Cwmbran Celtic gained a narrow 1-0 away victory against Newport YMCA in this first round Youth Welsh Cup tie. The score line suggests a close game, but in fairness, the game should have been dead and buried by half time. Celtic were guilty of not finishing in front of goal, which left YM still very much in this game at 0-0 at the break.

In the second half Celtic’s Simon Prangley was lively down the left side, and after some neat play from Patel, was put through on goal. Prangley’s shot from just inside the box was put just wide of the post. Although it wasn’t too long before Celtic finally got the break they deserved. After some quick passing, Lee Newman found himself with space, and finished off the move by scoring from close range after 63 minutes.

Celtic continued to press, and again Prangley was still finding some joy on the left flank. His cross found Liam Palmer, his shot rebounded off the defender to Patel, who shot straight at the keeper. With the score at only 1-0, Newport were still very much in the game. And on 83 minutes, a screaming shot from fully 35 yards almost caught Celtic out, but keeper Tom Morgan, fresh from his impressive debut against Newport County on Wednesday, made a great save, by tipping it over the bar.

Back came Celtic, pressing for the goal to kill off the tie. Substitute, Ian Watkins on 85 minutes, made space for himself and launched his shot on goal, which just cleared the bar. That was Cwmbran’s last effort on goal, and they will be disappointed in not to have found the back of the net more in this game. That being said, Newport YMCA is a tough place to go for a result, and the management team, were glad to progress into the next round, if only by the odd goal.