Pembrokeshire League First Division Goodwick United 4, Herbrandston 2 Goodwick United defied the awful weather conditions to gain a comfortable home win over a gritty Herbrandston side which never gave up battling but could have few complaints about the final result.

The home side played some very constructive football to lead 2-1 at the interval and added another two cracking goals after the break to bring a smile to the face of manager Bernie Armstrong.

The Phoenix Park boys leap-frogged over their opponents and climbed from tenth to sixth spot in the table.

Yet the first quarter was very even as Goodwick opened with a low shot from Rob Couzens which was deflected wide and Barry Hayes put a header over the bar.

At the other end Simon Mathias forced Carl Woodhouse to come off his line at pace and smother the danger.

Goodwick grabbed the lead after 24 minutes. Barry Hayes played a telling ball into the box and Rob Couzens made a lovely little turn, beat his marker and unselfishly squared the ball past Herbie keeper Martin Langdon to give co-striker Clive Marshallsay the simplest of tap-ins against his former colleagues.

Herbie almost levelled when Matthew Price and Justin Goffin combined to put Alex Galdo through but, although he beat Carl Woodhouse, the ball was blocked by Dai Hayes before it could reach the line.

Herbie did claw their way back with a goal that stemmed from the left-flank industry of Tim Griffiths that gave Leigh Galdo an easy finish after 46 minutes.

But there was a whiff of controversy because Goodwick flag man Brian Morris had signalled offside and was clearly not happy that ref Boswell allowed the goal to stand, even after a heated discussion.

However, there was still time for Goodwick to regain the lead from the last touch of the half when the ageless Alan Davies crossed deep from the left and James Dean rose above Langdon to head the ball into the far corner of the Herbie net.

Both sides tried hard to play good football in the deteriorating conditions and after Alex Galdo was booked for a clumsy tackle, his team were made to pay.

Goodwick swept upfield and Barry Hayes played Steve Evans into a little space wide on the left before Evans cut inside and sweetly chipped the ball over the helpless Langdon and into the far top corner.

Steve Blackford made a rare appearance for Goodwick as sub and he made an immediate impact when he cut through from his berth on the left side of midfield but his shot was saved by Langdon, who was forced to make another diving block after throwing his clearance attempt straight to Blackford and almost paying the price.

Goodwick kept things tight at the back with Wayne O'Sullivan, Dai Hayes, Nigel Delaney and Anthony Couzens.

Herbie lost their shape at and Goodwick claimed their fourth goal when Rob Couzens took the ball through alone, beating the offside trap, and slammed the ball home for another quality goal.

Steve Evans Jnr came on and almost scored after cutting in from the left but Herbie had the final word when midfielder Mike Turpin took a free kick and rifled his left foot shot over the wall from 25 yards and into the Goodwick net, via the crossbar.

Goodwick deserved their victory but in the final analysis all 29 participants deserved a medal for braving the elements and producing a match that was enjoyed by the hardy band of supporters from both camps.