East Gwent Senior League Division One - Caldicot Castle A 4 Thornwell Red and White 3

CALDICOT Castle A took the spoils in a classic ‘game-of-two-halves’ on Saturday when they held on in an anxious last 20 minutes to claim three points.

The game had everything: seven goals, two penalties, a spectacular goal scored with an overhead kick, excellent finishing – and two teams wearing red kit!

Thornwell (red shirts with white sleeves and red shorts) arrived with their only strip while Castle (red and black vertical stripes, black shorts) only had the one strip available.

However, referee Dave Pinnell decided he could tell the difference between the two kits and allowed the game to go ahead although, by the final whistle, both kits were mud-coloured anyway.

With almost constant rain falling, it was obvious the pitch was suffering the most. There were areas where little grass was evident but they fused into a wide strip from penalty area to penalty area.

Thornwell arrived with just 11 players while the home side had the luxury of a full bench after the Gwent County League side’s match at Rogerstone was called off and the second pitch – where Castle B were to play Underwood B – was ruled unfit.

The game started fairly evenly with both teams testing the opposition’s keeper before Matt Bevan scored the opener, latching onto a poor clearance from a corner before drilling the ball into an unguarded net.

His second was further out when he spotted Dan Northey off his line and looped his shot just inside the far post.

Bevan completed his hat-trick from the spot with Castle’s second penalty, after Northey had tipped an earlier effort around a post and although Brandon Baskerville had reduced the arrears with an excellent strike from the corner of the penalty area, another Bevan strike saw Castle cruising 4-1 at the break.

But the second half saw a more determined effort by the visitors with Matt Divers and Kenny Vidler playing box to box, defending strongly and then racing into the opposition’s penalty area in search of goals.

Divers produced a stream of quality crosses that no one was able to convert although Vidler scored twice to set up that nail-biting finish.

His second, an athletic bicycle kick from 12 yards inspired his teammates and the Castle bench kept a running commentary on how much time was left as they became more and more anxious.

Despite their fears, Castle held out to the final whistle when their manager Mike Levett admitted his men relaxed at 4-1 up and had let Thornwell back into the game.

“It was a well-battled game by both sides in tough conditions,” he said later.

“The boys were really up for it after having a few weeks off but we stepped off the gas a bit and let Thornwell back into it.

“We managed to hold out for a well deserved win but all credit to Thornwell who battled hard with only 11 men.”