Cwmamman United kicked off their pre-season friendly schedule ahead of the new campaign with a match against near neighbours Garden Village.

Both teams used the match, the first of the summer for both sides, to introduce new players but the local element ensured the game had enough bite to provide both managers with plenty of takeaways.

A decent preseason crowd at Graig Campus, Llanelli saw an exciting end to end match which eventually resulted in a good win for Cwmamman United.

The game was a great advertisement for the season to come for both teams.

The Blues will be competing in the newly formed Welsh FAW Championship South, whilst the Village team are looking forward to the Welsh Football League One.

The match was played over three 30 minutes periods with both teams featuring a number of new signings and trialists.

It was Cwmamman who had the best of the opening exchanges, forcing a number of successive corners early in proceedings, but on the 14th minute Garden Village had a clearcut chance from five metres out.

It should have seen the visitors take the lead, but effort was slipped past the post of new Cwm goalkeeper James Kirkwood.

Then it took a strong defensive effort from captain Gareth Howarth, Rob Jones and Keena Hinds to stop Village striker, and former Cwm man, Breig Matthews from finishing off a good chance.

A few minutes later Cwmamman almost took the lead through a smart free kick from experienced frontman Chris Allen, as he rattled the crossbar.

Towards the end of the first thirty minute period it was first team regular Ryan Hurlow and youngster Corey Palmer that led the way forward for some concerted Blues pressure.

The second period began with some Garden Village pressure led by substitute Ross Jones but soon new players Gareth Phillips, Stephen Evans and Sam Harrison began to dominate the midfield.

The deadlock was broken on the 40th minute when experienced Blues frontman Chris Allen scored with a clean finish and a fine assist from 16-year-old Palmer.

In the final minutes both sides had further chances to score with Nathan Davies and Calem Rees showing early season promise towards the end of the second period.

In the final third period it was newcomer in midfield, Gareth Phillips, who scored the second goal for Cwmamman United with a smart finish, making sure the Blues took the match 2-0.

It was good to see such a positive start to preseason for Cwmamman United and Ryan Stephens’ team will look forward to the next game against CRC Rangers at Pentrehafod 3G pitch on Friday evening.

Manager, Ryan Stephens, praised the effort of his new arrivals following the contest, and was pleased with the promising start to Cwmamman’s pre-season schedule.

He said: “We have been training hard so far over pre-season and have brought in a few new faces to bolster the squad.

“We are in a good position with a number of good young players, and plenty of potential amongst them.

“I was pleased to see such good signs from the current players at the club, and it was good to see the way the new signings are adapting to their new environment.

“I think it was a very positive step in preparation for the season.”