CAREW take on Giants Grave tonight (Mar 27) with the Rooks looking to go one better than last season when they were beaten by eventual winners Goodwick United in the semi-final.
Their game will take place at the home of Garden Village in Swansea but assistant manager Jeremy Griffiths says the side are not fazed by having to travel there and that they are ‘looking forward to it’.
A few of Carew’s players have already played at Garden Village for the County side but for a number of the players it will be a new experience.
Carew played Giants Grave in the quarter finals last season and earned a 5-2 win but conditions are likely to be a bit different this time around.
Opponents Giants Grave play their football in the Neath Premier Division and are currently sitting ten points off the leaders with three games in hand.
They have nine wins from their 12 games so far this season and only have one defeat on their record.
Giants Grave were beaten finalists in the 2012-13 season when they lost to Dafen Welfare and that remains their only final appearance to date.
Carew have reached the semi-final for the second successive season after last reaching the final in the 70s and they will be looking to make it an all Pembrokeshire League final.
Route to the final
Having reached the last four last season, Carew received a bye for the first round and began their run to the semis in round 2 where they were drawn away to Burry Port.
Two goals each from Jordan Richards and Scott Ferney and another from Lloyd Hughes saw them to a 5-2 win over the Carmarthenshire League Division 1 side.
In round three the Rooks took on Loughor Rovers and eased to an 8-0 win with Hughes scoring four and Jordan Richards scoring a hat trick. Ferney grabbed the other goal.
Shaun Whitfield, Sam Christopher, Scott Ferney and Jordan Richards each scored in round four to earn a 4-0 win for the Rooks away at Maltsters Sports.
In the last eight, Carew played Mumbles Rangers at home and they came from two goals down to win 3-2 with brothers Sam and Jack Christopher on the score sheet alongside Whitfield.
Jordan Richards and Scott Ferney have been in good form in the Cup and the pair will be looking to bring the Giants down.
Giants Grave began their Cup campaign away at Llangennech and needed extra time before earning a 2-1 win.
In the second round they beat Carmarthen Stars 3-1 at home thanks to goals from Richard Barnes, Dean Evans and Ross Hudson. They then beat Trallwm by the same scoreline three days before Christmas.
The Carmarthenshire sides kept coming for Giants Grave as they played Bwlch Rangers in Round 4 but Grave earned a 3-0 win.
They then beat fellow Neath Premier Division side Bryncoch 2-1 in the quarter finals to reach the last four.
What they say
The Herald spoke to members of the Carew team ahead of the game to find out how they were feeling.
Carew’s Assistant Jeremy Griffiths added that it ‘will be nice to go somewhere different’ having already played on the Bridge Meadow recently in the Senior Cup Semi-final and added that it would be excellent if they got to the final.
He said: “We played Giants Grave in the quarter finals last season and beat them 5-2 at our place but we are expecting it to be a lot tougher this time.”
Giants Grave tweeted that they have two coaches booked for their game and that they were ‘looking forward to playing Carew once again’.
The final will take place at the Liberty Stadium in Swansea on Tuesday, May 7.
