2009/2010 Season - Cardiff and District Premier League
A monumental 2008/2009 season, saw the mighty Cwrt finish runners up in Cardiff and District Division One, finishing 8 points adfrit of league winners Cardiff Portos who impressively went the entire campaign unbeaten.
After making a few additional signings to the squad over the summer and a patchy preseason saw the Villans take on the first game in the Cardiff and District Premier. For most of the squad this was unknown territory, aside from stalwart defender Shaun Ryan who had previously played in the league when the world was black and white.
Sat 2nd Oct 2009
V St Marys Butetown D 1-1
Goals: M Thomas
After four straight defeats, Cwrt y Vil were desprate to stop the rot and return to their early season form against St Marys, a team also languishing around the foot of the table.
The pitch at the Marl was perfect for flowing football, but a vicious swirling wind suggested that it wouldnt be that simple.
Cwrt made a few forced changes due to injuries and child care issues which saw a few players playing outside of their traditional positions. A move carefully masterminded by the tactically astute management team of Duffy and Berry.
The game started off at a frantic pace with the ball switching between sides regularly due to both team incapability to deal with the windy conditions. It was St Marys who broke the deadlock halfway through the 1st half when, Cwrt choosing to deploy the offside trap, failed to 'trap' the striker who ran from well behind the centre back to chase down a threaded through ball which he duly slotted past Cwrts stand in keeper Rhys. Seasoned pro Ryan demonstrated furiously with the referee, who in the eyes of skipper James and manager Duffy was absolutely spot on with the decision. Cwrt continued to misplace passes and went into the break a goal down.
The 2nd half started much better for the visitors , with some slick passing resulting in some half chances. The introduction of Campo injected even more impetuts and his trickery almost lead to an equaliser but it was left until late in the game for the streaky stand in centre midfielder Matt Thomas to guide Tim James pinpoint cross past the ST Marys keeper level and the match finish up 1-1.
Cwrt may feel that they had the better of the game, but they must be happy that they picked up their 1st point in 5 games to remain 8th in the Premier league. They will look to take threir points tally to double figures in Saturdays meeting with bottom side Trelai.
Tues 15th Sept 2009
V Grange Catholics L 6 - 0
Cwrt followed their defeat against Clwb Cymric on Saturday to a comphrehensive defeat against Grange Catholics on Tuesday night.
Cwrt started far too slowly as Grange strung some good moves together disecting a static and unusually quiet Villians line up to go 3 nil up within the first 10 mins. Grange finished the first half 4 goals to the good with Cwrt defender Shaun Ryan limping off towards the end.
The lacklustre performance continued into the 2nd half with the Catholics grabbing another couple of goals to extend the lead to 6-0. It was with only 10 mins to go did Cwrt ever look like scoring with the introduction of flame haired Penfold started stringing some passes to gether and a few attempts on goal were had. Cwrt longed for the final whistle to put them out of there misery and it ame with the final score at 6-0.
The Villians travel to Llanrumney Utd on Sat, who are currently sat on top of the Premier division unbeaten in their first four games. Manager Duffy must hope that his players turn up with the spirit they showed in their opening fixtures if they are to improve from Tuesday nights showing.
Tues 8th Sept 2009
v Cardiff Portos W 2-0
Goals: N Reid, G Morgan
Well, what a game. As expected a very tough fixture but the performance given out by Cwrt on Tuesday night was enough to warm the cockles of manager Martin Duffy and send him to bed thinking of his troops rather than the usual two nuns and a donkey.
The energy and commitment from the away side was plain to see from the first whistle as players steamed in to tackles and put some slick passing moves togther. in contrast, Portos were slow out the blocks and looked stunned at the passion shown by the Cwrt players.
The early chances went The Villians way the energentic Campo looking particularly dangerous down the left flank combining nicely with his brother. It was then another good ball working its way in from the left side that was picked up nicely by right winger Nicky Reid to brilliantly turn his defender and dink over the keeper to put the visitors 1 up.
Cwrt continued to deny the home side any space on the ball and superb work from the two centre midfielders and in particular Tim James and Shaun Ryan at the back ensured that the home side werent allowed a sniff of goal. Half time came and gave both teams a deserved break from one a very physical, fast paced game.
The second half started in the favour of the home team with them hitting the woodwork twice and keeper Tucker making some solid stops, but then it was down to Cwrt again turn the screw and push for a second. Continued hard work from all concerned and some good character to overcome some heanous refereeing saw Cwrt get there deserved reward as Gregg Morgan picked up a cross from the right and pinballed one through a group of players into the Portos net. At 2 - 0 it looked over and a tight last 10 mins saw a very good victory against a very good side.
Cwrt will be able to take a lot from the game and if they can display the same commitment and passion then a few more upsets may be on the cards.
Sat 5th Sept 2009
V Fairwater W 5-0
Goals: M Thomas (2), S Davies, R Leonard, S Morgan (pen)
The curtain raiser to the Cwrt season started quickly against a Fairwater team that looked rather green around the ears. An early through ball from Gregg Morgan was converted by thoroughbred striker Matty Thomas sending the keeper the wrong way with those deep blue eyes of his. The majority on the pitch say he scuffed it, but i write the match reports so the above stands. It wasnt long before Thomas was in the goals again, beating the flailing right back and slotting past the keeper at his near post. 2 up was soon to become 3 as wily left back Rob Leonard bent in a fizzing corner which decieved everyone and flew in the top corner. Cwrt couldnt quite believe the start they had and this quickly improved again as Scott Morgan cooly converted a dubious penalty after only 20 mins had passed on the clock. With man of the match, David Grant, dominating the middle of midfield with his hard work and excellent distribution there looked to be no way back for the young fairwater outfit and there misery was compounded when Scotty ' Iceman' Davies rounded up the scoring with a nice finish just before the halfway mark.
The second half was a slightly muted affair in comparison, with the youngsters growing in confidence and Cwrt happy to defend their lead. Grant and morgan continued to dominate in the middle while James and Ryan ensuring there were no holes in the defence, Cwrt managed to close their first win of the season out for a 5-0 victory.
Manager Martin 'Crocodile Dundee' Duffy, fresh back from a trip down under was over the moon with result hoping that it would galvanise his squad for the upcoming game against last years rivals Cardif f Portos.