Amateur Cup Quarter Final - Ponthir 2 Underwood SC A 4

UNDERWOOD A will proudly carry the East Gwent Senior League into the semi-final of the Amateur Cup after their third giant-killing performance of this campaign.

Having already ended the hopes of Race and Coed Eva, Underwood travelled to county league Division Three outfit Ponthir.

In his pre-match pep talk, manager Kieron Stephenson reminded his men that if all goes to plan, they would be travelling to Ponthir next season as a Division Three side.

“I said that even though we were underdogs I wanted us to show that we are more than a match for Ponthir,” he said later.

“The pitch wasn’t in the best condition and Ponthir created a lot of problems with long balls up to their tall players.

“When we had the ball we piled forward in numbers and from a Craig Owen free kick, Dave Jackson put us 1-0 up with about 15 minutes gone.

“We continued to press and passed the ball around well while Ponthir kept using the long ball as their main outlet.

“We went 2-0 up when Rob Williams crossed for Kyle Harrison to head home.”

Ponthir fought back and their long-ball strategy paid off to make it 2-1 at the break.

Soon after the restart, they equalised from the penalty spot after their striker was brought down.

“It was time for us to show our heart and I sent on Lee Ryder and Josh Downing for Nathan Adams and Sean Johnson who had run their socks off,” Stephenson explained.

“Tony Ryall’s left-wing cross was fumbled by their goalie and Dave Jackson showed his natural poaching skills to put us ahead again.”

Ponthir were still creating chances and the heavy pitch was taking its toll on the players.

Justin Bidgood, who Stephenson said had been a rock in the heart of Underwood’s defence, rode a late challenge only to dive into a tackle and was sent off.

“We didn’t have any real grounds to argue the case,” the manager added.

“We were 3-2 ahead but down to 10 men with 20 minutes left.”

Ponthir attacked hoping to level and take it into extra time but Earl Broomfield, who had earlier replaced Jackson, made a well-timed tackle to prevent that happening before Ryder’s perfectly-weighted pass put Downing through.

Ponthir’s keeper parried Downing’s first effort but the striker collected the ball, rounded the keeper and scored to send Underwood’s travelling fans into raptures.

“With heavy legs and a pitch looking more like a horse’s field, we saw the game out and built the momentum for the game against Mathern next week,” Stephenson predicted

“Mathern beat us on our own patch back in September – the only points we’ve dropped this season – so the lads can’t wait to correct it this time around.”