I love a final, especially when I’m a neutral. I’ve been to Wembley supporting my team a couple of times and although the jubilation of victory is immense, the devastation of a loss is equally sized. As a neutral, a cup final is brilliant. It’s a spectacle, two teams giving it their all for a chance at glory, it’s got high stakes and guarantees passion and competition. Plus, they’re usually at the very end of the season meaning that even if the game is a blowout or a complete bore fest at least you have the chance of spending a couple of hours in the sun.
That’s why I went to the Welsh Cup final on 1st May this year, Penybont FC from Bridgend versus the Cymru Premier champions and current Welsh Cup holders The New Saints of Oswestry.
Mercifully for me the final this year was held at Cardiff City Stadium, a venue far more convenient for me to go to than the last cup final venue, The Rock, in Wrexham. Although there have been some critics of the decision, I think it was a good idea to move the final to Cardiff. It makes sense to hold the final of a country’s domestic cup in the home of the country’s national team, after all, it gives the competition higher prestige. The FA cup wouldn’t be the same if the final was hosted at Leicester’s King Power Stadium or Coventry’s Ricoh Arena.
Keeping the final in Cardiff definitely could elevate the status of the Welsh Cup final. Afterall, the attendance on the day was over 2,400. You have to go all the way back to 1996 to find a Welsh Cup final that had a higher attendance than this year’s (and perhaps it’s not a coincidence that that was the last final to be held in the National Stadium in Cardiff). If the final is held in Cardiff every year, more neutrals will be willing to attend and more excitement will be made for it. It could become an event, a spectacle, a celebration of Welsh football and a starting point to get more people invested in supporting the domestic game. Welsh international matches already attract sell-out crowds in Cardiff, perhaps with luck and time, the Welsh Cup final could entice similar numbers to attend.
In my short time following Welsh football, I have already fostered a slight dislike for The New Saints. It’s probably an unfair one. Their domination of the Cymru Premiership has been earned, they’re the best team in the league and their quality will likely improve the level of football in the league as a whole. I just hate a champion. I can’t stand domination. I didn’t like Alex Ferguson’s Manchester United and I don’t like the superstar studded squad of Paris Saint Germain. So, needless to say, I was rooting for the out of form, out of luck, perhaps out of their depth Penybont FC.
I don’t think that it’s unfair to say that Penybont came into the game in very poor form. You don’t exactly want to lose your last seven games on the trot before competing in the biggest final in your country. To make things worse, in their last league game of the season a Penybont team made up of academy players lost 11-0 to Bala Town putting them bottom of the Championship conference. Yes, they were using their development squad but it’s still not really the form you want to be in heading into your first ever Welsh Cup final.
Although, ‘out of their depth’ is probably too harsh. Penybont are obviously a good side. Before the separation of the league this year they were second and they have earned their place in the final just like The New Saints. But unlike TNS this was uncharted waters for the team from Bridgend, it was their first Welsh Cup final ever. Their only piece of silverware from a cup competition was the Welsh League Cup in 1988 when they were still called Bridgend Town.
Throughout the match the Penybont fans were magnificent, there was a real family atmosphere in the stand and everyone embraced the novelty of such a big match, the throng of supporters in the bottom corner of the stand who created much of the atmosphere are also to be commended. Unfortunately for me and the Penybont fans that sat around me, the first half gave nothing to shout about. Penybont played far too defensively, it seemed like they weren’t up for the big occasion. TNS were just too well drilled, too strong in possession and Penybont played to just soak up pressure to try and weather the storm. Inviting pressure is never usually a good idea, especially not against the best team in Wales and The New Saints punished Penybont for their tactical blunder. The New Saints’ Jordan Williams scored from a strong shot outside the penalty box on the 31st minute. A minute later Williams struck again from close range when a looping cross into the box wasn’t dealt with. This one-two punch sent The New Saints into halftime two goals to the good and you couldn’t see a way back for the deflated Penybont side.
The start of the second half wasn’t much better for ‘Bont. Rain made the pitch slick and neither side adapted to this. Strong challenges turned into sloppy fouls. In the 58th minute, there was another one of these fouls, Penybont goalkeeper Ashley Morris took down Declan McManus in the box, who then confidently dispatched the resulting penalty, giving The New Saints a comfortable three-goal lead.
This third goal killed the atmosphere, the only thing Penybont had to cheer about was a foul in their box denying The New Saints a fourth. That was until the 84th minute. A well-worked freekick routine created a commotion in TNS’ box and when the ball bounced out to the edge of the penalty area Shaun MacDonald was there to rifle it home with a half-volley.
Despite still being two goals down and with time running out Penybont looked like a completely different team. They were playing with confidence, running at The New Saints without the fear they once showed. They were a completely changed side and just six minutes after their first Penybont got a second. A corner from captain Kane Owen was emphatically headed home by Dan Jeffries, sending the Penybont fans into celebration and giving me hope that the impossible might just happen.
But it wasn’t to be. Penybont had left it too late. There were only four minutes of stoppage time and apart from a couple of appeals for penalties they couldn’t create anything more. You felt as if they were given just five more minutes an equaliser would have been certain, but it just wasn’t the case.
Sometimes you sort of expect the fairy-tale ending from a big football match. You feel like the underdogs are surely going to rescue themselves in the last second, but Penybont just ran out of time. Their last fifteen minutes were mighty, and they did their fans proud with their six-minute salvo. But the favourite won it. The stronger and more accomplished side prevailed. Sometimes football isn’t as poetic as I would like it to be.
The game made me realise why I really love a cup final. Not because I’m a neutral. But because, for a couple of hours, I’m not a neutral. On that day I was a Penybont fan and when their second goal went in, I celebrated like I had been one for years. A cup final, an event like the one hosted in the Cardiff City Stadium is something that intoxicates you and it’s impossible to not become invested. They didn’t win their first-ever Welsh Cup, but Penybont did themselves proud. And they won me over too.
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