Hakin United are West Wales Cup champions once again. A solitary goal from Ashley Bevan in the first half was enough to secure a second successive final triumph for Scott Davies' side.

It would be dishonest to describe the game as spectacular, instead we saw a closely-contested contest with both teams vying for that breakthrough moment. Neither goalkeeper was truly tested for long periods, and the Swansea.com Stadium witnessed a final more notable for its tactical caution than its attacking flair. But ask any manager and they'll tell you: in a final, you take the clean sheet and the goal every time.

Penlan started brightly enough. A neat interchange of passes around the Hakin box in the sixth minute suggested the cup holders might face an early test, though Rory Williams dealt with a low effort comfortably. Penlan’s Kyle Hughes - lively throughout the opening exchanges - fired another effort close to the keeper on ten minutes, drawing a solid stop from Williams, who has impressed since his arrival in the summer. On 18 minutes came Williams' most important intervention of the half: a Penlan striker broke clean through on the counter, but the goalkeeper was off his line quickly to put the ball out for a throw-in outside of his box.

Hakin had their own moments of promise. Camron Thomas’ deep delivery from a free kick on 11 minutes nearly found a head, and the Vikings were clearly building pressure around the quarter-hour mark - Shane Walsh and Ashley Bevan combining neatly before a Penlan defender got across to concede a corner. Ben Aldred carried a threat emerging from defence, spraying a ball out right to Kieran King before the ball found its way back to Aldred himself, whose effort fired just over. In the middle of the park, Jordan Kilby was tenacious in both winning the ball deep and driving forward to start attacks.

The goal, when it arrived, had a simplicity and composure to it that belied the tension of the occasion. Walsh collected a long ball down the left and showed excellent awareness to bring the ball under control and knock it into space as the Penlan keeper advanced to the edge of his area. Rather than taking the shot on with his weaker left foot, he unselfishly squared it - and there was Bevan, arriving with the calm authority of a man with a knack for scoring the most important goals on the big occasion. Scoring in successive finals to put Hakin in front with ten minutes of the half remaining.

Penlan searched for a response after the break but rarely looked like finding one as the Vikings defence stood resolute. A good low cross into the box on 56 minutes looked like it was about to be hit towards goal before a good block. Substitutions began to reshape the contest - Cameron Brunton made way for Mason Dolling just after the hour, and Bevan's industry down the right drew a yellow card for the Penlan number five before the man himself was replaced by Liam Parks on 74 minutes. Ben Aldred, who had been recently booked for a foul, went off injured shortly after, Craig Nicholson stepping in.

Parks caused problems on his introduction - twice finding dangerous positions, first seeing a square ball to Dolling scuffed just wide before finding himself through on goal after a missed clearance from the goalkeeper before a Penlan defender showed great recovery to prevent a shot.

Penlan's evening was made even harder on 87 minutes when a reckless two-footed challenge from a substitute on Matthew Broome, himself just introduced, saw the offender shown a straight red card.

Jack Britton saw a header wide after a deep free-kick from Camron Thomas, and then it was Penlan’s turn to ramp up the pressure in the closing stages. Solid defending saw Hughes’ effort in the shot blocked for a corner, which saw Hakin goalkeeper Rory Williams called into action with three excellent punches, two at his near post, before a final punch to get the ball outside the box to the relief of the Vikings faithful.

With the final whistle blown, jubilant scenes filled the stadium with the Hakin supporters in full voice as usual - sharing with the players moments they’ll never forget.

This cup success - back to back victories in such a notoriously difficult competition - is testament to the hard work of everyone at the club and in particular Scott Davies as manager. Since their 1-2 defeat to Penlan three years ago, they have gone from strength to strength in learning from those battle scars and coming back stronger.

Congratulations to all involved.

Man of the Match: Jay Power - It was a match with solid performances across the pitch from defence to attack, with everyone working hard collectively as a team. Penlan had good periods, but never threatened the Hakin goal with any decent efforts on target and that is largely down to the hard work of their defence - excellently led by Power who confidently dealt with everything in front of him. Headers, blocks and good passing out the back. At 24 he has already established himself as one of - if not the - best in his position in West Wales and this game showed why.

Match photos from Ethan Ellis

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