MORE than 600 children descended upon the pitches at Hay St Marys Football Club for a mini festival on Saturday, May 13.
The annual end of season festival arranged by the club on behalf of the South Powys Junior Football League. From tweenies (under 7) to the cup finals for the under 14s and 16s it was an action-packed day for one and all. Kicking off at 10am, the mini football festival was enjoyed by hundreds of enthusiastic youngsters keen to test their skills against each other and featured 11 of the local junior teams with the remaining two sides taking their place in the cup finals in the afternoon.
Both the SPJFL and Hay football club are manned by volunteers and both committees and coaches worked from 7am till gone 5pm to ensure the festival went brilliantly for all those children and families who attended, which amounted to over a 1,000 people in total.
Once the non-competitive festival had come and gone and 600 medals had been handed out to the smiling faces of the children, it was down to the cup finals for the under 14s and under 16s.
The Consolation Cup for both age groups were first up. The under 14s contest between Knighton and Hay and one goal decided the outcome, Knighton who were also league runners up winning 1-0.
The under 16s final was an exciting affair. Hay under 16s facing Presteigne in a pulsating encounter fit for the surroundings, ending 2-2 at 80 minutes, into extra time Hay stepped up a gear and scored two quality goals to win 4-2 and meant one piece of silverware remained in Hay.
The final event of the day was the League Cup finals. The under 14s League Cup final was a game of two halves, Penybont v Brecon Town Cougars. The Cougars already league champions found themselves one down at the break, but hit the higher gears to score four goals and win 4-1.
The under 16s final was a showcase of the two best sides in the league. League Winners Rhayader facing League runners up Brecon Town Jaguars in their final game of junior football for the vast majority of the players. Rhayader scored twice in the first half to take control but Brecon Town were threatening on the break. In the Second half Brecon halved the deficit and pushed for the equaliser but a superb header off a free kick made the game safe for Rhayader who won the game 3-1 to do the league and cup double in a very good advert for junior football.
The South Powys League has been going 40 years and needs volunteers in various roles to keep junior football alive in South Powys with teams from all over, from Crickhowell and Llangynidr through Brecon to Sennybridge then heading North from Builth and Talgarth to Llandrindod and Hay, making its way up to Penybont, Rhayader, Knighton and Presteigne.
Without volunteers these clubs and the league will cease to exist, the AGM for the league is on the June 6 at the Northcote Conservative Club in Brecon at 7.30pm, if anyone is interested in taking a role or finding a place within junior football then they are welcome to attend the meeting.
Any other information contact the league secretary at [email protected]