CUP FINALS WEEKEND – 29TH – 30TH APRIL 2017

Meet the teams competing on Sunday at the National Cup Finals:

10:00 – Men’s Trophy – Penarth v Cardiff University A

12:15 – Men’s Championship – Cardiff & Met v Whitchurch

14:30 – Women’s Championship – Gwent v Cardiff University

Road to the finals

Men’s Trophy

Penarth

Penarth had a fantastic season finishing top of their group in September, with an unbeaten run throughout.

The Semi Final against Bridgend was a one-sided affair with Penarth securing an 8 – 0 win, securing their place in the final.

 Cardiff University A

Cardiff University A also had great season, winning De Cymru and Marches 1.

They had a fantastic semi-final against Cardiff & Met, winning on shuffles and when asked, their top goal scorer Sam Bruce said he’s “ready to get stuck into the final”.

Men’s Championship

Cardiff & Met

Cardiff & Met automatically came in to the competition at the semi-final stage due to being seeded.

After an outstanding game against Swansea Uni they advanced into the final with a 4-1 win.

Whitchurch

In the Men’s Championship semi-final Whitchurch went ahead early and were pinned back in the second half by Cardiff Uni. They held off a late fightback from Cardiff who ultimately finished comfortably above Whitchurch in the league standings.  However, Whitchurch won the game with a last gasp winner from a penalty corner.

Whitchurch commented, “we were happy for the win in what was one of our best, and most consistent, performances of the season”.

Whitchurch 4 – 3 Cardiff Uni

Women’s Championship

Gwent

1st round – bye

2nd round – Haverfordwest 2-0

¼ final – Rhondda 2-0

Semi-final – Whitchurch Saints 1-0

Gwent progressed to this year’s Championship final with 3 wins; all against tough Prem 1 opposition. The toughest test came in the semi-final against Whitchurch Saints in a repeat of last year’s final.

Having lost the 2016 final, Gwent were certainly out for revenge and fought a tough physical battle; resulting in a 1-0 victory. Sarah Law scored the goal, following a well worked PC routine. Despite facing some good opposition, Gwent are yet to concede a goal in the competition and they hope that this continues in the final! This is Gwent’s 5th final in 4 seasons; 3 cup finals and 2 shield finals. The team has won 2 out of the 4 finals and are hoping it’s 3 from 5!  Having lost 7 1st team regulars, this is a transition season for Gwent, so reaching the final is a real achievement. It’s going to be a battle of this season’s Prem 1 champions v last season’s Prem 1 champions so it will be a great game and they are hoping that they can do the Orange Army proud!

Cardiff University

In the first-round Cardiff Uni beat Gwent Ladies 2nds 8-0 at home and the second round was a much tighter match beating Cardiff & Met Ladies 1sts 3-2. Following this match, they had a long journey up to play Wrexham where the team won 5-0.

With a tough semi-final against top of the league Howardian 1sts and being the only team to have beaten them in the Saturday Premier League, they continued this winning streak by beating Howardian 3-0.

During this season, Cardiff Uni, have not only made it to the Welsh Championship final but also came out on top winning the South Wales Premier League.

#Penarth #WhitchurchHC #GwentHC #CupFinals2017 #NationalCupFinals #CardiffUniA #CardiffampMet