The opening day of the Welsh football season, and with the FA of Wales having opened entries to the Welsh Cup to clubs lower down the pyramid, the First Qualifying Round begins the campaign. It is an especially big day for Greenfield, playing their first competitive game back in their own village, appropriately enough as the old Courtaulds Greenfield team had their finest hour in this competition almost thirty years ago, reaching the quarter-finals and a game with Football League side Hereford United.
Since forming five years ago Greenfield have enjoyed considerable success in the Clwyd League, and last season's third place finish in the Premier Division has earned them a place in the newly formed second tier of the Welsh Alliance. However, with the factory on whose land the ground stands up for sale, it is only this year they have been able to return home.
Considerable efforts have been made to provide the necessary facilities, with the portable buildings in the first picture housing changing rooms, and the pitch fully railed off. The rail on the near side is set well back from the pitch, but there is plenty of room if the club wish to further develop the ground in the future.
Today's visitors Machynlleth have had a lengthy journey up from Mid Wales. They ended last season in seventh place in the Aberystwyth League, which probably suggests the hosts should be considered slight favourites, and they had plenty of the play in the first half, including this early corner.
However, the visitors were far more clinical in front of goal, and Gareth Richards opened the scoring with a near post finish on 14 minutes, Jamie Johnson added a second soon afterwards with a neat chip over keeper Danny Pierce, and Johnson made it three five minutes before the interval with another well placed shot.
As with my game last midweek, this is another ground with plenty of trains passing by.
Greenfield quickly give themselves a lifeline just five minutes into the second half, Wayne Bayliss turning away after converting this penalty.
The turning point of the game perhaps arrived soon afterwards, home defender Darren Jones penalised for a foul on the edge of the penalty area when he was clearly the last defender, but the referee infuriating the Machynlleth officials by failing to produce a card of any colour.
When Graeme Williams put Wayne Bayliss away to make it 2-3 on 67 minutes, the visitors were left appealing for an offside decision that didn't come, and although I thought the young referee got that one right, I felt he over reacted to the visitors show of frustation, dismissing both Sion Williams and Glyn Howard for comments made in the space of three minutes.
There was an air of inevitability about what would happen after that, and despite some heroic efforts from Machynlleth's nine men, the equaliser arrived in the second of eight added minutes from Mark Pritchard.
Extra time followed with surely only one winner possible, and substitute Craig Gallagher headed Greenfield ahead for the first time on the 100 minute mark. Karl Ainsworth wrapped things up after 112 minutes, giving Greenfield a memorable 5-3 victory to mark their homecoming, although I couldn't help but feel Machynlleth had been dealt a very harsh hand on the day.
