THE Corries faced a tough test at the weekend when they welcomed Penydarren BGC for the second time this season. This was qualifying round 2 of the JD Welsh Cup. Having been moved out of the easy Central Wales draw due to numbers, the Corries were back in familiar territory of the South Wales battle zones for Q2.
The Corries started the match well and were soon into their stride. Paul Keddle and Jack Bain were working well in midfield alongside veteran Gavin Perry and chances were being created. Penydarren were also making the Corries think with Chris Owens squandering a handful of chances which were made difficult by Corries’ captain Stephen Price. Both teams continued to play some great football and the deadlock was broken by Gareth Aplin with a well taken effort for the Corries.
The second half couldn’t have started worse for the Corries who conceded a goal after just 20 seconds. A shot appeared to be well saved by Price only for it to bobble under his body and into the back of the net. As the second half progressed things got worse as the Corries conceded a very close-range headed goal and another unfortunate bit of bad luck saw the ball ricochet off three players and into the path of the ever dangerous Chris Owens, who slotted home to make it 2-1 to Penydarren.
Manager Damien Daniels was brought on to steady the ship and quickly changed the direction of the game. Working well on the left he clearly troubled the Merthyr-based team and again the Corries were in the ascendancy.
This came to an abrupt end when Daniels was shown a straight red for an unfortunately timed challenge. Nonetheless, the Corries continued to fight to the end against a very quick, fit and strong Penydarren side.
It’s back to league duties this Saturday with the Corries hosting Llangynwyd Rangers (kick-off 2.30pm).