WELSH CUP – FIRST QUALIFYING ROUND, NEWCASTLE EMLYN 1 LLANELLI TOWN 2.

When the two sides met at the start of last season at the same stage of the competition, the visitors with a side cobbled together virtually over a matter of days, not surprisingly sank to a 4-1 defeat.

This time, with the home side having been relegated and now playing in the Ceredigion league, the Reds were in a far stronger position, but still made very heavy weather of achieving the final result, the winner eventually arriving in the final minute.

After their excellent mid-week 6-0 thrashing of Cardiff Grange Harlequins, they made just one change to that side with Peter Scammell replacing Craig Richards in goal, and in the opening stages he was the busier of the two keepers with Emlyn making the early running.

Despite some early pressure, it was the visitors who had a great chance of taking the lead after just ten minutes when Luke Jones was fouled in the area, and he took the kick himself only for Ian Hamilton in the home goal to bring off a good stop to keep it out.

Bruno Forkuoh did get the ball into the net but was ruled offside when Jones set up the chance, and further opportunities presented themselves with Liam Samuel squaring his effort into the goalmouth which eluded Hamilton but was hacked off the line by Steven Hicks.

Forkuoh was then found in front of goal but dwelt too long on the ball and was eventually crowded out, and the visitors were made to pay for these lapses when their opponents took the lead in the 20th minute.

A free kick by Oliver Evans found the head of Jake Harris who directed it goalwards, and although Scammell got both hands to the ball, he inexplicably allowed it to drop into the net.

Following this reverse, the Reds hit back with Lee Bevan directing a header on to the bar and over from a Samuel corner, and when the latter combined with Jones, his final effort deflected off a home player and looped over the goal.

Jak Shannon fired just wide from distance when the visitors pushed forward, and they continued to dictate matters after the break, but some slack finishing was costing them dear and somehow the Emlyn goal remained intact.

Hamilton blocked a Samuel effort from the edge of the box and when the ball ran loose, Steve Stone fired wide from almost point blank range, before Samuel was forced off with a slight pull, being replaced by Rhys Powell who took his place in central defence with Jamie Evans being deployed up front after 51 minutes.

The hosts were reduced to ten men in the 58th minute following the dismissal of Joe Rees for a lunging tackle on Bevan, and this did nothing to help their cause in attempting to keep their opponents at bay.

A Jones shot deflected for a corner, and when this came across Hamilton somehow managed to keep out a fiercely struck attempt by Bevan, and then pushed over a header by Jones when he met a Stone free kick.

Stone then failed to find the target from a decent scoring position, before he finally made amends by drawing his side level following the award of a second penalty when Jones was hauled back in the box, and this time he made no mistake, beating Hamilton with ease on 70 minutes.

Referee Nigel Hill was being kept busy with a spate of cards, the latest for Hamilton when he clattered into Forkuoh on the edge of the area as he pursued a ball over the top, and the Emlyn goal survived another close call with Evans seeing his header rebound off the inside of a post from a corner by Stone.

Christian Bonnell with a run down the left did all the hard work but again the finish was awry from close in, but finally, on the stroke of full time the Reds eventually got the winner when Jones laid the ball into the path of Forkuoh who turned before directing a well struck shot beyond Hamilton.

There was still time left for the hosts to have another player dismissed with Hicks receiving a second yellow card and then a red in stoppage time, but the visitors hung on for a hard-earned win and can now look forward to progression in the competition.

NEWCASTLE EMLYN; Hamilton; Stevens (Harries, 90+1); Stedman; Bluett; Evans(Valentine, 85); Harris; Hicks; Rees; Price; Furney ©; Almond; Subs. not

used; Barry; Harrison; Buck.

LLANELLI TOWN; Scammell; Bevan ©; Bonnell; R. Jones; Napriella; Evans; Samuel (Powell, 51); Shannon; L. Jones; Stone; Forkuoh; Subs. not used;

Jenkins; Martin; Davies.

SCORERS; Newcastle Emlyn – Harris, 20.

Llanelli Town – Stone, 70 (P); Forkuoh, 90.

YELLOW CARDS; Newcastle Emlyn – Stedman; Hicks (2); Hamilton; Almond.

Llanelli Town – Stone; Napriella; Bonnell.

RED CARDS; Newcastle Emlyn – Rees; Hicks.

REFEREE; Nigel Hill (Swansea).

Next Saturday, The Reds travel to meet Newport YMCA with a 2.30 p.m. kick off.