after one game in 10 weeks what a welcome relief this game was played and credit must go to Croesy for getting the game played after atrocious friday weather .
The pitch was soft and very heavy but certainly playable although there was never going to be too much quality football played on it .
Manager Owen couldnt call on the unavailable Currie and Stinton and decided not to recall the available again Wysome after only one training session but it was as healthy a squad that Owen had seen all season .
Croesy certainly stsrted slightly brighter in front of a decent derby crowd without creating a goalscoring chance but referee Bates certainly assisted them with a few baffling decisions ! a few free kicks around the edge of the box were dubious but on 16 mins a free kick was smashed into the wall directly at Powers face and his protective hand covering his face was struck and bates gave a spot kick ?? Jenkins took it and it was well saved by Chris hart and the rebound was knocked over the top . However on 21 mins Llanwern were carved open through the middle when failing to deal with a long ball and the knock down was cooly finished 1-0 Croesy . Within 5 minutes that man Bates was at it again a 50/50 challenge just inside the box saw Power win the ball and knock it out for a throw but Bates again pointed to the spot ??????? to the fury of the Llanwern players and bench. This time Dewar stepped up and cooly slotted home 2-0 Croesy , the muted celebration from everyone spoke volumes for Bates decision.
Credit to Llanwern the goal seemed to spring them too life and they immediately got a goal back , a strong run wide from Power beating his man and crossing perfectly to Perszewski to slot home from 8 yards out , 2-1 Croesy .
lLanwern were level on 34 mins when a Hooper through ball put Vaux through and his pace outstripped dewar and gave him a free run on goal , Dewar pulled Vaux back as he was shooting and the linesman flagged for a penalty kick but remarkably Master Bates didnt see the incident and worse still failed to even caution Dewar for the foul , it was a red card by the letter of the law he didnt even see yellow, Perszewski gave Bailey no chance and made it 2-2

HT Croesy 2-2 Llanwern

Allcock was introduced for Croesy at half time on a pitch that was cutting up badly and getting very heavy .
a foul on Vaux out wide on 56 mins saw power wip in a superb inswinging free kick where Quarterly found himself half a yard and with a deft flick headed into the bottom corner , 3-2 Llanwern .
on 62 minutes Power again heavily involved steamed down the right flank leaving two players in his wake and delivering the perfect cross which Perszewski met with a good header but with defender and keeper beaten whizzed inches over the bar . A chase into the corner from Vaux saw him Rob Bristow and cut the ball back for Perszewski who was foiled by an outstretched leg and Shire was unable to finish the follow up . Vaux who had relentlessly run all afternoon again outstripped the Croesy defence but his shot was superbly saved by keeper Bailey .
Llanwern were understandably running out of steam and Croesy now began to dictate the play and pen the steelmen back and a good save from hart prevented an equalizer . On 69 mins though Hart could do nothing as Llanwern were beatenn through the middle and a shot off the upright was finished from 5 yards out to make the tie level at 3-3.
The tiring spiteri was replaced by Corey and Cramp victim Vaux was replaced by Baugh . It was one way traffic in the last 15 minutes as Power , Shire , Vaux and Spiteri all tired and cramped up . An Aviss clearance deep into injury time went for a corner and the deep cross found the unmarked dewar at the far post who headered home with 94 minutes on the clock to end the tie .

Croesy 4 - 3 Llanwern

On reflection despite Llanwern having two dominant periods in the game , they did not put the game to bed when they had the chances and Llanwern did look like a side that had only played once in 10 weeks for the last third of the game . Referee Bates certainly played a big part in the game when he really should have gone unnoticed but full credit must go to Croesy who deserved the win in a keenly contested derby played in a good spirit .

Its hopefully league action next week and a very tricky trip too LLangienor where manager Laurence Owen will maybe look to shuffle the pack slightly and strengthen certain departments .