself had a great chance of making the game safe when he found himself clear with only the goalkeeper to beat, but Harrison just managed to deflect his effort around for a corner.

A few nail-biting extra minutes had to be endured before the final whistle blew to confirm the Reds success, but they will be hoping for far better support at Parc-y-Scarlets from the home supporters who unless they turn up in numbers could well be embarrassingly outnumbered by the Bangor support.  

MATCH STATS.

LLANELLI; Ashley Morris; Chris Thomas; Antonio Corbisiero; Stuart Jones ©; Wyn Thomas;

Chris Venables; Ashley Evans; Jason Bowen; Andy Legg; Rhys Griffiths; Craig Moses

(Jordan Follows, 73); Subs. not used; Ross Jones; Ryan Batley; Martin Gyles;

Craig Richards.

GOAL CHART; Llanelli – Chris Venables, 84.

YELLOW CARDS; Llanelli – Rhys Griffiths; Andy Legg.

TNS – Scott Ruscoe.

LLANELLI MAN OF THE MATCH; Antonio Corbisiero.

REFEREE; Mr. Kevin Morgan (Cardiff).

ATTENDANCE; 179.