By Josh Thomas
Dai Thomas says Cambrian & Clydach Vale’s stunning victory over The New Saints was the “biggest game in the club’s history.”
Matthew Crutch and Andre Griffiths gave the Rhondda outfit their fourth victory over Welsh Premier League Opposition to reach the Nathaniel MG Cup Final.
“I think I’ve been here about ten years now and it’s the biggest game in the club’s history,” said skipper Thomas, who has been with the club for around 10 years.
“People like Phil (Williams) have been here thirty years and they deserve it. The work they’ve put in behind the scenes is unbelievable and they give us opportunities to shine on nights like this.”
“We are absolutely delighted, great performance from the boys. Dre (Andre Griffiths) and Crutchy (Mark Crutch) coming off the bench to score the two goals, both of them have been outstanding this year so far.”
Not since 1995 have TNS,when they were known as Llansantffraid, lost to lower league opposition when they faced Cefn Druids in the JD Welsh Cup.
Thomas added: “Somebody said that TNS haven’t lost a game against a lower league team for twenty four years.
“That says about the magnitude of the task we faced, I don’t think we got outplayed, I think we performed well and we took our chances.”
This will be the second final that Thomas, 20, has played in for Cambrian and Clydach Vale after appearing for them in the 2017 FAW Youth Cup Final at the Cardiff City Stadium.
“The final against Swansea was tough, they were very similar to TNS to be honest,” he added. “But we had that little bit of luck tonight that we didn’t have against Swansea.
“The team we’ve got here really has that work ethic, we don’t think anything is beyond us we think we can win every game regardless of opposition.”
“I’m absolutely delighted on a personal note. It’s a great achievement for me but as a team collectively we’ve been superb throughout this cup run. We’ve had to dig in deep at times play some sides who have outplayed us but we’ve really had to take our chances and we’ve worked hard to get here.”
“We shouldn’t be really here based on budget and things like that but we’ve got a general chance of winning this trophy.
“It’s the first final for a lot of us in senior football and we’re just going to grasp it with both hands. We’re going to take every chance we get, we’re going to work hard and do everything we can to win the game.”
After having beaten Barry Town, Aberystwyth Town and Newtown in the previous three rounds, another Welsh Premier League team will await them in Cardiff & Met who beat Connah’s Quay Nomads in the other semi.
“We are all looking forward to the final, we’re not going up there just to make numbers, we generally think we can win it.”
“Cardiff Met are more of a footballing side.
“But we don’t really care, we’ve got a chance against anyone. We are willing to work harder than anyone else and that’ll be the difference in the final and I generally believe we can win it.”
