Friday 20th September 2024 ko 19:00

West Wales Premier League

SEASIDE 0

GARDEN VILLAGE 1 (Jewell 56)

Att 207

Entry £3

Programme £2

For an organised hop that’d been so successful there was a tinge of regret about this season’s visit to West Wales. That was mainly due to the loss for the August Bank Holiday Welsh Hop; the FAW Trophy made it difficult to organise, and the Gwent League’s inability to supply fixtures- impossible. But if this was to be GroundHopUK’s only visit to Wales this season, there was the overarching feeling that we should make it a good one.

We’d visited Llanelli-based Seaside AFC on the Carmarthenshire League Hop back in 2017. There was more regret there too, that particular league and several clubs never did grasp the concept so glorious exceptions like Seaside will always make me and others look back and wonder what if?

But it’s Seaside’s promotion for this season to the West Wales Premier that saw them move grounds, to provide the mandatory railed-off pitch. They haven’t shifted far, about 400 yards as the crow flies to a 3G cage at the back of Penrhos School. In fact its close enough for the players to still change back at the club and walk through an unofficial alleyway to get to the school. They won’t be here for long either; they’ll return once the pitch back home sports a rail, certainly by next season.

The temporary ground did cause a few issues, none of which were of Seaside’s making. For one they weren’t allowed to have any catering at the ground, which is why so many took that alleyway to the clubhouse. The dirty fries were excellent, and let’s face it, I did need the exercise! The other issue was how little of the cage was open for spectators. It did get busy in there and the 200 or so folks we got was probably as much as the place could accommodate.

As was the case back in 2017 I enjoyed Seaside’s company but I’m sure they will have left the ground when it was all over with one regret, and that will be how they failed to get something out of the game? They created chance after chance, missed the lot and were made to play for their profligacy.

That said, I’m sure they’ll look at it all as proof positive that they’ve more than got what it takes to do well in their new league. We headed for our normal base in Carmarthen far happier than I could have possibly hoped for.