THE NEW SAINTS CLAIM WELSH CUP TO COMPLETE THE DOUBLE TREBLE

AIRBUS UK BROUGHTON FC 0 V THE NEW SAINTS OF OSWESTRY TOWN 2
JD SPORTS WELSH CUP FINAL @ GLYNDWR UNIVERSITY RACECOURSE STADIUM
3 MAY 2016 --- 4.15PM

JD SPORTS FAW WELSH CUP WINNERS TNS FC

A goal in each half from Ryan Brobbel and Scott Quigley secured The New Saints the FAW Welsh Cup and even more amazingly helped the club secure a double treble as Word Cup and Welsh Premier League winners too.  Airbus would consider themselves unlucky and had some of their chances that were blocked or well saved 'been converted this tie could have been different but in the end it was another confident appearance on the big stage from the team from Oswestry.

THE STAGE IS SET

As many regular readers are aware this blog is fond of covering Welsh games but this season with some obscure kick off times and the constant rain it has become increasingly difficult to attend from a far and so today is only the 4th game over the border.  As we enter the meat of the blog I have to say this was a superb day out, yet again, that even managed to span into two days!

Here goes then, so having attended the previous two seasons finals I was eager to attend this years but with a late kick off for the purposes of Sgorio S4C live match coverage it would mean a late return at just before midnight to base station and due to a delay on the last of four trains on the homeward bound journey it was after midnight and so can claim a 2 day trip, just!

 
Departure from home station saw a part first class carriage reduced to standard ticket accommodation so I enjoyed a relaxing and fairly quiet journey to Manchester and with arrival at 1140 there was a comfortable 15 minute change over time in place.  Arriva Trains Wales provided a 2 carriage train heading towards Llandudno and by a few stops in it was getting pretty full with the obligatory child testing the sound barrier thanks to their scream volume control being set to high.

Grateful for a further on time arrival at Chester there was a comfortable connection onto the Holyhead-Chester-Maesteg, that's one heck of a journey.  First stop for the blog brought us to Wrexham General and the shortest of walks to 'The Racecourse'.  The lovely thing about the ground is its has old style massive floodlights and yes and its a lovely ground inside just a real shame the old terracing has been decommissioned this is a ground that I guess in the old days rocked for the big games.

Build up to the kick off which was about 75 minutes away was further enhanced by catching up with Gilbert Woolley Media and Communications Officer at TNS and I have to say a big 'thank you' for your help in making this game a special one for me, cheers mate!

TNS MANAGER CRAIG HARRISON DEEP IN THOUGHT

With some great opportunities for photos as the players came out for a look at the pitch and throughout the afternoon it was a major difficulty selecting the limited amount used in the blog but hopefully this gives a good overview and will encourage more people to attend a Welsh game in future. 

AIRBUS DEEP IN DISCUSSION WITH MANAGER ANDY PREECE [LEFT]

Before todays game it was great to see, local to me, hopper Ian and his son who are working their way through Welsh grounds and then I managed to locate Clint Jones who had taken up his position in the stand.  For those who haven't seen Clint's blog 'The 94th Minute' here comes a big recommendation take a look its always entertaining and factual, good to see you today mate!

QUALITY BLOGGER CLINT FROM THE 94TH MINUTE

As the rain came down sharply it was time to take cover and a conversation ensued with freelance photographer Alun with which it was a pleasure to discuss his season and the games he had covered.

REFEREE BRYN MARKHAM JONES TRIES TO FIND WHO HAS KEPT THE COIN

As ever the start was superbly organised by The FAW with handshakes, team line ups and coin toss being performed in a well controlled manner.  Oh yes there was also time for the National Anthem which was performed full on and certainly made the hairs to your arms stand up.

AIRBUS BROUGHTON UK FC

Both teams came to this game on the back of big semi final wins Airbus 7-0 and TNS 5-0 and it brought Airbus their first ever appearance in The Welsh Cup Final.

THE NEW SAINTS OF OSWESTRY FC

The action then and Airbus flew at TNS from the off and for the first 20 minutes it did appear the Champions were not going to get this all their own way with TNS looking unsettled by the pressure and struggling to get their passing game going.  The closest The Wingmakers went to scoring was probably a Chris Budrys strike that just missed the target but the pressure was mounting.  But then it happened never ever discount TNS a deep corner off the right from Chris Seargeant was superbly headed down by Aaron Edwards and with his back to goal from the tightest angles Brobbel spun and drove left footed through the legs off Airbus keeper James Coates. How harsh was this for Airbus they had been the better team in the opening 25 minutes but now on 33 minutes they were behind.

TONY GRAY AIRBUS FC

Half time arrived and their was a chance to watch the half time Sgorio interviews taking place 'live' and watch Andy Preece, Airbus manager, interviewed on his return for the second half on the TV companies monitor.
The second period started as the first Airbus on the attack and early on Ian Kearney headed over before TNS were clinical again.  A bad pass selection from Airbus allowed TNS to dispossess them and it was Edwards again who was prominent in both goals he fed Adrian Cieslewicz he got a shot away which tooked a cruel deflection into the path of the in running Quigley who fired home to make it 2-0 to TNS after 51 minutes.  Cue wild celebrations from the big striker and TNS and you really guessed it was game over but to the great credit of Airbus they tried to mount further attacks but found no luck Tony Gray fired over and close range shots found a blocking defender.

CONNELL RAWLINSON TNS FC

At the other end Cieslewicz saw Coates save well before Quigley, Coates also saved well from Cieslewicz and then in stoppage time sub Mike Wilde fired over from a good position.
When referee Bryn Markham Jones blew the final whistle TNS could celebrate their remarkable treble this season and of course their double treble for the last two seasons.

TNS CHAIRMAN MIKE HARRIS [RIGHT] CELEBRATES WITH IAN WILLIAMS

Within a few moments I turned to the directors box to look out for TNS Chairman Mike Harris who it was lovely to see celebrating the victory like it was his first, it still means a lot, great enthusiasm for Welsh football as ever.

MAN OF THE MATCH RYAN BROBBEL TNS FC

The FAW now worked hard to set up the podium and have everything in place for the presentation and with the storm clouds beckoning we were hoping for completion before any downpour, sadly this did not happen and right on cue as the trophy was presented rain and hail arrived to create a very wet and soggy blogger.
But it was worth it to see the happiness that still goes with winning trophies.  At this point though its only fair to take a moment to say well played to Airbus, Andy Preece and their players who had given this final a really good go and its so tough to see players contribute so much and then have to witness the celebrating around them.

RAIN, HAIL OR CHAMPAGNE CRAIG HARRISON WITH FAW WELSH CUP

TNS manager Craig Harrison shows in his picture how hard it was raining and as the sun came out towards the end of the celebrations it was superb to get a picture of TNS goalkeeper and captain Paul Harrison who has had a roller coaster of a week.  Paul had spoken in the week after the result of the Hillsborough inquest in which both his Dad and Uncle had died, he was 4 at the time.  I hope in some way Paul can enjoy this Cup Final win and thank him for allowing me to take a lovely picture of him with the FAW Welsh Cup.

TNS FC CAPTAIN PAUL HARRISON

So it was time to leave and with the sun now out the jeans and other garments were drying out as I encountered Liam Delaney from Bootle at the station.  Now as ever an interesting conversation is never far around the corner when at the 'footy' and here was another one.  Ian takes photos for Bootle FC and even has an FA Cup run going following each round.  This was clearly a labour of love and as anybody knows who tries to complete these its easy in the early stages but try to get tickets for the later stages there is the challenge!  Liam enlightened me with a few facts over the last 53 months in his FA Cup run he has watched 106 games clocking up 21,500 miles on the train, there is the hint of a book with information, scarves and programmes all collected and notes compiled, go for it, a cracking read is guaranteed.  Upon departure at Chester we said our farewells but once again it was really of great interest to meet somebody who had travelled to see a game in Wales.

CONFIRMATION OF THE FINAL SCORE

Back then to the train network and prompt departure from Chester saw his arrive back in Manchester with 1 1/2 hours to spend in the city so first stop was big 'M's' for some food something I had not had all day.  Arrival at Manchester Piccadilly for the 2220hrs train was an interesting affair to say the least but we were soon departing for Sheffield were the third change would take place and our fourth train would depart is to base station.  Here lies a story and the following paragraph is worth reading especially if you are a train enthusiast or just public transport user, you may need a degree to follow it though.
Having arrived on platform 5 just before 2315 there was a decision to make the 2321 was running 20 minutes late so off I popped to 1b for the 2337.  Just as it approaching this service gets transferred to platform 5b where upon arriving there the previous train was still in situ so it end up on platform 5a.  But having settled into the seat the train manager then has to announce the train can clearly not pull through the platform, it goes the 'wrong' long way round as the last service, and would have to shunt out of the platform to get to 1b where it should have been in the first place but this cannot happen with passengers on board  so disgruntled travellers disembarked.  Quick spot then that the delayed 2321 is now in on platform 2 so I decided to board this and of course this is delayed as the train shunting out is blocking its path. 
I finally arrive back at base station at 0004 and after a relax to recall another superb day [days] out at football in Wales it was time to get some rest. 
Errors spelling or likewise will be amended in due course as I gain my composure after this long day!

ARRIVA TRAINS ARRIVES FOR THE LAST LEG TO WREXHAM