Goal hungry Vikings slam seven against valiant Wizards (From Western Telegraph)

Goal hungry Vikings slam seven against valiant Wizards

Goal hungry Vikings slam seven against valiant Wizards

Hakin United 7 Merlins Bridge 0

Referee: Paul Lloyd Assistants: Byron Phillips and Chris Stapleton

Hakin United gained their fourth win in the final of the James Williams Cup as they proved far too strong in almost every department for a Merlins Bridge side which deserves credit for battling until the final whistle but rarely able to mount a sufficient strain on the makeshift Viking back five to really pressure them.

Hakin scored three goals before the break and another four afterwards and in the final analysis were simply too good for Steve Thomass relatively young side which had been hit on the day by the transfer to Haverfordwest County of two of their key players.

Unlike the Vikings, however, the Wizards didnt have the squad strength to cope - although they almost took a surprise lead as early as the fourth minute as a Nathan Thomas free kick took a deflection onto the Hakin crossbar and flew behind for a corner which was carefully cleared by stand-in keeper Stephen Hartley, who had a good game in between the sticks for the Vikings.

At the other end, the Wizards back four made the basic error of standing off Paul Jones and were lucky that Jonah was still ring-rusty after a Summer break because between the 13th and 20th minutes he missed four clear-cut chances, three put wide and the other halted by a timely tackle from veteran Steve Thomas.

Steve Maths hit the upright after a superb little dribble in the 24th minute and Jones was off target again straight afterwards - but a goal was bound to come and in the 27th minute Mathias fired in a beauty which gave Gwyn Thomas no chance at all.

Within five minutes Hakin were three goals to the good as Joff Lennon fired in a low shot with the Bridge defence standing in a vain offside appeal and almost from the kick off Paul Chapman sent in a wickedly spiralling chip from the corner of the box which flew into the far top corner.

Gwyn Thomas also made two fine low saves from Jones and Lennon while Peter Jones and James Green foraged tirelessly at the other end without really making an impact so that the interval score was deservedly 3-0 in Hakins favour.

It was a similar story after the break as Hakin skipper Gary Dawes rounded off a move with a simple tap-in after Lennon had been foiled - and they went nap when a long ball by the outstanding Nigel Armstrong was flicked on by Dawes for Jones to finally get on the scoresheet with a shot that was miss-hit but still had enough on it to sneak into the far corner.

Jones made it 6-0 midway through the period and the loudest cheer from the Hakin camp came when sub Rob Bowen came on and scored from close range.

From then on it was a matter of the Bridge battling to stop any more goals and one couldnt fault the work-rate of Nathan Thomas, Darren Dalton, Steve James and Chris Ormond - but Hakin were simply too strong on the night and Gary Dawes received the superb trophy from James Williams representative Mr Ian Thomas, which is retained by the club, as reward for being so dominant in midfield with Paul Chapman, Ade Haworth and Steve Mathiass outstanding.

Hakin United: Stephen Hartley: Adam La Rosa; Nigel Armstrong; Adam Wheeler; Gerrard Grey: Steve Maths; Gary Dawes; Ade Haworth; Paul Chapman: Joff Lennon; Paul Jones. Subs (all used): Wayne Morgan; Lee Dalton; Rob Bowen.

Merlins Bridge: Gwyn Thomas: Jason Rice; Steve James; Chris Ormond; Steve Thompson: Darren Dalton; Sean Jones; Nathan Thomas; Richard Davies: James Green; Peter Jones. Subs (all used): Sean Halpin; Ben Skudder; Paul Thomas.