O65 WorkwearSupermarket.com League 2025/26

26th November
Merthyr continued their resurgence with a hard-fought 2-0 win against hosts, Newport. Both teams moved the ball well and possession was shared until Challenger put them ahead from the penalty spot on 15 minutes. Merthyr then kept the ball well with their short-passing game and it remained 1-0 at the interval. A fairly even second half was punctuated by some robust tackling which saw Newport’s striker, Williams leave the field. A goal on the hour mark by Owen ensured that Merthyr claimed all 3 points.
An entertaining game between Pontyclun and Swansea ended all-square after Evans had put Swansea ahead in the 10th minute after good work by Pasquantonio. Pontyclun dominated for long periods and White ensured a share of the spoils with a 48th minute penalty, albeit his side will rue several missed chances, and the Swans will thank gloveman, Meacham, for two superb saves to keep his side in the game.
Barry Townbeat title holders, Penybont 3-1 after dominating the match from the off. ‘Bont’ keeper, Davies, made 3 excellent saves from Mackay, Bobbett, and Brown before Staddon finally put his side ahead on 25 minutes, and a stubborn Penybont rear-guard kept it to 1-0 at the interval. Minutes into the second half, Penybont stunned the hosts when Peter Morgan’s cross was headed home by Jason Morgan, unchallenged. Barry pressed forward and pressurised the hard-working Penybont defensive line with Davies again outstanding, saving acrobatically from Bobbett and Marshall before Gibbins eventually volleyed home from a corner on the hour. Bobbett’s perseverance found Miles in space and he coolly slotted home Barry's third from 35 yards, to put his side clear at the top of the o65 WorkwearSupermarket.com League.

5th November
A competitive match between Penybont and Pontyclun ended 1-1. There was plenty of goalmouth action, and Fitzgibbon capped off a fine performance when he found the net for Pontylcun in the 26th minute. Minutes later Jason Morgan equalised to take the teams in all-square at the break. There were chances created and spurned by both teams in the second half but the match ended with the spoils being shared.

In another tightly contested match Swansea hosted Merthyr Tydfil, and although there was plenty of good interplay, it took until the hour mark for Lambert to put Merthyr ahead with a fine strike. Myserscough equalised for the Swans with minutes remaining, capitalising on a mistake in the visitors defence and the game finished 1-1.

Barry Town hosted Newport in the final fixture of the day, and after a fairly scrappy opening the game sprung to life when Stu Evans clipped home expertly to give the hosts the lead. Goalkeepers’ Hill and Sully both made important saves, and on the half hour mark, Kev James powered a header in from a corner to make it 1-1 going into half-time. Barry improved after the break and man of the match, Huw Davies rifled home from the edge of the box to put Barry back into the lead. Marshall made it 3-1, heading home an Evans corner, before Newport had the chance to get back into the game, but Hill saved Rowland’s penalty! Miles secured the win, galloping clear and slotting home astutely past Sully.

8th October
Barry Town 3, Merthyr Tydfil 2
The first round of games in the O65 WorkwearSupermarket.com League finally got underway after a delayed start as Barry Town narrowly defeated Merthyr...writes Frank Lennon...Barry started well enough and dominated possession but Merthyr keeper, Seago was alert to any through balls and dealt comfortably with efforts from Bobbett, Staddon and Gibb and although he was in no man’s land when Marshall struck the bar, he was rarely troubled. Bobbett was unlucky not to convert a superb ball across the goalmouth by Evans but he made amends minutes later, finally beating the stubborn Merthyr rear-guard, and sliding home when found neatly by Gibb. Merthyr pushed for parity and Barry became ponderous and susceptible to Merthyr’s quick breaks and Challenger was allowed to draw Merthyr level with a strike to the bottom corner. Minutes later the same player seized onto a poor clearance before scrambling the ball home past an inert Barry defence to make it 2-1 at the break. In the second half, Barry, who were missing talisman, Branch, pressed forward but without any real invention. Staddon just failed to convert an Evans cross but they were repelled by O’Sullivan and his stubborn defensive colleagues until Brown equalised after one of his customary mazy runs. Debutant, Davies entered the fray and made an immediate impact shielding the ball from the defenders and bringing the midfield into the game. Merthyr were still confident they could take advantage of their opponent’s hesitant defence and Challenger had two great opportunities to complete his hat-trick, but shot tamely at keeper, Blackie. At the other end there was suddenly more cohesion and Barry were peppering Seago’s goal, finally Staddon converted from 15 yards to seal a hard-fought win for his team.

Pontyclun 2, Newport 1
In the second game of three, Pontyclun secured a hard-fought win against Newport. The latter were missing many of their World Cup winning o70s contingent, but still took a 15th minute lead when Herrin crashed home. Although openings were created at both ends, glove-men, Sully and Ryan, were rarely tested until ‘Clun defender, Fitzgibbon, slalomed through the Newport defence before sliding in Maclachlan, who finished sharply to make it 1-1 at the interval. The game, continued to ebb and flow into the second half and although there was plenty of goal-mouth incident, a second goal by Maclachlan was enough to secure a 2-1 victory for Pontyclun.

Penybont 4, Swansea 3
In the final game of the day, title holders, Penybont edged out Swansea in a competitive encounter between two evenly-matched sides. Steer put Penybont ahead before Leigh equalised for the Swans after a powerful free-kick by Mysercough. A fine shot by Veasey which looped over World Cup winning goalkeeper, Meacham, restored Penybont’s lead and then a mix-up in the Swansea defence allowed Steer to ‘rebound’ the ball into an empty goal for 3-1. Mysercough made it 3-2 at the interval with an astute finish. The end to end action continued into the second half, Newport keeper, Pearce, making a series of fine stops at one end and, Meacham, doing likewise at the other. 75 year old Mike Williams made it 4-2 with a rare goal, and despite Griffiths scoring for the Swans with minutes remaining, last year’s champions got their season off to a winning start.