There’s always something a little bit special about a game under the lights. It pulls you from your comfortable routine of a Saturday afternoon and it shoves you into the unfamiliar surroundings of a midweek evening. Floodlights act as lighthouse beacons guiding you towards the stadium on the walk before the game. They contrast so brightly against the night sky that they seem almost alien. The bitter cold bites at you during an evening match, in the winter it can be almost spitefully cold, but you have the game in front of you to keep you occupied and take your mind off it. After a win, you throw yourself back into the darkness, warmed by a feeling of victory, after a loss the night seems that little bit darker. What I’m saying is, evening matches are the best.
On Friday 23rd September, I made a pilgrimage to the evening kick-off and went to the SDM Glass stadium in Bridgend to see Penybont FC versus Aberystwyth Town.
What surprised me most as I finished my walk to the ground, was that there was a queue of nearly 100 waiting to get in. The queue was so substantial that I missed kick-off by a couple of minutes. As I was about to buy my ticket I turned around and faced the queue behind me that had been replenished and was curling nearly out of the carpark. I’d been to Penybont a couple of times before and had never seen crowds like this. Maybe everyone loves an evening game as much as I, or just the international break that was ongoing at the time encouraged more people to patronise their local team. That sort of crowd for a game in the Cymru Premier League was absolutely encouraging.
As I walked to my seat in Penybont’s main stand- which is decently sized and spans the middle third of the pitch with five or so rows of seats elevated on a grassy mound that gives a wonderful view of the pitch- I was hit by noise from two opposing areas. On the side opposite me was the Green Army, a rabble of Aberystwyth fans who had made the 90-mile drive to be there that night. Opposite them and to my right was Bont Bank, a wheelchair-accessible ramp that led up the grassy mound to the main stand which has since been taken over by the most vocal of Penybont supporters and their drum. Both sides were in fine voice all night and the attendance of 506 created a strong and competitive atmosphere for an equally competitive game of football. Behind the Aberystwyth goal for the first half was perhaps the most notable group in attendance that night. I am talking about a hoard of children, aged probably between the ages of 13 to 16, there must have been a hundred of them. They also did their very best to elevate the match’s atmosphere with their very own blend of goalkeeper taunting, expletives and “wanker” hand gestures. It was all very commendable.
Both sides started the game brightly. Rhys Griffiths’ Bont came out of the gates with their usual high tempo attacking style, Aber chose a more direct approach. In the first 20 minutes, the side from Bridgend looked dangerous and applied a lot of pressure on Lewis Webb in the Aberystwyth net with quickly taken crosses into the box. One of these crosses also created the opener of the game on the 26th minute. Kai Whitmore played a brilliant ball into the six-yard box from the left-hand side of the pitch and the Aberystwyth defenders were unable to properly deal with it. Defender Billy Borge was able to slide in and poke the ball home much to the delight of the young lads behind the goal. Some of the braver kids even found themselves running towards the Aberystwyth fans, after a brief moment of taunting they ran back to their comrades still bouncing in delight.
In the 34th minute Aberystwyth drew level. A long throw into the box caused confusion between the Penybont backline and the resulting pressure caused Rhys Kavanagh to fell Iwan Lewis and a penalty was awarded. The decision seemed rather dubious, Lewis seemed to fall one or two strides after any contact was made to him but Aberystwyth didn’t care. Niall Flint converted the penalty in the bottom left-hand corner through the hands of the outstretched Kelland Absalom in goal.
Not long after, however, luck swung back in the favour of Penybont. In the 39th minute, a Penybont man was similarly brought down in the box under similarly dubious circumstances. Perhaps Penybont had learned from their recent mistake and realised that the referee was partial to awarding penalties. Bont’s star man Nathan Wood struck home the penalty in the same fashion as Niall Flint, although Webb in Aberystwyth’s net was not close to making a miraculous save. Cue rapturous celebrations from the hoard of teenagers behind the goal and cue further taunting towards Aberystwyth’s Green Army.
In the second half, the game was tamer, we were all still recovering from the drama of the first. Penybont, although still impressing with their wide range of passing, played slightly more cautiously. Aberystwyth, who were so strong in midfield, were trying to forge their second equaliser of the game for a sizeable chunk of the match.
Aber thought their equaliser had come in the second half as Jack Thorn tapped in a loose ball from close range, but, to the anguish of their supporters, it was judged to be offside and disallowed.
In the dying stages of the game came a moment of madness. Under pressure from the Penybont forwards, Aber keeper Webb picked up the ball from one of his defender’s passes. Maybe it was just a mistake, a lapse of judgment, or maybe there is just something about an evening kick-off that makes games just that bit more unpredictable, but the referee blew for a pass back and an indirect freekick was awarded to Penybont in the 18-yard box. I’ve watched a lot of football in my life, and I can only remember a handful of indirect freekicks, so I matched the excitement of all the teenagers present who were already celebrating like a goal had been scored.
Kane Owens did brilliantly to smash home the indirect freekick, rocketing it into the top right corner of the goal. He wheeled away in celebration and the whole Penybont team followed. I think even some ball boys joined in on the resulting pile-on in celebration.
Owen’s thunderbolt of a goal sealed the win for Penybont who moved up to second in the league and left Aberystwyth stranded at 11th in the table with just six points. As they left the stadium, teenagers and adults alike, I’m sure the journey home for Penybont fans was slightly warmer than the Green Army’s. The Aberystwyth fans, who had been in such fine voice all evening had their long journey back to the West coast ahead of them, and perhaps it was just that little bit darker than it was before.
The Post Match 
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