Wrexham Youth 5
Carmarthen Town Youth 0
Welsh Youth Cup (5th Round)

Match Report

Wrexham moved into the last four of the Welsh FA Youth Cup with a comfortable five goal win over Carmarthen Town, clinching their first semi-final place in the competition since 2012 in the process. Following on from a 7-0 thrashing of Eccleshill United in midweek, it capped a fine week for the Young Reds and Head of Youth Dan Nolan.

“It was a fantastic result, probably not a fantastic performance, but to win 5-0 in a quarter-final of any cup competition is really good,” was Nolan’s honest assessment after the final whistle. “We just need to take that momentum into the next round now.”

“It’s been a good week with twelve goals in two games and to keep two clean sheets is very important given we’ve used a variety of players. We’ve chopped and changed but the lads have come through well. I thought Rowan Davies had a good game today; his quality in possession, stepping out, driving with the ball, and his range of passing were all excellent. His communication was strong at the back, and he led by example.”

Davies was key to the Young Reds success at the Hollingsworth Group Stadium, the blonde-haired captain pushing the side forward at every opportunity after an opening quarter in which Carmarthen keeper Joe Holland produced two stunning saves to deny the hosts. The first on 12 minutes was a reflex effort as the visiting custodian tipped Alfie Lussey’s point blank volley over the bar, before Holland then kept out a Callum Edwards shot from 15 yards.

With Carmarthen pegged back in their own half, it was one of their rare forays forward that provided Wrexham with the space to take the lead on 27 minutes. As the attack broke down, Edwards sent Lussey free down the right and his cross found Jacob Milner who fired home his 20th goal of the season. Two minutes later Caleb Hughes made it 2-0 when he headed home from close range after the impressive Holland had only been able to parry Harry Dean’s powerful header.

Wrexham continued to press after the interval and Milner notched his second goal just before the hour mark when he stabbed home Hughes’s low cross at the far post. That was the trigger for Mikey Hayman and Aaron James to replace Hughes and Owen Cushion and Hayman’s pace and tenacity took him clear of the Carmarthen defence only for Holland to produce another fine one-handed save.

James played an important role in Wrexham’s fourth goal after 69 minutes when his header came back off the bar and found Harry Ashfield on hand to force the ball over the line. Hayman, Lussey and Dean all went close before Cameron Davies deflected substitute Jake Roberts’s cross into his own net in injury time.