Gwent County League Division Two and Three

BLACKROCK Rovers put their cup exit behind them with an eight-goal spree against bottom club Penygarn and Trevethin on Saturday.

Five of the goals, including a second-half hat-trick, came from sub Luke James in a match that Rovers’ manager Paul Lovell admitted was “rather one-sided.”

“Even so, it took us 30 minutes to score the first goal – a penalty scored by Ben Smith” he added.

“The second, scored by Connor Bryant, came soon after and then the floodgates opened and we were 4-0 up at the break.

“Luke (James) came on for Chris Wilson after 35 minutes and he scored twice.

“Connor added the fifth after half-time and then Luke scored three more to complete the win.”

Also in Division Three, Caldicot Castle lost 5-2 at Wattsville, with Richard Withy and Joe O’Brien on target but boss Alex Hart believed his side could have taken a point if they hadn’t been “atrocious” in the first half.

“We went 1-0 down early on after a mistake led to a one-on-one which left our keeper Dave Hayward with no chance,” Hart said.

“Joe O’Brien’s shot hit the bar following a good move with James Reid but what followed was an atrocious 10-minute spell before half time.

“We switched off and failed to take responsibility for anything, resulting in four goals being conceded.

“In the second half an early goal got us back into it and we created enough opportunities to win the game which was disappointing, although we managed to get another before the end.

“The second half display was frustrating because I believe we could have taken something from the game if we hadn’t been so slack in the first half.

“We are showing a tendency to be off the pace at the beginning of games which is costing us We did show a bit of character to restrict the score line but unfortunately it’s not good enough when the game is lost.

“Having said that, we are looking forward to this Saturday’s home derby with Sudbrook CC which promises to be very exciting.”

Sudbrook will go into the match with four league wins on the trot after a nine-goal thriller at West of St Julians.

Elsewhere, Rockfield Rovers lost 5-3 at Race and now lie in 14th place.

Meanwhile, in Division Two, Mathern FC drew 2-2 at Ynysddu equalising twice with headed goals from Lewis Cutajar just before the break, and Elliot Greening who finished a Matty Board cross after the home side restored their lead.

Boss Colin Jeffery was pleased with a point but felt a little more luck might have seen his men come away with all three.

“We could have won it in the last 10 minutes as we put constant pressure on their goal,” he said.

“Elliot had another chance but his header struck the bar.

“Ynysddu were a good side who really battled for everything and due to our lacklustre first half, we gave ourselves a challenge.

“But it’s another away point, we are unbeaten in five games and it was a good second-half performance. We have 10 home games out of our last 14 games so picking up points away is all good, we just need to convert a few more chances.”