Gwent Central League round-up (From Free Press Series)

Gwent Central League round-up

Saturday afternoon's heavy rain came too late to spoil the fixtures, but after the end of the games pitches started to look wet and muddy. These matches were the first of a very heavy backlog of fixtures to be played before the end of the playing season.

In the quarter-finals of the P&P Pest Control Open Cup. Govilon played hosts to visitors New Inn.

The sides were level at half-time 1-1 with Ben Burgoyne scoring the Govilon goal and John Evans scoring for New Inn.

The score stayed at 1-1 at the end of 90 minutes and extra time, so the game had to be played out from the penalty spot. Govilon go through 6-5 on penalties and will play Goytre in the semi-final.

The other quarter-final played resulted in a 3-2 win for Gilwern & District over Lower New Inn. Gilwern led 2-0 at half-time after taking the lead in the 20th minute from a solo effort from Graham Rees.

In the 38th minute, Lower New Inn lost their centre half Scott Redwood through injury and while they were re-organising their defence Jayde Kelly swooped as Lower New Inn played a ball across their own goal, intercepted the ball in flight, nipped in and scored a simple goal.

Bobby Baynton scored Gilwern's third goal in the 80th minute after Lower New Inn pushed forward and got caught out.

All seemed lost for the Lower but two goals came their way in two minutes, Simon Heatman used his pace to pull one back, and straight from the re-start Alun Wills scored Lower's second goal with a blistering shot. Final score Gilwern & District 3 Lower New Inn 2. Gilwern will meet the winners of Crickhowell v PILCS in the semi-final.

In the league, current Division One leaders Usk Town had a 2-0 home win on the island over visitors Crickhowell. The match was described as a credit to the clubs and to the league.

Danial Bevan headed Usk Town into a 1-0 lead in the 35th minute to give them a half-time lead.

With a minute of the match remaining Mark Strangemore fired Usk Town to a 2-0 win. Man of the match for Usk Town was Steve Wade, man of the match for Crickhowell was goalkeeper Alwyn Jones. Crickhowell hold fourth position.

Second place team Tranch United were held to a 1-1 draw away to Mardy who appeared to lift themselves for this match and secured a valuable point with an all-out team effort.

The Mardy goal came from a Stuart Smith penalty. Andrew Hayes scored the Tranch goal. Man of the match for Mardy was Thomas Indge, and for Tranch Utd was goalkeeper Tony Perry. Mardy hold tenth position.

Sebastopol, with two games in hand over the current top two, cruised to a 9-1 home win over neighbours Panteg. Sebastopol led 7-0 at half-time.

Sebastopol skipper James Jackson went off after 20 minutes as a precaution to save damage to his injured groin, but before he went off he scored two goals. Lee Jones and Robert Surtees both scored hat-tricks and Craig Williams scored one.

Panteg scored a consolation goal through Tony Dronfield. Sebastopol hold third position and Panteg hold 13th position. Man of the match for Sebastopol was Robert Surtees and Panteg's was Chris Wilkins.

Clydach Wasps and Llanarth gain a point apiece from their no-score draw. Man of the match for Llanarth was Tony Rennie. Llanarth hold fifth position, Clydach Wasps are in seventh.

Pontypool Town and Cwmffrwdoer drew their derby match 2-2. The sides were level 1-1 at half-time. Steve Bennett scored both goals for Pontypool Town and Ross Peake and Wayne Saunders were the Cwmffrwdoer goal scorers. Steve Bennett's two goals earned him man of the match for Pontypool Town, Kieron Green was Cwmffrwdoer's. Cwmffrwdoer hold eighth position and Pontypool Town are in 11th.

Goytre collected maximum points from their 6-1 away win at Fairfield Utd. Goytre established a 4-0 half-time lead.

The goal scorers for Goytre were Gavin Powell (2), Justin Evans, Ian Rosser, Adam Roberts and Gareth Williams.

Steve Smith scored the Fairfield Utd goal. Fairfield Utd had Daniel Groves sent off in the 75th minute for retaliation.

Man of the match for Fairfield Utd was Allan Russell and for Goytre was Justin Evans. Goytre lie in ninth position and Fairfield Utd hold 14th position.

In Division Two, Blaenavon Blues kept up their challenge for the runner-up spot with a 5-1 away win at PILCS. All the goals were scored in the second half.

The goal scorers for Blaenavon Blues were Dean Yemm, Marcus Williams, Craig Harris, Jeff Sterry and Nathan Priest.

Goal scorer for PILCS was Jamie Bell. Blues are in second position and PILCS are in seventh position.

Race Utd had a 2-1 home win over Gilwern B. Paul Hayward put Race into a 1-0 lead, but just before half-time Steve Woods put Gilwern B level at 1-1.

The match appeared to be heading for a 1-1 draw but three minutes from time, Paul Hayward scored his second goal of the match to give maximum points to the Race side. Man of the match for Race B was Michael George and for Gilwern B was Scott Morris. Race B hold fifth position, Gilwern B hold sixth.

In the Free Press Cup Group B, Aber Thursdays controversially beat Pontypool B 2-1. The goal scorers for Thursdays were Davin Mason and Shaun Moss. The Pontypool B goal scorer was Shaun James.

Man of the match for Thursdays was David Lambert, Pontypool's was Shaun Kerns.