Benevolent Cup quarter final - Chepstow Athletic 3 Mathern FC A 9

UNDERWOOD will be represented in this season’s Benevolent Cup final – but whether it is the club’s A or B team is anyone’s guess.

The two teams were paired for the first semi-final when the draw was held at Caldicot Town on Sunday.

In the other semi, to be played on Saturday 17th December on the 3G pitch at Caldicot Leisure Centre, Chepstow Town will face Mathern A.

Mathern booked their place in the semi with a 9-3 victory at Chepstow Athletic, despite late withdrawals that left manager Lee Baker with just 11 players.

“I was really happy with the performance today, we controlled the game very well, moved the ball around and made them chase,” he said later.

”Some of the passing was very good but the movement off the ball, which we have lacked in recent weeks, was top-notch.

“We created so many chances just by moving the ball through the midfield.

”Defensively we were strong and didn’t really look threatened in open play until we went down to 10 men in the last 20 minutes.”

That was when Mathern lost Harry Lewis through illness and with no subs on the bench, Baker had to re-jig his defence and midfield.

“I thought we did well to adapt, we scored some good team goals and Mo and Kyle had a hat trick each,” Baker added.

Already trailing by six good goals - which included two far-post headers by Mo Amin – Athletic won a penalty in the 40th minute. Mathern keeper Chris Silk dived to push the ball away and a defender cleared it but from the resulting corner, Will Morgan reduced the arrears with a header.

After the break, another Mathern goal and a stunning 30-yard free kick by Amin to complete his hat-trick virtually ended any hopes Athletic might have had but when Lewis went off, they piled forward.

Morgan scored his second and Michael Slater made it 8-3 before Kyle Gettings completed his treble, rounding keeper Aaron Morgan and prodding the ball home from a yard out.

“We knew we were up against a very good team, so it was more about the performance than the result,” Athletic player-manager Jake Parkinson said later.

“We made it harder for ourselves by starting the game so poorly and I was disappointed with the way we defended.

“I’d like to highlight the tireless work rate Michael Slater put in for his teammates.

“There were a couple of great individual performances and we were pleased to score three against the team at the top of the first division.”