Gilwern FC - 5

Bailey Rangers - 3

AFTER a disappointing start, Gilwern FC’s second team bounced back to beat Bailey Rangers and bag the Benevolent Cup on Saturday in an end to end thriller.

Played at the Blaenavon Blues Memorial Ground, Gilwern were outgunned and outdone by a raucous Rangers outfit in the first 20 minutes, as a lively Bailey brigade with their eye on the prize, launched a couple of long balls for striker Darryn Powell to pounce upon and cooly slot home to make it 2-0 with 60 minutes on the clock.

The scoreline was something of a Ground Hog Day for Gilwern. Their two previous league matches against Bailey Rangers had seen them go 0-2 down early doors in nerve shredding fashion before mounting respective 4-3 and 4-2 comebacks. Needless to say, the cup final proved no exception.

Gilwern’s midfield started getting on the ball and 23 minutes in, David Barry went on a languid mazy run - beating four Bailey players before stroking the ball home in style to cut the deficit in half.

Three minutes later and Barry bagged his brace with an impressive strike.

The momentum had now swung firmly in Gilwern’s favour and following a sustained period of pressure, David Barry nailed an impressive first half hat-trick five minutes from the break with a great cushioned header from a pin point cross.

The second half was end to end with both sides going for it, and courtesy of their very own hat-trick hero Darryn Powell, Bailey Rangers managed to level the score at 3-3 on the hour mark.

It looked like it was going to be a very nervy ending to the match but with 15 minutes remaining, impressive Gilwern substitute Matthew Garbutt fired his club back into the lead.

Come the hour and come the sub, in the form of Ollie Mansfield who wrote himself into Gilwern folklore after he received the ball in space and cooly delivered a low driven shot past the oncoming Bailey keeper in the 95th minute, to give Gilwern the win, the day, and most importantly, the silverware in an historic weekend for the Robins, whose first team also beat PILCS AFC to lay claim to the League Cup.