Afan Lido Football Club

This Saturday we travel for our first league encounter with West End (though this will probably be postponed).
West end are in division 1 for the first time in their history having come into the welsh league system from the local Swansea Senior league, and made it to the top division since their arrival in the welsh league in the 2005/06 season, in their first season in the league we meet them in the welsh cup at the Marston and they beat us 3-0 on Friday September 9th 2005.
Their form so far this season see's them with the worst against goal difference in division 1 with minus 23 from their 15 games, we beat them at the Marston earlier in the season 5-0.
Lido are without a game since our 2-2 draw away to Bridgend on December 11th, and West End's last game came on December 12th when they were well beaten 7-1 away at Caldicot, they have gone 5 games since a win losing heavily in 3 of them  two 7-1 defeats, and a 6-1, their last league win came in a 3-2 win over Caerleon away.
They currently lie in the relegation places in 14th position, which normally would see them safe from relegation but this season is a special once off with the league being reduced by 2 teams and 3 coming up plus any welsh premier sides that don't make the super 12 cut. West End have conceded more goals than any team in division 1 with 45 in their 15 games while scoring 22, they have only managed 2 clean sheets in their 15 games coming from a 1-0 win over Bettws and a 0-0 draw.
So if the game goes ahead we will be looking to claim our first league double of the season, and looking to keep up with Aberaman in 2nd place who are 4 points ahead of us.
West End have two former Lido players in their squad, Defender Steve Crabb, and striker Darren Griffiths.

   

The Afan Lido squad to play Cambrian & Clydach on Tuesday night is:

M Lewis, S Hillman, S Galsworthy, S Morgan, C Thomas, C Pridham, Damon Thomas, G Jones, C Payne, S McCourbrey, R Williams, M Jones, J Hood, C Baker, R Cockings, D Lancey, N White.

Captain Carl Evans misses the next game through suspension for picking up 5 yellows and serves a 1 match ban.

   

This Tuesday we travel to face Cambrian & Clydach at the King George Field (weather permitting) in a game that looks far from an easy task. Cambrian are looking like the league's dark horses this season with only 11 games played they lie in 7th place, just 1 point behind Lido but with 3 games in hand. In fact winning their games in hand over Aberaman they could go 4 points clear of Aber in 2nd place, if they win all their games in hand over Goytre they would be 1 point ahead of Goytre and top of the league. For only having played 11 games they have already scored more than Lido, they have 29 to our 24, with 11 coming at home and conceded 8, and 18 on their travels, we have managed 7 goals in our 7 away games and conceded 12.

In previous season's Cambrian have had the better results against Lido, last season they won both league games comfortably 2-0, the season before we managed our only victory in the 4 meetings beating them 3-1 at their pad, and drew 0-0 at the Marston. Their away form this season is better than their home form, on the road they have won 4 and drawn the other, while at home they won 3 drawn 2 and lost 1. Our away form in the previous 2 games has seen us stop the losing habit with 2 draws 0-0 against Aberaman, and 2-2 last time out away to Bridgend, we are due a win on the road which hasn't come since the opening away fixture of the season which we beat Ton Pentre 3-1, and we have gone on a 6 game streak without winning, but whether our stuttering away performances will provide a win against Cambrian remains to be seen, if I were a betting man I would put my money on a home win, but I'm not a betting man, so I am hopeful of gaining something against Cambrian if the game is playable of course.

   

Tomorrow's 1st's game against Bryntirion & the U18's game against Pontardawe on Sunday have both been called off.
Because of the devastating fire at the Afan Lido, there is no electricity supply to the ground. The Neath Port Talbot council cannot investigate until it is safe to do so. The the supply for the changing rooms, offices and floodlights are off the same supply as for the Afan Lido complex. But the clubhouse is not affected and will be open as normal, as it's power supply is from a different source. There is a possibility if the situation is not resolved quickly a generator will be supplied to the club.

   

Managers Mark & Vince have named a 16 man squad to face Bryntirion at the Marston tomorrow.

M Lewis, C Payne, S McCourbrey, R Williams, R Cockings, C Pridham, C Latham,  M Jones, G Jones, Damon Thomas, C Baker, C Thomas, S Hillman, D Lancey, C Evans, N White.

   

A pledge has been given that a leisure complex badly damaged in a fire will either be replaced or rebuilt.

More than 100 firefighters tackled the blaze at the Afan Lido in Aberafan, which broke out on Wednesday evening.

An emergency meeting is being held to discuss its future, although it is still too dangerous for investigators and structural engineers to go inside.

But Neath Port Talbot council said there would be an Afan Lido-style complex on the seafront in the future.

Councillor Mike James, cabinet member with responsibility for leisure and tourism at Neath Port Talbot, who is also chair of the Celtic Leisure Trust body in charge of the lido, described the building as an "icon" which dominated the Aberafan seafront and pledged that it would either be rebuilt or replaced.

"That's a guarantee from Neath Port Talbot [council]. The future of the Aberafan seafront with an Afan Lido-style complex there in the future," he said.

Neath Port Talbot council will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the fire, which is not being treated as suspicious.

It has already promised to repair or replace the complex, which was opened by the Queen in 1965 with Graham Jenkins, the brother of Hollywood star Richard Burton, as its first manager.

BBC

   

Structural engineers will begin assessing the damage to a leisure complex after a fire which was tackled by more than 100 firefighters. It is feared the blaze, which burned for over 12 hours, has destroyed much of the Afan Lido in Aberafan. Neath Port Talbot council will hold an emergency meeting later to discuss the future of the "local icon". The fire led to homes nearby being evacuated and roads closed after it started at 1650 GMT on Wednesday. A lifeguard has told how she saw the fire break out from underneath a fake rock feature and raised the alarm. Mid and West Wales Fire Service spent the night tackling the fire. Crews remain at the scene, dampening down. No-one has been injured. The extent of the damage remains unclear but BBC Wales' Tom Singleton said that, while there was a blackened hole in the front of the building, the fire service had told him the majority of the damage was inside. Councillor Mike James, cabinet member with responsibility for leisure and tourism at Neath Port Talbot, who is also chair of the Celtic Leisure Trust body in charge of the lido, said it appeared the main structure of the building had been destroyed. He described the building as an "icon" which dominated the Aberafan seafront and pledged that it would either be rebuilt or replaced. The future of the Aberafan seafront with an Afan Lido-style complex there in the future," he said. Neath Port Talbot council will hold an emergency meeting on Thursday to discuss the fire, which is not being treated as suspicious. It has already promised to repair or replace the complex, which was opened by the Queen in 1953 with Graham Jenkins, the brother of Hollywood star Richard Burton, as its first manager. Meanwhile, Tywyn Primary School in adjacent Channel View will be closed on Thursday following the fire but is expected to re-open on Friday. Fire crews were unable to enter the the leisure centre in the Sandfields estate once the flames broke through the roof. At the height of the blaze, 17 fire vehicles were deployed, including three aerial appliances. Lido lifeguard Justine Jones, 19, was one of four staff on duty at the poolside and was the person who raised the alarm. She told the BBC News website: "I spotted the fire in the poolside. There is a feature temple and fake rocks and the smoke was coming from inside the rocks. "I heard a 'pop' and there was smoke and flames everywhere. It was coming from the bottom by the slides." Ms Jones, who has worked at the lido for two-and-a-half years, said there was only one person swimming at the time but it took them a moment to attract his attention. "We whistled at him and said, 'there's a fire, quick, run!'" They checked the changing area before leaving. She added: "All the staff got their heads together and acted fast." Ms Jones said the building had fortunately been very quiet at the time the fire started. Her car keys and personal belongings are still inside the building, and she had to leave her car parked outside. Councillor Ali Thomas, leader of Neath Port Talbot council, paid tribute to the lido's staff for their "prompt, well rehearsed actions which meant that there were no injuries". "I would also like to thank the local residents for their calmness and co-operation with our officers and emergency services during the incident," he said. "Local businesses also showed great citizenship, in particular the Apollo Cinema, who provided teas, coffee and hot dogs free of charge to the emergency services." Aberavon MP Dr Hywel Francis has also visited the lido to thank its staff and the emergency services. He said he would work with the council to make sure the facilities are replaced.
BBC

Saturday we host Bryntirion Athletic at the Marston in a 5th versus 6th, we are level on points with Bryntirion on 23 each but they have a game in hand.

Bryntirion have the 3rd best away record in the division with 3 wins, 3 draws and just 1 defeat from their 7 games. Their only defeat was a 5-2 loss against Ely Rangers on October 24.

They have only suffered 2 defeats in the league from their 13 games, but have drawn 5. They also recorded their 1st win over Lido when we met on August 22nd coming out 2-1 winners, in our previous 4 meetings we have won 2 and drawn 2, so they will be looking to record their first victory at the Marston and in doing so will complete a league double.

While we are only 4 points off 2nd place we have lost more games than any other team in the top 7 with 5 losses from our 14 games, but we do have the 2nd best home record in the division with 18 points, only Caldicot have a better points tally of 19, but they have played 2 games more, we also have the meanest defence at home only conceding 5 goals from those 7 games and we have scored 17.

Nathan White is still our top scorer in the league with 10 goals, though none have come in his last 6 league games, something that will surely be put right sooner rather than later, Mark Jones is our next highest marksman with 3.

After the Bryntirion game we have a break from league action until after the xmas festivities, when we face a trip to the ever improving Cambrian & Clydach.

   

More than 100 firefighters are tackling a fire at the Afan Lido in Port Talbot after a blaze broke out at the pool.

Mid and West Wales Fire Service were called to the leisure centre in the Sandfields estate at 1650 BST.

South Wales Police said the fire was "significant" and have closed roads because of the amount of smoke.

Some residents are being evacuated and others have been asked to stay in and keep windows and doors closed because of potentially harmful chemicals.

Police said chemicals at the pool could have been affected by the fire.

The fire has gone through the roof of the lido and residents in Channel View are being evacuated from their homes, while those in Sunnybank Road may be evacuated shortly.

Seventeen fire vehicles including three aerial appliances are at the scene. There are no reports of casualties at present.

The Princess Margaret Way is closed in both directions between Dalton Road and Victoria Road and police are directing traffic away from the area.

South Wales Police said a number of other surrounding streets are also closed and motorists are being advised to avoid the area.

A spokesman said traffic in the surrounding area was heavy.

The lido houses a swimming pool, spa, and the Aquadome, which has water slides and tyre rides, and also holds gigs.

An eyewitness at the scene said there was smoke billowing out of both ends of the building and a helicopter was hovering overhead.

Brian Ireland and his wife were having Christmas lunch in the Water Margin opposite the Afan Lido and had to be evacuated from the restaurant.

They saw ambulances arriving before taxis ferried him and other people from the site.

Mr Ireland said: "We were in a Christmas do and we noticed smoke, and people coming round in aluminium heat sheets and ambulances coming.

"Next thing we were all being evacuated and put into taxis and taken back as far as the Apollo Theatre.

"I saw flames and smoke coming from the rear end and that seemed the location of the worst lot of fire."

BBC

   

Tonight's squad is almost identical to the one that faces Abertillery, with Nathan White coming back into the squad, and Scott McCourbrey serving the last of his 3 match ban.
The full squad for the game is:
M Lewis, S Hillman, R Williams, J Hood, C Pridham, C Latham, C Payne, C Thomas, Damon Thomas, G Jones, D Lancey, M Jones, C Baker, J McEvoy, Nathan White.

   

Friday night we travel to the Brewery Field to take on Bridgend Town, looking to avoid Bridgend doing a league double over us.
In our opening game of the season we played Bridgend at the Marston and we came out 2nd best losing on the night 3-1 in front of our biggest crowd of the season of 304. We were a goal down before Lee Shrimpton was shown a red card, eventually falling behind 3-0 before scoring a consolation goal.
Many thought that was the start to the season that would see Bridgend challenge for the title, considering the quality of players they signed during pre-season. But they are far from a promotion position and actually lying one place of relegation to division 2. How come when they are in 13th place, well the division is being reduced to 16 teams next season, and 3 teams from division 2 will be promoted, so the bottom 5 clubs at the end of the season will be relegated, and possible a sixth if any team from the south in the welsh premier fails to make a super 12 place, so the current position of 13th could still see a team getting relegated, but Town do have plenty of games in hand of the teams above them to get out of trouble.
Last season's fixture saw us coming away with a 2-0 win, but that was in Treforest with only a handful of home support, this season's encounter seems them back home and they will have substantial better support for this game at the Brewery Field. They have only played 4 of their 11 league games at home winning 1 drawing 1 and losing 2. Their only home win came against Dinas Powys back in early October. The 2007/08 season saw us draw 2-2 (both goals scored by Jonah). In 2006/07 we beat Bridgend 2-0, and in 2005/06 we were beaten 1-0. We badly need to improve on our away form with just 1 win and 4 defeats from 6 games on the road, our poor away form see's us 16th out of 18 teams in the away table, something to address on Friday night hopefully.
Team News:
Scott McCourbrey sit's out his final game of his 3 match ban.

   

Afan Lido entertained Ammanford tonight at the Marston in a Reserve league game, and it ended in a high scoring draw.

The game ended 5-5 with Lido's goals coming from Craig Baker (2) Mark (Jonah) Jones (2) and Karl Roberts.

Also tonight the under 18's game on Sunday 13th has seen a change of opponents for Lido, Originally the game was to have been against Bridgend at the Marston but now their opponents are Llanelli.
 

Afan Lido entertained Ammanford tonight at the Marston in a Reserve league game, and it ended in a high scoring draw.

The game ended 5-5 with Lido's goals coming from Craig Baker (2) Mark (Jonah) Jones (2) and Karl Roberts.

Also tonight the under 18's game on Sunday 13th has seen a change of opponents for Lido, Originally the game was to have been against Bridgend at the Marston but now their opponents are Llanelli.
 

Afan Lido kick off today's game against Abertillery Bluebirds without any of their 3 recognised strikers up front. with Nathan White and Scot McCourbrey both suspended and Mark Jones on the bench, a new strike partnership of Damon Thomas and Gavin Jones are set with the task of searching for goals to take Lido through to the next round of the league cup.

The first half ended scoreless with Lido having the better of the game, but just not creating any clear cut chances.

Bluebirds took the lead 5' into the 2nd half, but within 2' Lido were back level with Gavin Jones getting the equaliser for Lido.

For the remainder of the game neither side could find a winning goal, and so we went into extra time to decide a winner.

On 118' Lido got what turned out to be the the winning goal, scored by sub Jonathan Hood.

The final whistle blows and Lido have just scrapped through 2-1 to the next round of the league cup against Abertillery.

Afan Lido:
M Lewis, S Hillman, C Latham, C Evans, Rhys Williams, C Thomas, C Baker, C Pridham, D Lancey, Damon Thomas, G Jones.

Subs:
J Hood, M Jones, C Payne, J McEvoy.

Attendance: 130.