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Dafabet Welsh Premier League
Saturday 29th October Aberystwyth Town 3 Airbus UK Broughton 1 Two goals from the hard working Luke Borrelli (35th and 75th minutes) and an 80th minute penalty, earned and scored by the effervescent Chris Jones earned Aberystwyth Town a huge and potentially season defining victory over Airbus UK Broughton, in a close game, with Johnny Spittle responding for the visitors in the 57th minute before being sent off after conceding the penalty. The victory catapults Aber up the table to fifth position in the Dafabet Welsh Premier League with sixteen points from 13 games to date, and 6 of their remaining nine games before the split are at Park Avenue. Starting with an unchanged side for the third game running Aber started well with Borrelli bringing a great save from visiting keeper Ryan Nield with a glancing header from a right wing cross. The lively Borrelli went close again soon after but his low shot crept wide, than back came Airbus to make a full contribution to an entertaining first half. Ryan Fraughan was denied by Aber’s Chris Mullock from a good position, and went close again soon afterwards. Borrelli again leapt like a salmon to meet Dan Alfei’s cross but missed the target, then at the other end Tony Gray and Ryan Edwards both sent shots wide of Mullock’s goal. In a tight game a crucial moment came ten minutes before the break when Chris Jones sent in a peach of a cross from the left, and Borrelli arrived late at the far post to convert from six yards to gain Aber a crucial lead. Town had to defend doggedly at times but were doing so as a team, and they saw out the half with their lead intact. Aber upped the tempo after the break with Joe Clarke and Chris Jones sending long range efforts over the bar, and Fruaghan also went close with a free kick. Jones then hit the crossbar with a smashing volley, and Geoff Kellaway flashed a shot over the bar with Aber so close to killing the game. They were then punished on 57 minutes when Spittle rose to head home Jamie Menagh’s corner for the equaliser, and for a time the visitors were on top. Menagh played Gray in down the right channel with a brilliant ball and Mullock made a superb save to keep the scores level. The importance of the save was underlined on 75 minutes when Man of the Match Borrelli hounded visiting keeper Neild into a terrible clearance before tapping in from a difficult angle for 2-1, much as he had against Rhyl two weeks ago. Kellaway again went close, and then with eleven minutes left Jones went on a thrilling run down the left and cut inside the box only to be brought down by the errant Spittle, who was booked for the foul and then booked again for dissent – and dismissed. Once Jones had confidently smashed home the penalty for 3-1 there remained time only for the peerless Sherbon to head over the bar, Gray to necessitate a tip over from Mullock with a goalbound free kick and the result was done – and what a huge result it was for the Black and Greens. This afternoon’s game was a tight and tense but very watchable affair, with the hosts edging things in front of goal and at the back. They now have some real momentum with seven points from three games – and there is no better time to face second place Gap Connah’s Quay than next Saturday at 2.30pm. Exciting times at Park Avenue!  Dafabet Welsh Premier League
Saturday 29th October (ko 5.15pm) Aberystwyth Town v Airbus UK Broughton Four points out of six from two home Dafabet Welsh Premier League games, two clean sheets and attendances rocketing at Park Avenue - the big return home has heralded optimistic days for Matthew Bishop's Black and Greens, and his side will look to provide another strong basis for optimism in from of a live TV audience this Saturday evening at home to eleventh place Airbus UK Broughton. Following on from their Opening night demolition job on Rhyl, last Sunday's performance at home to Llandudno was a more solid affair, but equally pleasing from a defensive point of view for Bishop. Still no away side has scored on Park Avenue's 3G which must be a huge credit to Chris Mullock, Ricky Watts, Sam Rodon, Ryan Wollacott and Dan Alfei in Aber's defence, shielded by Kurtis March, Luke Sherbon and Joe Clarke in midfield. If Geoff Kellaway, Chris Jones and Luke Borrelli can replicate their exciting forward play of two weeks ago Aber fans are in for a treat come Saturday evening. Visitors Airbus are having a difficult season under rookie manager Andy Thomas, but players with the quality of Tony Gray, Jamie Menagh, Ryan Fraughan, Matty McGinn and Ryan Edwards belie their lowly eleventh placed position. No side however would relish a trip to Park Avenue at the moment, where an astonishing 1700 supporters have watched Aber's last two games, and another huge crowd is likely to buy into the current Feelgood Factor surrounding the Club and roar the Black and Greens to another positive result. Admission on Saturday will cost £6 for Adults, £4 Concession and £1 for Kids with Park Avenue once again the only place to be this weekend. The Future's Black and Green!  The quote “nothing surprises me in football” crops up in many footballer’s interviews and usually, those saying it are correct. However, yesterday, the Aberystwyth Town media team were definitely surprised, and delighted, to see the club’s official Twitter account verified by Twitter.
Much like our fantastic new 3G pitch facility, the work towards getting verified on Twitter started many years ago, however, this time not by Club Chairman Tony Bates, but by Marketing Officer Mart Smith. Then yesterday lunchtime, after lots of hard work, convincing and negotiation, we were thrilled to discover that we were granted our little blue tick by the powers that be at Twitter. For those who are unaware or are not Twitter users, verification is for Twitter users to be assured that an account of public interest is authentic. The blue tick that gets added to a verified Twitter account is seen by a large number as a status symbol and is highly desirable by many Marketing Managers who manage Twitter accounts for their employers. In simple terms, the club’s global exposure is greatly enhanced by becoming verified and included on Twitter’s ‘suggested user lists’. For example, we were thrilled to discover that for our 3G pitch grand opening versus Rhyl FC, our Twitter activity was viewed nearly 150,000 times. By being verified, we expect our global exposure to increase even more as expert research shows that verified accounts have a greater level of social engagement compared to non verified accounts. With over 700 million registered users on Twitter and a website ranked 9th in the most visited websites in the world, Twitter has quickly become an increasingly difficult place to get noticed in. At the time of writing, Twitter has verified only 224,000 of it's users, which means Aberystwyth Town have now joined the select group of only 0.03% of Twitter’s user base in becoming verified. Having seen our friends at Bala Town and The New Saints recently get verified on Twitter, the success and growing global exposure of the Welsh Premier League (also verified!) is sure to continue for many years to come!  Young Aberystwyth Town supporters enjoyed their chance to have a free run out on Park Avenue's new pitch on Sunday at the Club's first ever 3G Family Open Day. Aberystwyth's older citizens expressed a huge interest in the new facility last Friday night when almost 1200 people attended its first ever official match, and around 100 young supporters came along on Sunday prior to the Dafabet WPL game against Llandudno, boosting the crowd at that match to another impressive figure of 548. Sami The Seagull was besieged by penalty takers from the moment he appeared, and after a short break to replenish his strength, he went on to pull off some amazing saves as the impressive spot kickers picked out the corners of the goal in front of the Dias Stand. We thank Club Media Volunteers Matthew Wallace and Tomos Ings for their support in this session.  Aber Stars' Disability session, delivered by Eleri Williams from the FAW Trust, was well attended and played with commitment and passion. Fair to say they had the central section of the pitch covered and by the end the participants had earned a sit down in Aber's luxurious new dug outs.  Gari Lewis, Andy Evans and Jack Rimmer from the Club's Academy delivered a Training session to harness the energies of a possee of teenage Black and Green fans once they had consigned Sami The Seagull to a half time break, with some impressive play on show which bode well for the future of Football in Ceredigion. Finally Aber's youngest supporters, aged eighteen months and upwards, were blasting in the goals at the far end of the pitch in the Fun Football session, facilitated by Frank and Harri Rowe, with a number of game Dads and Mums also to be seen taking part enthusiastically. By the end of the two hour session participants had certainly expended enough energy to have earned a delicious pre-match Sunday Lunch courtesy of Ruth's Kitchen in the John Charles Lounge.  The Club was pleased to receive positive feedback after the event. Eleri Williams from the Welsh Football Trust said: "Great pleasure to deliver @aber_stars training session today on @AberystwythTown new 3g. Great bunch to work with". Shelley Childs said "@AberystwythTown open day. Sammy the Seagull and friends :-) Great fun," while Rebecca Crockett said "The pitch was excellent and our two girls really enjoyed the Fun Football session - and the new dugouts!"
Club Photographer Chris Howells took some fantastic photos of the event which can be found here and here. Two big events at Park Avenue over the past eleven days have made Aber the second best supported team in the WPL at present with an average figure of 500 from their four games to date. Aberystwyth Town FC would like to thank everyone who came along and encourage them to visit Park Avenue again soon. We plan to hold further Community Events, including a full blown Family Fun Day, later on in the season.  It took until the last kick of the game to secure all three points when Aber travelled to Llandudno in August when the two sides last met. Therefore it was little wonder to see a tight, tense yet entertaining affair on Parc Avenue when the two sides recommenced battle on Sunday.
Unfortunately, there wasn’t to be any last minute heroics this time around as both sides missed chances in a 0-0 draw in Matchday 12 of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League. Remarkably, it was Aber’s first draw of the season, having amassed all previous points from victories. After the match, manager Matthew Bishop was in a philosophical mood. “It’s our first draw of the season and another clean sheet. I’m pleased with many aspects because that’s two undefeated at home and another clean sheet. The draw was a fair result today. Both Keepers have pulled off saves and neither team did enough to take the game by the scruff of the neck so the draw is a fair result.” He told our Youtube channel following the conclusion of the game. The woodwork kept the scores deadlocked for both sides. Captain Luke Sherbon hit the bar with a header, Lewis Buckley hit the post with a shot for the visitors and ex Aber stopper Dave Roberts produced a remarkable save for the Black and Whites, tipping a powerful volley onto the crossbar, to deny Will Bell late on “Taking chances is the difference. Unfortunately we haven’t taken ours today but you can say the same about Llandudno. They’ll be happier than we are in many ways. We’ve had to manage injuries again today. It’s a clean sheet so there’s the big positive from today.” He added. After nearly gifting the away side the lead early on, the Black and Greens settled well and showed excellent composure throughout the afternoon with impressive displays coming from Dan Alfei, Sam Rodon, Ryan Wollacott, Ricky Watts and Chris Mullock in goal. But the boss was keen to praise the other members of his squad as well for not conceding a goal since returning to Park Avenue. “It’s a team thing, it’s not just about the back four and the goalkeeper, it’s about the other six players in front of them working hard and getting the result. It’s a good result overall but not a win which would have been good for us in the league, but I’ve just said to the lads how important a result that is.” Thoughts now turn to Saturday and the welcome return to the Cardigan coast to the Sgorio Cameras when Town play Airbus. Although bragging rights returned to Ceredigion in August, Bishop is taking nothing for granted. “We’re back in here on Wednesday, trying to make sure everybody’s ready to go and we’ll be working on a plan on how to deal with Airbus “ You can visit Aber Town's Youtube Channel to view our interviews with Manager Matthew Bishop here and defender Ryan Wollacott here. Aberystwyth Town FC can confirm that their Dafabet Welsh Premier League game at home to Bangor City before Christmas has been moved to Saturday 10th December, with a 5.15 kick off, to facilitate live coverage on S4C's Sgorio programme.
The Sgorio Cameras will also be at Park Avenue to feature the Black and Greens' clash with Airbus UK Broughton this Saturday 29th October (ko 5.15pm). Town's fixture list between now and the WPL Split is as follows: OCTOBER Sat 29th AIRBUS UK BROUGHTON (Home) KO 5.15pm NOVEMBER Sat 5th GAP CONNAH'S QUAY (Home) KO 2.30pm Fri 11th BALA TOWN (Home) KO 7.45pm Fri 18th CEFN DRUIDS KO (Home) 7.45pm Fri 25th Bala Town (Away) KO 7.45pm DECEMBER Sat 3rd Welsh Cup Third Round Sat 10th BANGOR CITY (Home) KO 5.15pm Fri 16th Cefn Druids (Away) KO 7.45pm Mon 26th NEWTOWN (Home) KO 2.30pm Sat 31st Newtown (Away) KO 2.30pm JANUARY Sat 14th CARDIFF METROPOLITAN (Home) KO 5.15pm |
Gem Nesaf
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