Excitement is mounting in Aberystwyth for the Black and Greens' home bow in the 2015/6 Dafabet Welsh Premier League season, with Rhyl the visitors to Park Avenue for a 7.45pm kick off, and the Club will be using the occasion to recognise its Sponsors. The match will provide Ceredigion based Supporters their first chance this term to glimpse Ian Hughes' free scoring side which achieved a superb fourth placed finish in the WPL last season, along with new signings Lee Surman, Darren Griffiths and Jack Rimmer, although Geoff Kellaway serves the second in a three match ban. Town will be looking to bounce back after experiencing the bitter taste of defeat last weekend in a close game at Llandudno, and will be fully motivated to start their home season off with a bang. Aberystwyth Town's wonderful Club Sponsors have been renewing their Programme and Board Advertisements in the past few weeks and in recognition they have been invited to a reception in the Studio during the game; meanwhile Club President Neville Evans of Cambrian Tyres will be hosting a delegation from Bridgestone Tyres in the Gantry. We welcome all organisations to the game and hope they enjoy the evening. Aber's opponents on Friday are Rhyl, who finished last season in eighth position and have since changed Managers, with Gareth Owen now at the helm. Owen's new look side remains something of an unknown quantity, though they battled hard to gain a point at home to Bangor last Friday, courtesy of Aron Bowen's 87th minute headed equaliser. With WPL attendances experiencing a real boom at the moment, a bumper Friday night crowd is almost inevitable at Park Avenue. Admission will cost £6 for Adults, £4 for Concessions and £1 for Children, however Season Tickets will also be available on the night for £80 (Adults), £50 (Pensioners) and £10 (Children). Our Fab Friday Kick off time is 7.45pm. See you there! It’s been quite a week for young Black and Greens Midfielder Jack Rimmer, writes Club Media Assistant Matthew Wallace. Just seven days ago, the sixteen year old was nervously awaiting his GCSE results like thousands around the country. Fast forward to now and not only has the Penweddig pupil had success in the classroom, but he’s also made his first team debut live in front of the Sgorio cameras in Saturday’s 3-2 defeat against Llandudno. “This week has been amazing, making my senior debut in the Welsh Premier League, and picking up my GCSE results, which were a lot better than what I thought they were going to be! It has probably been the best week in my life!” Despite the disappointment of defeat, the midfielder impressed during his brief twenty-minute cameo from the substitutes bench and is eager to build upon this first taste of first team action. “We were very unfortunate with the first result of the season. I still think we're bonding as a squad, it wasn't the best start to the season, but we have many positives to take from the game, but also we will work on the mistakes which we made in losing the game. I'm very eager to play more games for Aberystwyth, I am determined to work hard through the season, and hopefully push myself to start a few games in the season!” Rimmer is the latest in the line of talented youngsters to make his way through the ranks first at Aberystwyth academy and then the first team. Names like Tom Bradshaw, Gwion Edwards and Alex Samuel will be recognisable not only to the faithful supporters of Aberystwyth, but also to fans right across the country and the class of 2015 look set to emulate the success of their predecessors with Rimmer being named on the bench alongside Liam Lewis and Tom Jones. “Last year with the Academy was great, I learned a lot from the likes of Gari Lewis, Bari Morgan, Andy Evans and Lee Jenkins from a young age. It's exciting to think that I'm the latest in the line of exciting youngsters coming through the Academy, obviously Alex, Gwion and Tom have done amazingly well since leaving the club, hopefully one day, my chance will come to play at the level they are at!” Having impressed in pre-season, manager Ian Hughes had little hesitation about placing Jack in the squad for the season opener. “He’s a player with a great future. He’ll be given opportunities at our club. He’s physically ready to play Welsh Premier League football and he’ll be given those opportunities as and when we feel it’s right.” Rimmer added, “Preseason with the first team was a big step up, one which I had enjoyed! Knowing that I was in the squad for the first game of the season was great, I couldn't wait to get on the pitch, and when Ian gave me the nod to come on, and make my debut, I was really nervous, but also very excited to get my first game underway!” Making your debut would already be a daunting enough experience for most but to do so in front of the TV cameras and a national television audience adds another element of expectation. But the youngster did so, showing maturity on and off the ball beyond his formative years, which Rimmer attributes to the support of his family, friends and team mates around him. “The support has been overwhelming, my family of course are all proud of me and were so excited seeing my on the television! My mates still couldn't believe that I was on the TV! The boys have been very supportive from the start of pre-season, they are all a great bunch of lads, who have welcomed me with open arms, they were just saying, just to try and relax and go out and enjoy it more than anything! But everyone that I know have been congratulating me a lot the past few days, which is great!” Undoubtedly, the talented youngster will enjoy many more famous weeks in the game before the end of his career but few will be as memorable as this one. Jack will certainly be in the Black and Greens' Squad which faces Rhyl in Town's 2015/6 Park Avenue Bow this Friday (ko 7.45pm). Despite falling to 3-2 reverse in this season’s Dafabet Welsh Premier opener against Llandudno, manager Ian Hughes sees plenty of positives that can be built upon ahead of the upcoming Welsh Premier League Season, writes Matthew Wallace.
“We started the game really well and went 1-0 ahead and I thought we controlled the opening stages. We gave them a lifeline really in terms of their goal. It was our corner and then they made it 2-1 but I still felt we were in the game. We started the second half brightly but we conceded a third which again, we shouldn’t be giving a player that much time outside the box but when we got our goal back, I honestly did feel that we were going to get an equaliser. Surman’s hit the bar with a header and Venables has troubled the keeper with a long shot. We’ve created enough chances to win the game but it’s the same old story, we can’t score four goals every week to win games. It’s something we will address and address quickly.” Aber went into the game without new signing Rhys Griffiths and last year’s supporters’ player of the season Geoff Kellaway thanks to injury and suspension respectively. This saw Hughes name a substitutes bench with three products of the club’s academy in the form of Liam Lewis, Thomas Jones and Jack Rimmer and it was the former, despite only picking up his GCSE results hours previously that made his senior debut in front of the Sgorio cameras. “We felt that the season came upon us a week early with Geoff Kellaway’s suspension and Rhys Griffiths’ injury. But the academy deserves great credit at the club. The youngsters will be given an opportunity with the club. As a club we try and give as many young players an opportunity as we can. Jack [Rimmer] has come on and done well today and hopefully he’ll be in the squad again for next week.” An opening day victory is never an assurance of success and this is the attitude the manager takes going into the season. “There’s 93 points to play for until the end of the season and we’re only three points down so there’s lots still to play for. It’s the first game of a long, long season. We’ve got players in the dressing room who are capable of taking the game by the scruff of the neck and I’m sure they will do that next week against Rhyl.” Aber Town's first home League game of the season takes place this Friday night at Park Avenue at home to Rhyl, with a 7.45pm kick off. Dafabet Welsh Premier League
Saturday 22nd August MBi Llandudno 3 Aberystwyth Town 2 Two goals from the irrepressible Chris Venables, a header and a penalty, were not enough to prevent the Black and Greens falling to defeat in this season's opener at Llandudno, who held on for a narrow 3-2 win in the face of a late onslaught from the visitors. Ian Hughes’ side kicked off the game sporting their new orange away strip, and they started the game fairly well. After an even start with some strong defending evident from Aber, stand in striker Luke Sherbon stung home keeper Dave Roberts’ paws with a superb volleyed strike, and from Ross Stephens’ corner, Venables headed home a thirteenth minute opener to give Town the perfect start to 2015/6. With Sherbon battling well up front and Darren Thomas menacing down the right Aber looked a threat, but Llandudno had a few chances too, with Alan Bull volleying over from a corner. Then however on 20 minutes Llandudno broke, Gareth Evans found space down the left flank and slipped the ball under the advancing Mike Lewis to equalise. An open and entertaining game ensued which the neutrals watching would have enjoyed: Bull’s free kick was safely gathered by Lewis, then at the other end Craig Williams’ superb curling set piece was touched onto the post by the redoubtable Roberts. Tom Dix and the impressive Mark Williams both had chances for Llandudno, who then somehow survived the most astonishing goalmouth scramble – and how crucial that survival proved to be as seconds later Williams turned in the box and scored on 43 minutes to send the hosts in ahead at half time. The visitors saw more of the ball after the break, without creating too many chances of note, and then on 59 minutes came the definitive moment of the game when Williams did well down the right and played the ball in for Danny Hughes, who scored with an astonishing first time volley for 3-1. Now 16 year old Jack Rimmer came on for a composed first team debut in centre mid, and Aber really went for it, creating chance after chance. Stuart Jones had a header saved from a corner, and then with eighteen minutes to go Chris Venables was held in the area, and he picked himself up to dispatch the resultant penalty confidently for 3-2. Hughes for the home side fired wide from a good position, but then back down the other end Venables lobbed Roberts from inside his own half and the Liverpudlian netminder only just managed to tip the ball over the post to safety. Lee Surman scraped the crossbar with a header from a corner and it was starting to look like the equaliser must come. Venables flashed a shot wide and then brought yet another save from Roberts with a header, before Darren Thomas sent a shot over from the edge of the area. With the home side reduced to aiming for the far corners with their clearances, more pressure saw Sherbon head a Cledan Davies free kick wide, and that was that. The televised game was a gripping encounter and a superb occasion and Llandudno deserve plaudits off the field, for attracting a superb crowd of 796, and on it for making more of their chances than Aber did on the day. However after a narrow defeat Ian Hughes men will not be needing any motivation for their first home game of the season on Friday night against Rhyl (ko 7.45pm). Dafabet Welsh Premier League Saturday 22nd August (ko 5.15pm) MBi Llandudno v Aberystwyth Town All the pre season preparation are done - and we are ready to go! Aberystwyth Town kick off their Dafabet WPL Campaign of 2015/6 at Maesdu Park, home of Llandudno on Saturday evening, and with ex Aber Manager Alan Morgan in charge at Llandudno and the TV Cameras in attendance it is bound to be a famous occasion. The sides last met in a Welsh Cup last sixteen game in January 2012, and Aber won the ties on penalties after a 1-1 draw, ironically in one of Morgan's last games in charge at Park Avenue. Llandudno won the Cymru Alliance last year and have strengthened in the summer with signings such as Dave Roberts, Michael Johnston and Alan Bull familiar to Welsh Premier aficionados, and with a strong Club infrastructure behind them they are definitely a Club to watch in the next few years. However, the Black and Greens should be exuding confidence after a fantastic season last time round, which saw them finish in fourth place, reach the Europa League Play Off Final, and become the second best supported Club in the WPL after another 70 goal season. Since that Ian Hughes' men have been bolstered by the eye catching signings of Rhys Griffiths, Lee Surman and Darren Griffiths, and will be looking for a positive result to match their last two season openers, a 3-0 win at Rhyl in 2013 and a 5-0 win at Cefn Druids last August. Manager Ian Hughes told atfc.org.uk this evening: "We are all looking forward to another Welsh Premier League season, and for the third season running we play a newly promoted team away as our first game. We have done well in our first game in previous seasons, however this Saturday will be totally different with it being Llandudno's first game ever in the WPL, and with it being on TV all the pressure will be on the home team. I've been content with our Pre-season knowing that the players are ready to perform to the required standard. I'm also looking forward to seeing Alan Morgan on Saturday, who gave me the opportunity to join this great club. His team will be organised, hard working and will show plenty of desire, which we will need to match. Safe journey to the travelling fans and we look forward to seeing you on Saturday." The Coach will now leave Park Avenue at the slightly earlier time of 11.45am, and a return fare will cost a mere £10. Start the season as you mean to carry on, and join the travelling Black and Green Army! See you on the Coach Saturday lunchtime. International boost for Welsh football, as Sgorio matches will be made available across the world on the S4C website. Black and Greens Fans across the world will be able to follow Welsh football this season, as S4C announced yesterday that Sgorio's Saturday afternoon match coverage will be made available for catch up internationally on the s4c.cymru on demand website. The games featured on Sgorio each Saturday afternoon – including Dafabet Welsh Premier League, JD Welsh Cup and the Word Cup final – will be uploaded on to S4C's international online service following the final whistle, which will allow fans across the world to catch up with the games in full, on demand, for 35 days. It's good news for fans living abroad, and also for the followers in the UK if they travel overseas during the season, as they will be able to catch up with the games in full online. This new development strengthens S4C's continued support of domestic football in Wales. The announcement was made during a launch event for the Dafabet Welsh Premier League held at the Senedd in Cardiff Bay today (Tuesday 18 August). Gwyn Derfel, Secretary of Dafabet Welsh Premier League said that the international coverage will boost the profile of Welsh football: "This is great news for Welsh football, which will broaden the appeal of the national league across the world. We're grateful to S4C and the Sgorio team at Rondo Media for their continued support, and having these games available internationally will raise the profile of the teams, the league and the game in Wales." Sgorio returns on 22 August in the new prime Saturday afternoon slot at 4.45. The first game of the Dafabet Welsh Premier League season will take us to the home of league newcomers MBi Llandudno, as they welcome Aberystwyth to MBi Maesdu Park. Sue Butler, S4C Sports Editor said: "We're very much looking forward to another thrilling football season on S4C with a new series of Sgorio in its new slot on Saturday afternoons. It's great that we can expand our provision this season to include the supporters outside the UK, for the faithful supporters living abroad, and for new followers too." Making Sgorio's Saturday afternoon match coverage available internationally is part of S4C's wider plans to reach out to viewers outside the UK. Elin Morris, S4C Corporate and Commercial Director, "We're very glad to make Sgorio's match coverage available on demand outside the UK on the S4C website. It is part of a wider scheme to significantly increase S4C content which is available internationally over the course of a pilot period. We look forward to announcing more details about our plans very soon." To receive information about S4C programmes that are available online internationally, you can subscribe to receive an occasional email. To subscribe go to s4c.cymru |
Gem Nesaf
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