By Blake Bint
A COOLY taken last minute penalty by Ethan Wyn gave USW a dramatic 2-1 win against Exeter at the Sport Park which secured their Bucs Premier Division status for another year.
Wyn opted to go straight down the middle with his effort which secured a vital victory in the context of USW’s hopes of remaining in the Bucs Premier League.
USW were left to monitor the outcome of struggling Cardiff Met’s encounter against Swansea later in the day as their fate in terms of the relegation play-offs remained unclear. But Swansea did them a favour with a 2-1 win at Cyncoed, which meant USW definitely made the cut.
There was cause to celebrate what is no mean achievement after a somewhat chaotic start to the season which saw major upheaval among the coaching staff and the playing group.
It’s major feather in the cap of head coach Jonathan Jones who took over in extremely difficult circumstances in September and has galvanised his charges to engineer something of a great escape.
While entitled to feel a glow of achievement, former Bucs champions USW will want to quickly return to their traditionally more dominant position at this level. Next season cannot begin in the same manner.
Both the home side’s goals against Exeter came from the spot, with captain Taylor Marsh on target with the first after 34 minutes when referee Mark Davies judged a Charlie Davies corner to have struck the arm of Exeter striker Craig Kingswell.
Tough start to the season with no coach and a team of boys who didn’t know each other and then staying up in the final game of the season, couldn’t be prouder of all the boys and the effort off each individual, massive thank you to @JJ_Jon_Jones @_RhysLlewellyn for the support. https://t.co/mOu6itGaNJ
— Taylor Marsh (@Taylor_marsh11) January 26, 2022
USW, needing a win, started the match with a counter-attacking approach, earning themselves a couple of early corners.
When nothing came of those, Exeter began to control the tempo and dominate the game.
USW’s back five remained stubborn despite looking uncomfortable with the pace of the Exeter attacks and frequently managed to clear the ball without too much danger.
This was until the 19th minute when a familiar attack broke through the middle for the visitors and with a defensive mix up, the ball fell to Exeter’s Nick Osbourne to break the deadlock with a straight forward one-on-one chance.
Marsh’s penalty levelled matters and before half time USW grew back into the match spurred on by the equaliser. With the rising tempo suiting the counter attacking play of the hosts, more chances were created including a disallowed goal for offside.
The second half was end-to-end with the majority of attacks ending with balls cleared in scrappy fashion.
With no team dominating, chances came from all over aided by exposed defences and tactics going out the window.
Marsh’s injury and withdrawal on the hour mark didn’t effect USW as they continued to fight with the chance of the half up to that point being squandered by Hushashi Kuwahara.
Both sides had countless chances to take the match by the scruff of the neck but neither could capitalise.
When a corner went in favour of USW in the 90th minute and keeper Harry Irving was ordered up by manager Jonathan Jones, a good delivery brought a defensive mix up in a crowded box.
When a USW body fell to the floor amongst the chaos referee Roberts awarded his second penalty of the day, much to the despair of the Exeter dugout.