Adroddiadau
Rhagfyr 01 / December 01
Reports..............
RHAYADER TOWN 2 CARMARTHEN TOWN 4 Rhayader is always a popular venue for Carmarthen Town
fans and today they clearly outnumbered the home support highlighting the
difficulties at the Weirglodd. Town had the best possible start when Ryan Nicholls scored
after only nine minuets and it looked as if it would be a rout against the
bottom of the table team. It was a full 18 minutes before Rhayader got
anywhere near the Town goal but on the second occasion they were awarded a
free kick on the edge of the box and Mardenborough impressive strike around
the wall found the bottom right hand corner of the net on 21 minutes. It was still mainly one-way traffic and just after the
half hour Richard Morgan pulled off a magnificent save to keep Rhayader in
the game and a few minutes later denied Chris Summers in a one on one
situation. Rhayeder then enjoyed the best period of the game and
applied some pressure on the Town goal but this was short lived and as half
time approached Carmarthen again gained the upper hand and just before the
break Johnston headed home after Wayne Jones had chipped into the box from
out on the left. The second half saw Town dominate the game. Wayne Jones
hit the bar from a free kick jut after the break and a few minutes later made
no mistake as he hit home Town’s third on 51 minutes. Rhayader still showed some fight and proved dangerous when
breaking from defence with Callum McKenzie and Gareth Hughes proving
difficult to handle at times. As Town come forward looking for more goals
Rhayader found some gaps at the back and Bannon pulled one back for the home
team on 54 minutes. Andy Kish looked good for Rhayader at the back but had
little support and Town finally increased their lead jut before the hour when
Wayne Jones surged down the left putting Lee Jones through into the box for
Chris Summers to finish just before the hour. Town could have and should have scored at least two or
three more but a combination of a sticky pitch, desperate defending and
Richard Morgan’s bravery kept a respectable score-line. Ryan Nicholls was
impressive throughout for Town and even Tomi Morgan had a golden opportunity
to get his name on the score-sheet when he found himself one on one with
Rhayader’s keeper. Morgan opted to lay the ball off and another clear scoring
chance went begging. A comfortable victory for Town with a score-line
that flattered the home side somewhat.
They will need more than Meirion Appleton’s optimism and Phil
Woosnam’s welcome to keep them in the League next year. Referee : Mark Whitby CARMARTHEN TOWN 0 LLANELLI AFC 0 With Town’s Wayne Jones red carded just before the break
for a second bookable offence (throwing down the ball after Barnhouse had
been penalised for a ball winning tackle) by a ‘picky’ Simon Jones, Llanelli
failed to capitalise on their second half numerical advantage but showed
their improved form with their third consecutive 'clean sheet'. Jamie Rickard had the
best early chance for the visitors when his strike after 10 minutes was just over
but Town had the best of the early exchanges and were the brighter of the two
sides in the first half with a Ryan Nicholls free kick bouncing off the top
of the bar and an excellent strike on goal by Dean Johnston’s following good
work by Sion Meredith. Prior to his dismissal Wayne Jones’s 36th.
minute opportunist strike from well over thirty yards only just clipped the
bar for what was nearly a spectacular goal and this was followed by a fierce
strike by Chris Summers who forced an excellent save from Ben Miles just
before the break. With Town reduced to 10 men and nothing to show for their
first half domination things looked ominous for the home side. The doom and gloom prophesised at half time by many of
the home supporters looked like a reality as Llanelli started the second half
‘on fire’ and looked as if they would easily overcome a stretched Town
defence and produce a repeat performance of last week’s result. Devonald was
certainly Llanelli’s man of the match and caused all sorts of problems for
the home defence. But dogged defending and textbook goal-keeping from Robert
Fitzgerald and with everyone working their socks off enabled Town
to weather the storm and following the initial ten minute flurry by the
visitors Carmarthen settled back into the game and gave as good as they took
and created numerous chances despite being down to 10 men. Opportunities
fell to both sides and the game flowed from one end to the other keeping the
excellent holiday crowd (673) well entertained. With the game finely balanced Llanelli's best chance came
in the 80th. minute when Mark Dickeson caused mayhem in the Town
box but was again foiled by Fitzgerald and his defensive trio as the ball was
cleared for a corner. With Town finishing the game strongly and given the
circumstances Tomi was probably happy to settle for the point. Llanelli on
the other hand look a much-improved side and Jason Jones was delighted with
his side’s improving form. The scoreline a fair reflection of the game. Crowd 673 Referee : Simon Jones CARMARTHEN
TOWN 3 AFAN LIDO 0 An excellent crowd of
462 saw Town get back on track today with a solid 3-0 win over visitors Afan
Lido. With Town starting brightly and dominating possession Brian Thomas was
called into action early when he turned away Dean Johnson’s snap shot on 7
minutes and five minutes later he did equally well to deny Lee Jones. At the other end Mich Patton squandered a good opportunity
as he blazed over Fitzgerald’s crossbar. Following further Town pressure the
deadlock was finally broken when Wayne Jones had a good run down the left and
fed Tim Hicks who muscled past the Lido defence to the edge of the box. His
low pass across the goalmouth was met by Ryan Nicholls who buried it in the
back of the net to give Town a deserved lead. At the break despite enjoying most of the possession Town
only had the one goal to show for their efforts. Lido looked dangerous when
they broke from defence and Fitzgerald produced two good saves to deny Greg
Hurley on 33 minutes and Shaun O’Leary from point blank range on 43 minutes
to maintain the advantage. Following the break Town continued to dominate without
really playing well. The second goal, just after the hour, came in superb
fashion. Siôn Meredith bustling down
the right made inroads into the Lido penalty area. His pass back across the
goalmouth was hit first time by Dean Johnston and gave Thomas no chance. His
first goal for Town and against his former club. Lido’s came closest to scoring on 77 minutes when they hit
the post but shortly after substitute Carl Evans was dismissed. From the
resulting free kick Town forced a corner and long ball to the back post was
headed down by Wyn Thomas and substitute Chris Summers celebrated his
comeback following a lengthy layoff through injury by firing past Thomas to
make it three. The win keeps Town in touch with the leaders and with
almost a full squad to choose from Tomi will be looking to further improve
Town’s position over the holiday period. Crowd : 462 Referee : Neil Morgan |