06.02.09 Port Talbot Town 0 Carmarthen Town 0

Despite taking only the second point in six attempts Brace was relatively happy with the outcome.

“It was a pretty tight affair, solid defences, no one wanted to give anything away and mistakes were at a minimum. I think we have to be fairly satisfied to go to one of the form teams of the League and getting a valuable point”.

 “We wanted to make sure that the pacey front men were picked up so we had Richard Hughes on John, Doddsy on Rose and Cotts on Fahiya.  Chris Thomas played as a spare man so if one got beaten he was there to cover.

“The midfielders also had to do a job in terms of tracking runners. It worked quite well. I thought defensively the three markers stuck to their tasks and kept the threat to a minimum. They’ve cut loose on many occasions with their pace but fortunately we have some of the quickest defenders in the League so that’s one thing we’re fairly confident on”.

The Richmond Park boss was full of praise for Dodds. “It was great to see Doddsy come back and do extremely well. I think it tells a story really on the way we shackled their forward line. I thought Nathan Cotterrall was absolutely fantastic the way he defended and attacked things and the way he got forward when he could. On a man marking role you have to be very disciplined but they’ve shown that discipline over the last couple of games”.

Brace was also pleased with the way Hughes carried the forward line and how Smothers policed the mid-field. “I thought Guppy carried the line fantastically well. His touch was superb; it takes so much pressure off the back line and gives you that little bit of breathing space to get your self organised. All round it was a solid performance.

“Midfield is probably Smudger’s best position. In terms of going into the middle of the park and breaking things up he’s a real terrier the sort that everyone wants in their side. We’ve tried to get him in the middle of the park on a few occasions but because Paul and Palms have been doing so well we haven’t been able to. With the way Port Talbot and TNS played we managed to get him in there and he’s done really well.

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