Llanrhystud vs Bow Street 29th May 2003

29th May 2003 Results:
Llanrhystud 0 vs 0 Bow Street conceeded the final

Llanrhystud officials have voiced their fury at the initial decision of the Cambrian Tyres Aberystwyth League to postpone the Len and Julia Newman Memorial Trophy until next season.

The club were informed late last wednesday evening that the final would not be played on Saturday as scheduled due to holders Bow Street being unable to raise a team. Bow Street have since decided to withdraw from the competition but Llanrhystud, who will now be awarded the trophy, were left fuming at the initial decision to postpone the final.

Days earlier Llanrhystud had beaten Penparcau and Bow Street had beaten Penrhyncoch in the semni-finals with the final expected to bring the curtain down on the season. However it was decided at a meeting of the league on Wednesday that the game would not go ahead at the weekend due to several Bow Street players attending a wedding.

With just two days remaining until the official end of the season, the clubs were unable to rearrange the game for either the Thursday, Friday or possibly Saturday evening. Llanrhystud boss Alan Foligno expressed his shock at the decision to postpone the tie at such short notice rather than, at the very least, award his team the trophy.

He said: "The date for the final had been set some time ago and we only won the semi-final on Monday, then we are told that Bow Street's players are going to a wedding. Surely they knew this before they played their semi-final. I cannot see why they didn't award the tie to Penrhyn, and then we would have played the final on Saturday. Besides, they have a big squad of players and I cannot believe that they are unable to field a side, even if it would be a much weaker one. We even offered an evening kick-off."

The decision brought a disappointing end to a highly successful term for Foligno, who intends to stand down as manager of the club after three successful seasons as manager. In his first season Foligno steered his side to success in the Second Division Trophy, which they retained the next year as well as bing promoted as Division Two champions.

This season his club have won the Cambrian Tyres League Cup and also achieved a top three finish in division one, but he admitted the Newman Trophy final would have been the icing on the cake. Foligno added: "It is an obsolute disgrace. We had no say in the decision to postpone the match and feel sorry for the players, they will not get the chance to play in the final. They have set the precedent for teams to get matches called off and our club will not play this final at the start of next year. I am in total shock at the decision of the league."

Bow Street clubman Paul James said the club would have liked the Welsh F.A. to extend the season by three days until the Bank Holiday Monday to play the game, but accepted the league decision. He stressed that the rules of the competition surrounding the eligibility of players would not have made it possible for the division one champions to have raised a side.

James said: "The sensible thing would have been to play the game on the Monday but the league finished on Saturday and apparently the Welsh F.A. offered little compromise. Though no choice of either club we were going to play the game at the start of next season, which would have been a shame, but it was also a good opportunity for us to keep the players together. Certain people were very unhappy at the decision to postpone the final so we have since decided to bite the bullet and withdraw from it altogether for the good of the league and the competition."