Grŵp’s academy teams meet for first time at college football’s highest level
Coleg Menai / Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor beat hosts Coleg Llandrillo 2-1 in a highly competitive ECFA Premier League derby
Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s football academy teams met for the first time at the top level of college football.
A joint Coleg Menai and Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor team beat hosts Coleg Llandrillo 2-1 in their ECFA Men’s Premier League 2 clash at the Rhos-on-Sea campus.
Byron Davies and Richard Harri Jones scored for Menai/Meirion-Dwyfor, with Joel Giblin netting for Llandrillo.
It was the first time the two sides had played each other in the ECFA (English Colleges Football Association) Men’s Premier League 2, after Llandrillo were promoted to Category 1 football for the first time.
The colleges previously played as a joint Grŵp Llandrillo Menai academy, but a separate Llandrillo team was formed to give more students the opportunity to represent their college.
Llandrillo last season enjoyed a dominant league title win in the Category 2 ECFA North West Men’s Regional Football (South) division, earning promotion to the same division as their Menai/Meirion-Dwyfor counterparts.
There was very little to separate the two college sides in a close inter-Grŵp derby on the 3G pitch at Rhos last week.
Marc Lloyd-Williams, sport programme leader and Coleg Menai / Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor Academi co-ordinator, said: “I thought Llandrillo had the better of the first half in terms of possession.
“We changed things at half-time, changed our formation and the way we played, and it paid dividends at the end. I thought it was a good, competitive match.”
Matthew Williams, sport lecturer and Llandrillo academy head coach, said: “It was a competitive game between the two colleges. There was hardly anything between the two teams.
“We’re now playing category 1 so it’s a step up physically from last season, but we’ve got a new group of players so we’ll get better as the season continues.”
Football Academy students have lessons from 9am to 2.30pm, when they are released three times a week for training - including analysis and strength and conditioning sessions, as well as technical and tactical training.
Students benefit from the state-of-the-art gym and sports centre facilities at the Rhos and Llangefni campuses, as well as use of analysis aids such as GPS vests, Veo cameras and more.
To learn more about Grŵp Llandrillo Menai’s Football Academy, click here.