Aberystwyth Town Cup: We Hate Ben 3-1 Balls Deep

We Hate Ben came away with a comfortable victory against Balls Deep but in reality it should have been by an even bigger margin. The win means the club are placed into the hat for the First Round draw, while Balls Deep go into the Consolation Shield.


Chris Webster lined up his team in a 4-4-2 formation, and gave several players their debut starts for the club. Goalkeeper Tim Dulson made his first appearances, while a much changed back four started in front of him, with only Webster himself returning from the previous season. New signings James Phillips, Thomas Svendsen and Will McIlhiney came into the team, and were joined by Dan Fellows and Alex Muscroft in midfield, completed by captain Rhys Jones and Ryan Muir. Henrik Eidi joined last season's top goalscorer Jay Walker up front. The bench contained three new signings in Phil Bridgman, Jordan Watkins and Jack Ingham, while Danny Shaw returned for his match since finishing a loan spell at Arcelona. Stuart Fleming, James Amos, Louis Robertson and Michael Jones were also in the squad.

We Hate Ben took the lead after a long ball was latched onto by captain Rhys Jones, whose pace created the opportunity. His cross-shot towards Jay Walker enabled him to score his first goal of the season, which he made no mistake. The lead was levelled when WHB conceded, despite dominating. Having given away a corner, the resulting ball into the box was headed home past Dulson by a tall Balls Deep player, giving them the equaliser.

We Hate Ben restored their advantage when Muir took a free kick. The ball across the face of goal was taken by R. Jones, whose back heeled effort was too much for the Balls Deep goalkeeper.WHB added a third goal through another debutant Watkins, who had come off the bench. Balls Deep had successfully defended a WHB corner, but failed to launch an attack. Phillips played a one-two with Watkins, who played the ball through the gap for him to run on to. Phillips beat the defender to the square a pass right into the path of Watkins who rifled home his striker from the edge of the box, marking great debuts for the pair. Svendsen won man of the match for a fantastic performance in defence. Robertson, Amos, Fleming, Ingham, Shaw, Bridgman and M. Jones all came on from the bench.

Post-match:

Webster made these comments after the match: "It was great to finally get up and running and show our fans the new signings and welcome back everyone from the summer break. The style in which we went about our play pleased me more than the result because I want We Hate Ben Football Club to play 'sexy football'. The signs were there for all to see today and I'm very pleased with every player. Hopefully now we can go on and build from here, and start our league campaign with a flourish. As for the Cup, lets see who we draw next!"

Team (4-4-2)


Dulson -  Phillips, Webster, McIlhiney, Svendsen - R. Jones, Fellows, Muir, Muscroft - Eidi, Walker.

Substitutes: Watkins, Robertson, Amos, Ingham, Fleming, Bridgman, Shaw, M. Jones (all used).

Goals: Walker, Watkins, R. Jones.
Man of the match: Svendsen.