Tenby U16s (seen right) played at Stebonheath Park, Llanelli, on Tuesday, April 19, under floodlights against Sandfields Colts. Making the final of the West Wales Cup competition is a tremendous achievement in itself, and Tenby U16s knew they were going to be playing a quality team, with Sandfields Colts being champions of the Swansea League and arguably the favourites for the competition.

A fantastic spring evening made way for both teams to be able to play excellent running football under the conditions.

Sandfields started the strongest putting Tenby under tremendous pressure for the first 10-15 minutes; securing a goal as just reward for their efforts. Credit to the Tenby players, they did not panic under the pressure and a superb power-header from captain Max Brindley brought the scores back to 1-1 going in to the interval.

A ferocious battle in midfield for the best part of the game resulted in each team cancelling out the other and it took a moment of brilliance from Billy Lawrence who turned in midfield and after beating several players played an inch-perfect ball over the Sandfields defence to on-form striker Tom Harding Jones, who controlled the ball on his chest, at full pace, and half-volleyed past the advancing Sandfields ’keeper into the corner of the net to put Tenby 2-1 ahead, and really knock the Sandfields team ‘on their heels.’

With the clock ticking, the tie appeared to be edging in Tenby’s favour, with the referee indicating full-time was up and the fourth official confirming there was four minutes of injury time to be played. Credit must go to Sandfields who never gave up, and eventually scored a stunning free-kick with only minutes remaining.

With fingernails of all supporters, and coaches, down to the bone, 20 minutes of extra-time was played out and with the score remaining at 2-2, the ‘dreaded’ penalty shoot out had to happen.

Both sets of coaches congratulated each other at this stage for getting to the final. The penalty takers were decided and the boys took their position in the centre circle.

Sandfields won the toss of the coin and opted to go first. A fantastic strike from the Sandfields player beat the Tenby ’keeper, but smashed into the post, leaving Max Brindley to step up knowing he could put his team ahead, once again.

Max strolled up to the spot and coolly passed his free-kick into the corner of the net giving Tenby a 1-0 advantage over the opposition. (A penalty Alan Brindley would have been proud off as he has always explained to the boys that hitting the target is the most important job when taking a penalty, and not break the back of the net).

With pressure mounting on the Sandfields players, Ollie Brown, the Tenby goalkeeper, did his best ‘Bruce Grobbellaar’ impression to psyche out the opposition and made a superb save to the delight of the players and supporters.

Tenby’s terrier Henry McBeth stepped up to take the second penalty for the club, and he, too, expertly placed his penalty in the back of the net, putting the score at 2-0.

Sandfields knew they needed to score the next penalty or it could be out of their control as to who got their hands on this prestigious cup. With silence in the stadium, the Sandfields player drove the ball hard at the goal and on-form Ollie Brown (who seemed to take the whole occasion in his stride) pulled off another magnificent save to give Tenby the chance of victory.

No better player to step up at such a crucial time than Tom Harding Jones. Knowing that his goal would win the game, Tom nonchalantly passed the ball into the net, giving Tenby a 3-0 victory on penalties and bringing the West Wales Under 16s Youth Cup home to Tenby AFC for the first time in the club’s history.

A fantastic achievement for the squad and Tenby Football Club as a whole. The Under 16s have the final of the Pembrokeshire Cup tonight (Friday), at Bridge Meadow, Haverfordwest, kick-off 6.15, and let’s hope they can do the double.

Tenby squad (for the history books): Ollie Brown, Henry McBeth, Max Brindley (capt.), Curtis Hicks, Ben Rossiter, Dylan Scotcher, Thomas Rees, Connor Carroll, Harvey Longstone, Tom Cole, Billy Lawrence, Zac Rowell, Rowan Nicolson, Fin Bowie, Tom Harding Jones, Damian Gorzach.

Under 12s

Tenby produced a very professional performance to beat Clarbie Road in the quarter-final of the cup on Saturday, coming out as 7-0 winners.

They got off to a bit of a sticky start, but after 10 minutes of remaining patient, they settled down and broke the deadlock, with Teejay opening the scoring with a fine goal, one of five which he went on to score.

With the winners facing either Camrose or Fishguard in the semi-final, the home side didn’t need motivating too much, and once they had settled into their rhythm, they passed the ball very well and dominated the game.

Although he wasn’t called on much, Rhys commanded his area extremely well and his distribution was first class. With a back three of Iori, Ned and Harry Mac, he was always going to be well-protected, but credit to the defence who put in another brilliant display.

Three or four of the players have had plenty of minutes on the pitch this week with development and county games, so the coaches were worried that they may tire, but that was never the case, in fact Wil looked as energetic as he’s ever been, putting in another good shift and he and Charlie are really forming a solid midfield pairing.

Up front, Kurt and Archie were outstanding and very impressive with their unselfish play, always thinking of the team. They had Jake and Calum playing in behind them, which allowed them to get into more advanced positions and cause lots of problems to the visitors’ back five.

In the second half, both Finnan and Matt were introduced to change the shape a little and try different things. Finnan is proving to be a versatile player, almost able to now play anywhere on the pitch, and Matt had by far his best performance in a Tenby shirt, nearly scoring a 25-yard strike too.

A big couple of weeks lie ahead for the boys, with a cup semi-final and three more points needed to secure the league title, and with performances like this, they should be ok.

Under 11s

Last Saturday, Tenby Under 11s (sponsored by Trade Canvas Prints and seen in the picture below left) were again in action at The Clicketts.

Due to the strength in depth of the team, Tenby were able to field players for two matches. First up was against Clarbeston Road.

In a tightly-contested match, it was Tenby who were triumphant, with goals from Lucas, Finlay and Kyle.

Next up were touring side Pontarddulais. To ensure the game was competitive, Pontarddulais fielded players from their Under 12 and 13 teams.

Also, it was the first opportunity for the Tenby players to sample playing on a full-size pitch and experience the dreaded offside rule!

The game got off to a ferocious pace, with both teams trying to take the early advantage. Although Pontarddulais had the size advantage, it was Tenby who struck first with a well-finished goal from Brandon.

However, Pontarddulais soon hit back with a quick brace of goals.

Tenby soon realised that Pontarddulais were vulnerable at corners and as a result used this area of the game to attack their opponents. First up was Brandon with a header and then Ollie, who controlled well outside the box and calmly finished to make the score 3-3.

As the game continued to ebb and flow, Pontarddulais again got their noses in front. However, just when you thought that size and experience would make the difference, Tenby came back again with an excellent team move outside the box where quick passing between Ollie, Jack, Jay and Archie led to Brandon finishing off another great goal.

Zak soon added a fifth with a trademark finish and nearly added another to his tally, but was thwarted by a great save.

Unfortunately for Pontarddulais, the rebound landed straight at the feet of Harry, who struck a left-footed effort from 18 yards to make it 6-4.

Jacob ensured Tenby didn’t concede any more with a number of saves, while Alfie, Robbie and Rhys were heroic in defence against much larger opposition.

Further goals were added by Jay, Finlay and another from the goal maestro Brandon.

Tenby squad: Kyle Hughes, Ollie Palin, Joseph Askew, Jack Clarke, Lucas Stevens, Archie Treadaway-Williams, Alfie Evans, Josh Callen, Jacob Salisbury, Jay Thomas, Zak Fecci, Brandon Phillips, Jake Henson, Finlay Drummond, Harry Malone, Rhys Richards, Robbie Ashton, Luke Subbiani.

Under 10s

The beautiful sunshine attracted many locals and visitors last Saturday as the visiting team of Pontarddulais arrived at the Clicketts.

Pontarddulais Under 11s played a friendly game against Tenby Under 10s (pictured above).

It was a great game and a perfect session to get some practice in prior to the many tournaments ahead. Well done to all players!