Penarth Wanderers Vets went goal crazy as they brought their Charity Division programme in the EVS South Wales Casual League to a close against a plucky Cardiff Dragons team.

Benefitting from not having to select two squads, Penarth fielded an 18-man contingent.

This didn’t alter the fact that there was something of a goalkeeping crisis with regular keeper Billy Nolan suffering a back injury, Mark Lewis away and Ray Wills being unavailable.

It was left to Joe Davies and Nathan Turpitt to share the gloves, doing a half each.

The other members of the squad who started were Ioannes Davies, Dylan Harries, Darren Scanlan, Kevin Bushell (captain), Rich Desbois, John Whitworth, Nick Blake, Andy Cayford and Jared Ali.

On the bench were Carl Sealy, Scott Ato, Lewis Williams, Mark Ato, Alan Robinson and Gareth Perkins.

The breeze had dropped but the sun was still bright and warm as the game got under way.

The starting XI, having been told about overplaying and knowing the fixture could be used as a confidence booster in preparation for their forthcoming Charity Division Cup semi-final, still found it difficult to convert the many chances that presented themselves.

The Dragons’ half was under a siege from the start and that continued throughout the game.

Ali was having one of those days when it just didn’t go his way, and as the game carried on Penarth were getting a little over eager in their approach work.

With about 15 minutes on the clock, Penarth finally struck, Scanlan managing to score with the aid of a deflection.

However, this didn’t mean the floodgates were about to open.

But not long after, Scanlan made it 2-0 when he bundled the ball in after a scramble with the Dragons’ keeper.

Ali was still posing a major threat to the opposition with his pace, along with Cayford and Davies on the left making quick breaks.

Cayford added to the scoring, making it 3-0 with a typically clinical finish.

After an uncomfortable few minutes when Cardiff nearly pulled a goal back, Davies clipped their forward just inside the box. They scored the resulting penalty to close the gap to 3-1.

Scanlan had now found his range and accuracy, scoring again with a left-foot shot from the edge of the box to complete a first-half hat-trick.

There was no stopping him as he added another to make it 5-1 when the Cardiff keeper fumbled in off his knee.

Half-time couldn’t come fast enough for the beleaguered Dragons.

It was time for Penarth to ring the changes and get a few fresh legs onto the pitch.

Ali made way for Williams, Harries swapped for Scott Ato and Desbois replaced Sealy.

Williams was soon on the scoresheet, making it 6-1 with a shot from 20 yards.

It was Williams again for 7-1 after Blake looped a lovely ball over the top of the defence for his team-mate to chip the keeper.

The floodgates were now well and truly open.

Williams got then got his third and Penarth’s eighth, tapping in after his initial effort had been saved.

Robinson replaced Scanlan up front and Williams netted his fourth goal to make it 9-1 – one-way traffic would be an understatement!

Williams took a breather from scoring, allowing Cayford to net his second and take Penarth into double figures.

Davies, now playing in centre midfield, slotted a lovely ball through the defence for Cayford to collect and place the ball into the bottom right corner.

Williams was back on the scoresheet with his fifth, courtesy of a lovely dink over the keeper from Mark Ato’s pass.

Scott Ato got in on the act to make it 12-1 after some superb quick passing and assist by Williams.

A sixth Williams strike from Scott Ato’s pass and Cayford’s hat-trick goal completed a 14-1 rout.

Man of the match had to be Williams, closely followed by Scanlan.

It’s now all down to the cup competitions and if Penarth play like this then there could be some silverware to show for it.

Sunday is the quarter-finals of the Over-35s Cup against Cooper 2, then the Charity Division Cup semi-final against Carling a week later.