Aberystwyth Town beat Haverfordwest County 2-0 on Cymru Premier milestone
- Published
Archive: Aberystwyth's first game in the League of Wales
Aberystwyth Town marked their 1.000th game in the Cymru Premier with a crucial 2-0 win over Haverfordwest County.
Sam Phillips capitalised on hesitancy in the County defence to put the home side ahead.
County's Henry Jones was sent-off soon after coming on for his protests after Aber were awarded a penalty.
Matthew Jones converted the spot kick which sealed a second successive win for the Seasiders.
Aberystwyth are up to ninth in the table and are now five points above 11th-placed Haverfordwest.
More than 880 were at Park Avenue for the game with the club admitting spectators for free to mark the historic occasion.
The Green and Blacks are the first club to play 1,000 games in the league having been founder members in 1992.
Park Avenue had hosted the first game in August 1992 - a 3-2 win for Aber over Caersws.,
The Black and Greens were among the 20 clubs who were founder members of the League of Wales at the start of the 1992-93 season.
"It was a historical day for football in Wales and a historic day for Aberystwyth Town," said Mike Davies, who scored two goals in the win over Caersws.
"It's a magnificent achievement Aberystwyth Town staying in the league for the 30 years that they have been and hopefully they will be able to stay in the league at the end of this season.
Chairman Donald Kane, himself a former Aberystwyth player, described reaching 1,000 games as a "fantastic" achievement.
A plaque marking Aberystwyth's 1,00 games was unveiled at Park Avenue ahead of kick off.
"Obviously it [the League of Wales] took it on to a national level in terms of embracing the whole of Wales," he told BBC Radio Wales.
"Then you realise 29 years has just gone. It's incredible."
Kane said the club's fans and the backing of local sponsors had been invaluable over the past 30 years.
"The fans have been absolutely fantastic," he added.
"It has been hard and we've not exactly been banging on the top three spots and it's been a struggle the last five years.
"But they've stuck with us. They still believe in the club and still wants to support.
Along with mid Wales rivals Newtown, Aberystwyth are the only two clubs who have played in every season of the league.
Newtown are due to host Cardiff Met in their 1,000 game on 19 February.
"Relegation's been hanging over us for five years but we've always managed to pull through," Kane said.
"It's a very, very tough league and it's getting tougher."