Port Talbot had showed themselves capable of rising to the occasion by defeating a strong Swansea City side in the quarter final and they had clearly done their homework on County.  They defended deep and spread five men across the middle of the park with Chad Bond, who had the briefest of associations with County a couple of seasons ago, ploughing a lone furrow in attack.  Their defence was superbly marshalled by the inspirational figure of captain Matt Rees who also had a brief spell as an Exile during the days of John Cornforth.

With Darren Garner unavailable and Nathan Davies deemed fit enough only for a place on the bench, displaced central defender Ian Hillier returned to the County squad in an unfamiliar midfield role alongside the industrious Lee Collier.  Charlie Griffin and Craig Hughes were the selected strikers with Dean Holdsworth also on the subs bench with young forwards Matt Prosser and Tyrone Toppar, so the range of attacking options available to Peter Beadle was an indication that he expected his side to do the bulk of the attacking.

Port Talbot struggled to get out of their own half in the early stages though their organisation made them difficult to break down though Charlie Griffin turned away in triumph in the 12th minute only to have his celebrations curtailed by an offside flag, which was probably just about correct.  Griffin was the focal point of most County attacking while the contrasting styles of wingers Jason Bowen and Richard Evans were a constant handful for Port Talbot full-backs Dylan Blain and Leigh Devulgt.

Midway through the opening half however, the visitors, with their confidence lifted by the competence of their defending, started to pose threats of their own with well-constructed attacks in which Lee John was always prominent.  Tomas Wellington tested Mark Ovendale with a ground shot from 20 yards before Scott Barrow, their Welsh Schools international caused the keeper’s heart to miss a beat with a cross-shot from further out which bounced off the crossbar.  Griffin had a couple of half chances before Hillier skied a Bowen cross over the bar from a few yards out to create doubts in home minds.  Whatever anxieties were felt by the County fans were pretty well concealed as they played their full part as the ‘twelfth man’ with their usual passionate support.

The Port Talbot barricades looked certain to crumble as County turned up the heat after the break and Bowen smashed a volley against the inside of the post before Hughes was desperately unlucky to see a header beat keeper Kristian Rogers only to bounce down then back up and onto the crossbar.  Possibly the anticipation of the breakthrough caused County to stretch themselves and they were cruelly punished in the 59th minute when, completely against the pattern of play, Bond beat the offside trap to break down the right and cross for the onrushing John to crash the ball past Ovendale and delight the visiting fans.

County to their credit continued to play constructive football though the spectres of past disappointments in similar circumstances were beginning to haunt the fans who nevertheless kept up the noise levels.  Holdsworth made a 70th minute entry for skipper John Brough with Hillier dropping into defence while Hughes surprisingly slotted back into midfield to accommodate the former England B international alongside Griffin.  The change took five minutes to produce a result as Holdsworth managed a decisive header into the path of Griffin who slammed home a volley from 10 yards for his first County goal.  If the fans must have thought County had one foot in the final, Port Talbot were working from a different script and they gave County a few scary moments, one which needed a desperate saving tackle by Steve Jenkins, after Ovendale found himself stranded.

The television schedules had to be adjusted as the game went into extra time which must have been great news for the neutral viewer.  The decisive moment came in the 95th minute when the tireless Griffin crossed from near the corner flag for Bowen to leap and head home - the 16th goal of a remarkable season for the former Welsh international.  Port Talbot were still not finished and Ovendale had to produce the save of the evening in the second period of extra time to prevent John’s header levelling the scores.

There was a tremendous ovation from the crowd for both sides and, while football was the winner, so were County!  It promises to be quite an occasion when the cameras return to Spytty Park for the final on 21 March against Welsh Premier League champions, The New Saints.

County: Ovendale, Jenkins, Searle, Hillier, Brough (Holdsworth 70), Edwards, Bowen, Collier, Griffin (Davies 117), Hughes, Evans.  Subs not used: Prosser, Toppar, Giles.

Port Talbot: Rogers, Blain, Devulgt, Hanford, Rees, Surman, John, Bond (French), Wellington (Williams 97), Barrow, Johnston.  Sub not used: Denis.

Scorers:

County:  Charlie Griffin (75), Jason Bowen (95).

Port Talbot:  Lee John (59).

Cautions:

County:  Ian Hiller (84 foul), Jason Bowen (118 dissent).

Port Talbot:  Leigh Devulgt (90 foul), Lee Surman (102 foul).

Officials:

Referee:  Ceri Richards (Llangennech); Assistants: Phil Thomas (Trealaw), Alun Boore (Cardiff)

Attendance: 904

Man of the Match:

Official County Man of the Match:  Lee Collier.

Reporter’s County Man of the Match:  Charlie Griffin.

Reporter’s Port Talbot Man of the Match: Lee John.

Match Rating: 4/5