On This Day in History: Aber Town 3 Newport County 3 (Welsh Cup Quarter Final, 11th March 1987)

Wednesday 11th March 1987
Welsh Cup Quarter Final
Aberystwyth Town 3 Newport County 3

Aberystwyth Town: John Davies, Dylan E Jones, Huw George-Evans, Paul Hughes, Dave Humphreys, Ken Williams, Donald Kane, Phil Richards, Tomi Morgan, Kevin Morrison, Mike Davies. Sub: Dylan Jones.
Scorers: Morgan (2), Morrison

With Welsh Cup fever gripping Aberystwyth ahead of their High Noon Semi Final showdown against Newtown on April 8th we look back 31 years to focus on a Welsh Cup Quarter Final which attracted Aber's largest crowd in living memory of 2,721.

The Welsh Cup in the 1980s was dominated by Welsh Clubs playing in England, and making the Quarter Finals to play Newport County, at that point lying bottom of Division Three was viewed at the time as possibly the Club's biggest ever game.

The enormous attendance, with crowds at times spilling onto the pitch certainly backed up this assertion, and commentary was also broadcast live on both Radio Wales and Radio Cymru, with highlights shown on the BBC Wales news programme.

The following description is taken from Dai Pugh's superb book "Aberystwyth Town FC 1960-2010 The Rise and Fall," available from the Club Shop on Matchdays:

"The attendance of 2,721 and gate receipts of over £3,000 justified the committee's decision to increase admission charges. An injury to Newport keeper Roger Freestone (ed: who would go on to play for Wales against Brazil at the Millennium Stadium) six minutes after the interval opened the gates for a dramatic 40 minutes of cup football. After the collision with Morrison keeper Freestone appeared shaken for the rest of the game and remained rooted to his line when the striker headed Aber into a 64th minute lead from a Ken Williams free kick. Four minutes later Town keeper John Davies blocked a Gordon Staniforth shot, but Glyn Millett tapped home the rebound. After 71 minutes the Shed End went wild when Freestone failed to clear a cross and Tomi Morgan restored Aber's advantage. But a ragged Town defence allowed Mick Vinter to restore parity in the 79th minute. With four minutes left (Manager Meirion) Appleton was out of his dugout in celebration, as Freestone misread a Morrison lob and Tomi Morgan headed Aber back into the lead. But the celebrations were premature as Roger Gibbins headed home County's third equaliser in the last minute."

The Black and Greens took an estimated 800 supporters to the replay at Somerton Park two weeks later - but County won 3-0 and went on to lose to Merthyr Tydfil in the Final in May 1987.

Do you remember this game? Do you have any recollections or photos? Please let us know with by twitter, facebook or by email to [email protected].

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