Football: Senior Cup - round one THE Senior Cup champs side-stepped a first round upset with a solid performance at The Racecourse, setting up a mouth-watering clash with Goodwick Utd in the next round.

In unsettled conditions, the Wizards were never really allowed to get into their stride against dogged third division opponents.

But after battling well for the first twenty minutes, Pembroke Utd found themselves two goals down in the space of two minutes.

Michael Preddy gave the home side a twentieth minute lead, coolly slotting home after a good ball through from Brett Shakir.

Their lead was doubled minutes later after some clever play on the edge of the box by Matthew Ellis, eventually finding its way through to Nathan Thomas, who confidently put away a close-range shot.

After two quick goals, which knocked the stuffing out of United, the division three side were reduced to half chances in front of Gary Thomas' goal.

Their fate was finally compounded on 31minutes when the cup-holders added a third, thanks to a lovely finish from Brett Shakir, finding Daniel Roberts' far right-hand corner. However, after the break the visitors began brightly, as substitute Matthew Goodman made an immediate impression setting up Jason Kilby to expertly finish off a well-worked move on 55 minutes.

But as the rain swirled around in blustery winds, United failed to build on a good start as Bridge continued to press forward.

After squandering two close-range efforts and being denied by some impressive goal keeping from Roberts, only the woodwork kept out a scorching shot from the Wizards' Jamie Gilderdale.

Nathan Thomas wrapped things up for Merlins Bridge on 85 minutes, grabbing his second with a superb individual effort, skilfully running into space on the edge of the 18-yard box before firing into the top right-hand corner.

Despite a difficult and at times scrappy match, which saw referee Jeff Hurton produce three yellow cards, it was game well won for the holders, who march on into the next round.