Dinas Powys Athletic 4 v Penarth Town 1

DINAS Powys Athletic won the ASRS Cup with a 4-1 victory over local rivals Penarth Town in a hard fought encounter at Jenner Park.

Dinas had the luxury of almost a full squad and were confident going into the game after two league wins in the last two weeks but it was Penarth who started the quicker and they took the lead when a ball over the top caught the Athletic defence napping and the Penarth striker slotted well past the advancing 'keeper.

This was a big blow to the Dinas lads but also seemed to galvanise them and the midfield of Parsons, Whitehead and Bruce slowly began to get control of the game and create some half-chances for the front three of Preston, Briscombe and Driscoll. The Dinas defence of Stewart, Terrar, Munn and Sadler were also looking more organised after the early frantic spell but a bad collision between Stewart and a Penarth Town striker, saw an early change with Butler coming on to slot into right back.

The best chance of the half for Athletic fell to Driscoll in the 25th minute when he managed to break behind the Penarth defence and round the 'keeper but his shot was cleared by a defender on the line.

Dinas managers Hughes and Mills asked for more of the same at half-time and were confident the goals would come and they were right; Briscombe slotted an excellent free-kick into the bottom corner in the 46th minute to level the game.

The pattern of the game remained the same with both teams battling for everything but Dinas looking the most likely to score. The Dinas lads took the lead in the 67th minute when Driscoll picked up the ball in his own half and like Giggs in his prime, left several defenders in his wake before slotting past the advancing 'keeper into the bottom corner - what a goal to make it 2-1.

The exertions of the game began to take its toll on the Dinas players and H Driscoll came on for Munn and Salvidge came on for C Driscoll. At this point Penarth were pushing hard for an equaliser and Dinas had to thank their 'keeper for a number of great saves, and when he was beaten defender H Driscoll cleared from on the line.

The extra spaces in the Penarth defence allowed the hard working Preston to show his finishing ability and he scored two late goals in the 81st and 87th minute to seal the victory.

Man of the match went to young Danny Bruce and a special mention goes to the two subs who didn't get on, Ben Paul-David and Calum Bracey who played a big part in the success of the day.

They would also like to thank their main sponsors, Vale Scaffolding, Atlantic Cafe and Burnett, Davies and Easton who helped them achieve this success.

The Vale of Glamorgan Association Football League would like to thank Mike Coslett for presenting the ASRS Cup and to Jason Pawlin, Jeff McInery and the Gratton family in their assistance in re-storing the ASRS Cup.

Jason and Jeff put in a lot of research work to get the names of all winners on the new base which was crafted by the Gratton family.