Rising Football Stars Celebrate Welsh Success

TWO rising Burry Port and Pembrey footballing stars have scored success with Welsh National teams.

Both Swansea City player Josh Sheehan and school girl Aneeka Bardsley are celebrating their sporting achievements this month.

Josh has been named in the Wales Under-21 squad for Uefa Under-21 Championship qualifiers against Armenia and Romania. This comes after the former Glan-y-Môr school pupil made his senior debut with the Premier League team last September. The Danlan Road resident came through the ranks of the team's youth academy after being spotted playing for Burry Port's under 10s team. Now he is set to take on Armenia at Bangor University Stadium, on November 13, at 2pm.

Fellow pupil Aneeka is also gaining recognition thanks to her talents on the pitch. The 13-year-old has made history by being the first and only girl selected to play on a mixed team in the Welsh Cup after Football Association of Wales' (FAW) rules changed. Aneeka has been selected to play for the Welsh National U15's Development Squad training camp over three days this week in Cardiff. Alongside this the busy teenager is also on the girls' school team, juggling this with also being the captain of local club Dafen AFC's U14s squad. Her commitments also see her playing for West Glamorgan Schools, West Wales Performance Centre and Swansea City U14's. In each of these teams she has been credited as being one of the top goal scorers. The youngster earned herself a reputation for greatness after scoring 15 goals over seven games in nine days over the past few months.

And it seems sporting talents run in the family as Aneeka shared the Dafen pitch with her twin sister Anoushka and older sister Saffron, last season. And it's not just the Bardsley girls who play as older brother Marky now plays for Burry Port's senior team now too.

Lead Deputy Head Teacher at Glan-y-Môr Stuart James said: "The school is very proud of the sporting successes of all its pupils. The PE department is particularly strong and this reflects all the hard work carried out by the hard working staff in the school."

Article by Llanelli Star