Cymric booked their place in the semi-final of the W John Owen cup with a hard-fought but deserved victory at Premier Division side Pencoed Athletic.

In a match that was influenced greatly by a strong wind, Cymric made use of that wind in the first half and spent a lot of time in the Pencoed half but were unable to create many clear cut chances.

Both teams played some neat and tidy football on an excellent 3G surface at Penybont FC but both defences were solid and restricted opportunities.

However, Cymric took the lead on 36 minutes with a fine left footed finish from Huw Owen. Some neat interplay between Osian Pritchard and Aled Hughes saw Hughes burst into the left hand side of Pencoed box. He squared the ball to Neil Thomas and his dummy completely threw the Pencoed centre half and the ball rolled to Huw Owen who struck a fierce shot into the right hand corner of the net.

Cymric knew that they would be up against it during the second half as it was Pencoed’s turn to make use of the wind. Pencoed started well and pressed to find the equaliser but a combination of solid, disciplined defending and some wayward passing restricted them to half chances.

Cymric themselves played some nice football. Keeping the ball on the ground as much as they could and they themselves created a few half chances but they couldn’t find that killer pass or shot that would trouble the Pencoed keeper.

Pencoed continued to press but didn’t create any chances of note and Cymric held on to book their place in the semi-final where they will face cup favourites Penydarren.

MOTM – Huw Owen