Goodwick claim early boost (From Western Telegraph)

Goodwick claim early boost

Goodwick utd 1 Hakin utd 0 Venue: St Marys Filed, Fishguard Referee: Keith Young

Referees assistants: Darren Osbourne and Martin Evans

Goodwick walked away as winners of this years Eddie Merry Memorial Trophy after they defeated Hakin 1-0 in a hard fought final.

The result could have been so much different if the game hadnt been called off with 30 minutes remaining due to a nasty injury sustained by Hakins Michael Beavis which has left him with a broken leg, but for the majority of the match Goodwick were in control and for the amount of time that was played, they thoroughly deserved the win.

As ever, this game produced a lot of drama with a couple of yellow cards shown for dissent and Hakins Kristan Bennett being dismissed for the use of foul and abusive language. These incidents apart, the game proved that both these sides will be the ones to beat this year.

Hakin took the field without ace striker Paul Jones and influential defender Karl Rhead but they were still able to field a strong side although Goodwick didnt allow them any room to play their usual brand of slick football.

Playing down the slope in the first half Hakin would have had good reason to believe that they could have walked away with an interval lead especially considering they put five goals past Fishguard in an earlier round. However, Goodwick had other ideas and although not one player stood out as the catalyst in their success, the team played well in their attempt to close Hakin down and after a few shots at goal they finally went ahead after a free-kick by John Bailey fell into the path of James Dean who hooked the ball in to the back of the net.

Minutes later Kevin Bowen saw his shot slip harmlessly passed the face of Hakins goal. Considering this was basically a pre-season game, it was played at a furious pace with no quarter given by either side and although Beavis went close for Hakin a couple of times, the current league and cup champions didnt really look like scoring and Goodwick just about deserved their interval lead.

Goodwick made the brighter start in the second half with Bowen going close again and Dean also had a powerful save well stopped by the dependable Jason Morgan in the Hakin goal.

Steve Summers had a golden opportunity to extend Goodwicks lead when they were awarded a penalty although he hit it straight at Morgan who made a good save.

Hakin came back almost immediately and won the ball when Beavis was tackled and rendered immobile. Skipper Gary Dawes made a break up field although he didnt quite have the pace to get passed the defence and his shot came to nothing. It mattered little however once the extent of Beavis injury was known and Hakin immediately conceded the game to a happy if not quite jubilant Goodwick side.