Stebonheath Park Tuesday, August 19th, 2008   1st Team Friendly Attendance: 192         Llanelli 2-0 Bristol Rovers
2008 /09

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REPORT FROM LLANELLI Posted on: Thu 31 Jul 2008 Llanelli 2 Bristol Rovers 0 It was always going to be a tough test for Rovers' young side, facing a side that has already played in this season's UEFA Champions League. And so it proved, as they were left chasing shadows for long periods of the game. The home side were guilty of missing a number of chances, particularly in the first half. However Craig Hinton the only experienced member of the side, and skipper for the evening, led by example and was always taliking to and cajoling those around him. Article continues Advertisement To their credit, the youngsters workedn hard all evening and never gave up but the closest they came to scoring was in the first half when Charlie Clough hit the bar. Torrential rain meant that there was quite a lot of surface water on the lush Stebonheath Park pitch, but it didn't appear to affect the home side who passed the ball around well from the start. They almost took the lead after just five minutes when Rhys Griffiths found Jason Bowen in space out on the right, and his angled lob beat goalkeeper Mike Green but hit the inside of the post. The rebound fell to Craig williams, who fired just over the bar from the edge of the area. A promising Rovers move down the left ended when James Fraser just failed to reach Ben Hunt's squared pass, but Llanelli kept up the pressure and Antonio Corbisiero rifled a free kick wide of the upright. Bowen then intercepted a poor pass by Charlie Reece on the halfway line and set off for goal with Griffiths in support. When he received a perfectly weighted pass, though, the home skipper miscued his shot and slid the ball past the post from 12 yards. Griffiths was guilty of another miss moments later, heading a Williams cross over from close range. Triallist Ryan Harper limped out of the action on 16 minutes, with what appeared to be a leg injury. Ben Swallow crashed a free kick into Llanelli's defensive wall when Rovers finally managed to push into the final third and a determined run by Ben Hunt ended with him firing over the bar. Substitute Charlie Clough almost gave Rovers a surprise lead on the half hour mark. Picking up on a poor clearance by Stuart Jones, the youngster advanced a few yards before unleashing a tremendous 25 yard drive which hit the bar and bounced behind to safety. There was a scare for the home side with eight minutes of the half remaining, when goalkeeper Craig Morris failed to gather Swallow's cross from the left. However, with Joe White closing in the keeper gathered the ball at the second attempt. One minute later the home side scored the goal they had been threatening all evening. Tom Parrinello's clearance was held up by surface water, allowing Griffiths to steal in and fire a low shot past Mike Green. The home side made three half time substitutions, but Rovers vwere first to threaten and White chased a through ball into the penalty area but was denied a shot by Morris who raced of his line to smother the ball at the striker's feet. The promisinhg opening to the half continued as Hunt turned in the area and hit a curling shot towards goal. However he was denied by Morris, who dived to his left to touch the ball round the post. From the resulting corner, Clough glanced a header wide of the upright. The home side's second goal arrived on the hour mark, and owed much to good fortune and the wet conditions. Gary Lloyd's 20 yard free kick appeared tom be safely gathered by Green, but the wet ball slipped from his grasp and just crossed the line. Substitute Christian Miller hit a shot straight at Morris before Green was called into action again and did well to beat away a ferocious 25 yard free kick by Wyn Thomas. The keeper made another fine save whenn he dived to his left to touch a deflected shot round the post. Green was in action again in the final minute when he raced from his line to deny Matthew Prosser a goal as he raced into the area. The keeper spread himself to block the striker's shot and deny the home side a third goal. Team: Mike Green, Alex Kite (Matt Hensley, 68), Craig Hinton, Liam Harwood, Tom Parrinello (James Tyrrell, 68), Charlie Reece, Ryan Harper, (Charlie Clough, 16), James Fraser (Christian Miller, 59), Ben Swallow (Adam Mahdi, 55), Ben Hunt, Joe White. Llanelli: Craig Morris, Lee Phillips (Mat t Jones, 46), Andy Legg (Wyn Thomas, 46), Stephen Evans (Gary Lloyd, 46), Stuart Jones, Craig Jones (Matthew Prosser, 72), Jason Bowen (Jordan Follows, 59) Antonio Corbisiero, Rhys Griffiths (Mark Jones, 51), Chris Holloway, Craig Williams Substitutes: Duncan Roberts, Paul Wanless Reported by Keith Brookman 18/08/2008 Llanelli 2 Bristol Rovers 0 The Reds beat a strong (written by a Llanelli fan infact the only 1st teamer was craig hinton the rest were u18s etc) Bristol Rovers side 2 0 at Stebonheath Park tonight. The Reds had some good chances in the opening half hour or so, the best resulted in a Rhys Griffiths goal ruled narrowly off side. Llanelli suffered a shock though after 34 minutes when the Pirates hit the bar. On 18 minutes the Reds had a great chance to open the scoring, when a great move down the left by Jason Bowen, saw Rhys Griffiths fire just wide. While a minute later Corbs played a great ball to Craig Williams who crossed for Rhys Griffiths to flash a header just wide. On 39 minutes though the Reds finally made the breakthrough as Rhys Griffiths opened the scoring, with a great right foot shot past the Rovers keeper, just reward for the efforts of the Reds so far. Half Time 0-0. Gary Lloyd put the Reds 2-0 up 10 minutes after the restart. There were numerous substitutions, with Matthew Jones, Gary Lloyd, Mark Jones, Wyn Thomas and Jordan Follows all entering the field of play. Llanelli : Craig Morris, Lee Phillips, Steve Evans, Stuart Jones, Andy Legg, Craig Jones, Chris Holloway, Antonio Corbisiero, Craig Williams, Rhys Griffiths and Jason Bowen. Attendance 192.