As mentioned above, Montgomeryshire is a historic county of Wales and is bounded by:

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1 Date: Ground: Revisit Match: 30 (57) Venue: The Recreation Field (Home of Llanrhaeadr) Teams: Llansantffraid Village FC V Four Crosses Competition: The MP Foulkes Montgomeryshire Cup Final Admission: 3 Final Score: 2-1 Referee: Unknown Attendance: 132 ( Head Count ) Mileage to venue and return: 94 Miles Programme: NA Historic County of Montgomeryshire Montgomeryshire is also known as, Maldwyn (Welsh: Sir Drefaldwyn, meaning the shire of Baldwins town ) and is one of thirteen historic counties and a former administrative county of Wales. Montgomeryshire was named after the county town, namely Montgomery, which in turn is named after one of William The Conquerors main councillors, Roger de Montgomerie, who was also the 1 st Earl of Shrewsbury. Montgomeryshire today constitutes the Northern part of Powys and has a population of just under 64,000 people. The three largest towns in Montgomeryshire are Newtown, Welshpool and Llanidloes. As mentioned above, Montgomeryshire is a historic county of Wales and is bounded by: To the North Denbighshire To the East and South East Shropshire To the South Radnorshire To the South West Cardiganshire To the West and North West Merionethshire Montgomeryshire consists of a significant proportion of the medieval kingdom of, Powys Wenwynwyn. The kingdom existed during the middle ages, with the capital being, Welshpool. In 1537 a Welsh school teacher by the name of Richard White was born in Montgomeryshire. White was martyred by being hung, drawn and quartered for high treason in Richard White was canonised in 1970 by Pope Paul VI as one of the forty martyrs of England and Wales and from that

2 moment on has been known as, Saint Richard Gwyn. His feast day is celebrated annually on 17 th October. Between the years of , Montgomeryshire was an administrative county with a county council. Following local government reforms in 1974, the areas of Montgomeryshire, Radnorshire and Breconshire were combined thus forming a new administrative Powys county. Montgomeryshire became a district of Powys with the administrative headquarters in Newtown and not in the county town of Montgomery. Montgomeryshire is predominantly a mountainous area with the highest point being, 832m at Cadair Berwyn. Two main rivers flow through Montgomeryshire, one being, the River Severn which flows in an easterly direction into Shropshire. The second main river in the area is the River Dyfi which flows west and into the Irish Sea. There is considered to be five main towns within Montgomeryshire, these are as follows: Machynlleth Llanidloes Montgomery Welshpool Newtown The county flower of Montgomeryshire is the, Spergula Arvensis otherwise known as, Corn Spurrey. Montgomeryshire as plenty of different places of interest to visit, some of these include: The Bryntail Lead Mine Buildings Llanidloes The Centre for Alternative Technology Llywyngwern near Machynlleth. Montgomery Castle Montgomery The Village of Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant

3 The host club of this season s Montgomeryshire Cup Final were Llanrhaeadr FC, who are based in the pretty location of Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant, a village and community in Powys, Wales. The village name translates into English as The Church of the Waterfall in Mochnant The area was an important site in the ancient medieval commote of Mochnant, in the former kingdom of Powys. During the 12 th century the area was divided into the separate commote s of: Mochnant is Rhaeadr ( In the North ) Mochnant Uwch Rhaeadr ( In the South ) These two divisions were later to become combined once more. The village of, Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant is in the combined electoral ward of Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant/Llansillin the population of the ward is 2295 people. The picture above, shows the church in Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant, namely St. Dogfan s. This Norman Church is a Grade II listed building and dates, back to the 13 th century, it was restored between 1879 and St. Dogfan was the son of Brychan Brycheiniog who in turn was a legendry 5 th Century King of Brycheiniog (Brecknockshire, or alternatively Breconshire) in South Wales. A Clas (A Clas was a native Christian Church in early medieval Wales) dedicated to St. Dogfan was founded on the site of the present church. The parish is best known for the former vicar, William Morgan. The vicar, during the 1580 s was the first person to translate the whole of the bible into Welsh. There is a plaque dedicate to William Morgan on the wall just outside the church, pictured below:

4 An amateur dramatics group called the Tanat Theatre Group was established in 1982, the group still produce and put on regular performances to this day. A picture of a hall in the village bearing the name, Tanat Theatre is shown as follows: Attractions nearby to the village include the following: Pistyll Rhaeadr Waterfall The Berwyn Mountains Lake Vyrnwy Llanrhaeadr-Ym-Mochnant is also famous for being the setting of the 1995 film, starring Hugh Grant, called The Englishman Who Went Up A Hill But Came Down A Mountain.

5 Public transport for the village is provided and operated by the family run, Tanat Valley Coaches. This coach business is based on the edge of the village and provides links with their 76 service to Llanfyllin, Meiford and Welshpool. The 79/79A service provides links to Llangynog, Llangedwyn, Penybontfawr and Oswestry. Before I went to the football ground I took the opportunity to take quite a few photographs, two of these are shown as follows: The Recreation Field The venue for this seasons Montgomeryshire Cup Final as previously mentioned were Llanrhaeadr Football Club whose home ground is the lovely Recreation Field.

6 This was my second visit to this ground this season, my previous visit came in August 2017 where I watched an entertaining Spar Mid Wales League Division 1 fixture between the hosts and their visitors that day, Llanidloes Town who were the victors that day 2-1. My previous visit came a few months before I started my blog, therefore my description of the ground is as follows: The ground as a small car park and plenty of on road parking. You enter the ground by paying your match admission at a wooden hut as shown below: Upon entering the ground, the first thing that I noticed was the lovely looking on site bowling green, this was quite unique and a great sight to see: On the same side as the bowling green is a wonderful pavilion, with a raised balcony area with benches. In this building you can find the snack bar, toilets and the home and away dressing rooms.

7 The goal nearest to the pavilion is in front of the car park, as shown below To the left-hand side of the pavilion is a small, neat covered stand, complete with around 50 seats

8 Opposite the stand, pavilion and bowling green is hard standing (hard standing goes all the way around the ground) which is on the same side as the main road that runs through the village. I chose to stand on this side of the ground and took this following picture during the first half Either side of my chosen spot for the first half is, on my left the dugouts and to my right the goal opposite the car park and in front of the village school:

9 The Montgomeryshire Cup Finalists The 2017/2018 final was between, Llansantffraid Village FC V Four Crosses. For this season, Llansantffraid competed in The Spar Mid Wales League Division 2 and finished the season in 2 nd place. Their opponents in the final, Four Crosses also finished their domestic league season in 2 nd place and competed in The JT Hughes Montgomeryshire Amateur Football League Division 1. This match was a real local derby with their respective home grounds being only an 8-minute, 3.6 mile drive from each other. I have visited both clubs earlier this season, both of my visits were my first too each club. My visit to Four Crosses came on 16 th December 2017, the home side took on Caersws Reserves in a league fixture and impressed me with a fine 3-0 victory. The name of the ground at which the club plays is, Foxen Manor the picture below shows the stand from where I watched the game in December

10 My first visit to Llansantffraid Village FC came only two weeks ago on Wednesday 16 th May. I was lucky to witness an exiting game between themselves and their opponents on the night Abermule FC. The game in question was the semi-final of the E.R. Jenkins Cup, the hosts eventually winning an enthralling game by 4-2 after extra time. A picture of the large stand behind the goal at their home of Treflan is shown as follows: I really enjoyed both of my visits to each club and would like to visit each of them again in the future. For the final and my last game of my travels for the 2017/2018 season, Llansantffraid Village played in an all Red Strip, whilst their opponents Four Crosses, wore Green Shirts with white sleeves, green shorts and white socks. Please continue reading, team line ups, statistics and my summary of my evening at The Recreation Field are as follows:

11 Team Line Ups Llansantffraid Village Four Crosses 1. Rhys Jones 1. Gareth Jones 2. Ben Thomson (Carruthers, 71) 2. Tom Evans 3. Dan Hinley 3. Dylan Ellis 4. Joe Mackinson 4. Paul Bache ( Wiliams, 66) 5. Matty Davies 5. Steve Bishton ( c ) 6. Jake Harris 6. Steve Pugh 7. Tom Gale 7. Kyle Wilson 8. Bryn Jones ( c ) 8. Jake Edwards 9. Nathan Prdoger 9. Harry Davies 10. Bailey Austin 10. Ollie Jackson ( Simms, 71) 11. Wayne Austin 11. Shin Miah 12. Rob Carruthers 12. Calum Hughes * Other subs unknown 14. Ben Simms 15. Emlyn Williams 16. Steve Beckett 17. Steve Herbert Match Statistics Goal Log: Gale, 80 Goal Log: Davies, 11. Ellis, 16 ( pen ) Attempts: 26 Attempts: 4 On Target: 9 On Target: 4 Corners: 6 Corners: 2 Yellows: 0 Yellows: 1 Reds: 0 Reds: 0

12 Match Report Four Crosses came out the winners by 2 goals to 1 in this very watchable and entertaining cup final. Crosses took the lead on 11 minutes, a long ball over the top of the Llansantffraid defence found Davies clean through on goal. Calmly he finished the move by placing the ball low to the left of Llansantffraid Goalkeeper Jones. Crosses almost made it 2-0 in the 15 th minute, Davies again with the effort but this time Jones saved the shot well. It was 2-0 however only a minute later, Ellis scoring his teams second of the game from the penalty spot with a high left footed shot down the centre of the goal into the roof of the net. Llansantffraid almost reduced the arears in the 28 th minute, Wayne Austin provided a good cut back from the left which found Jake Harris in the penalty area, his right footed shot whistled just wide of the far post. Llan s best chance of the first half came in the 31 st minute, a well delivered corner from the left found Matty Davies at the far post, his header going narrowly wide of the post. Llansantffraid were now having plenty of possession and created a further two chances before half time. One, a volley from Tom Gale which went over the bar. The second attempt, four minutes before half time was a fantastic long range free-kick taken by Wayne Austin. Gareth Jones in the Four Crosses goal was pleased to see Austin s shot fly narrowly wide. Half-Time 2-0 The first real chance of the second half didn t come until the 64 th minute. Nathan Prodger for Llansantffraid found himself clean through on goal. The on rushing Four Crosses Goalkeeper, Gareth Jones saved well, the rebound was put narrowly wide of the post from distance by Wayne Austin. A minute later Harry Davies for Four Crosses had his cross shot from the left well saved by Rhys Jones. This proved to be the last attempt at goal by Four Crosses, Llansantffraid began to dominate possession of the ball and tried hard to get back into the game. Four Crosses to their immense credit defended very well, in the 80 th minute Llansantffraid did indeed get a goal back. A corner from the right was swung in and headed into the net from close range by Tom Gale. This set up an exciting last ten minutes, Llansantffraid created three more decent chances but try as they might they could not get the equalising goal. Four Crosses defended stoutly and hung on to claim the victory. Summary An enjoyable game for my last game of the 2017/2018 season. I once again enjoyed my visit to The Recreation Field. I enjoyed a pleasant short chat before I entered the ground with the nice lad on the gate, I also said hello to Mel Roberts, chairman of Llanrhaeadr. Mel greeted me with a warm handshake and welcomed me to the ground for this, my second visit. I was also pleased to have a lengthy chat with John Quinn (committee member of Llansantffraid) I met John on my recent visit to Treflan. He thanked me for the report that I had written from my visit and which was subsequently published in The Oswestry and Border Counties Advertiser, I really appreciated his kind words.

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