A BUMPER holiday crowd at Richmond Park saw Carmarthen Town survive an anxious eight minutes of injury time to cling on to a slender 4-3 lead in this League of Wales match.

Town, however, were well worth their victory which should have been achieved by a far more convincing margin with some clear cut chances going begging in the first hall

Despite the considerable rainfall over the Christmas period the weather was kind for this long awaited clash as Town faced a formidable "Seasiders" line-up which included new, signing's Dean Philpott, Steve Mardenhorough and Wayne Hewitt on transfers from Inter Cardiff.

And the fact that the Aber bench included three of the League of Wales' leading strikers Kevin Morrison, Simon Dyer and Glyndwr Hughes spoke volumes of the task that Town faced in this Richmond Park derby.

Town manager Tomi Morgan told the Journal: "My players played from the heart today which speaks a lot for the considerable spirit that exists within the squad".

Indeed while this statement has a true ring about it, there were nevertheless some outstanding individual performances notably from central defenders Wyn Thomas - who kept a tight check on Mardenborough - and former Swansea City player David Bamhouse.

After the visiting goal had survived some anxious moments the breakthrough came in the 35th minutes when Ryan Nicholls' free kick from the touch line found Town's central defender Matthew Cable who forced the ball past keeper Martin Jones from close range to, give his side a slender half time lead.

Then in a dramatic turn of events in the second half Aberystwyth's Dean Philpott - who had showed a lack of discipline in the first hall especially with a series of careless tackles - was sent off by Llanelli referee Nigel Richards. Town now seemed high and dry especially when the second goal came in the 63rd minute as Cable rose to head a comer kick back into the six yard box where Thomas applied the finishing touch to head past Jones.

Richard Parker's third goal for Town gave no indication of the drama to come. But the first warning came when Morrison, coming off the bench. headed just over when well placed And then Jonathan Williams gave some hope to the very large contingent of Aberystwyth supporters at the game, by scoring for his side after keeper Robert Fitzgerald had initially made a point blank save from Hewitt.

Carmarthen substitute Wayne Jones then restored Town's three goal advantage with a well taken goal before the home supporters were placed on tenterhooks then firstly Morrison reduced the deficit the 89th minute as Town's defence was caught flat-footed.

And then in the third minute of injury time Aneurin Thomas powered a free kick beyond the reach of Fitzgerald into the bottom comer of the net.

Referee Richards at last blew the final whistle and this win for RSU Windows sponsored-Town maintains their third position in the table.

It was an important victory especially as all the other sides in the top four, Barry, Cwmbran, TNS won their games.

Return to Reports page

Carmarthen keeper Robert Fitzgerald turned out to be his side’s hero when in a splendidly open game Town may have obtained their best win of the season in this League of Wales match last Saturday. Fitzgerald, deservedly the recipient of the Newtown Match Sponsors’ Man of the Match Award produced a series of outstanding saves to keep his side in the game when in a devastating 20 minutes spell in the second half the home side, with a brilliant brand of football, threatened to over-run their visitors.

The first half remained very evenly balanced, with frequent goalmouth action at both ends of the field and it was a credit to both keepers, Fitzgerald and Robin’s keeper Andy Withington that the scoreline remained blank at half time.

There was drama for RSU Windows Sposnored Town even before the game started when Gavin Rees, set to play, had to withdraw just ten minutes before the kick off after feeling unwell. The drama continued within minutes of the kick-off when Wayne Jones, who had been drafted in from the substitute’s role to replace Rees, had to retire from the field of play with a nasty pelvic injury. Paul Burrows, however, slotted in perfectly into the right wing-back role and give his best performance of the season in this unaccustomed position.

Town’s defence had to be at their best to contain Newtown’s attacking force of Scott Ruscoe, Justin Wickham and Mark Williams, and none did better in the central defence than Wyn Thomas who marshalled the effective Wickham superbly throughout the match to give this talented player little leeway.

After Paul Walker had fired over in the early stages, the home side then applied the pressure but Williams and Ruscoe were well off target with some miss-placed headers. Carmarthen’s Nigel Nicholas, with some tricky runs up the left wing, posed problems for the Newtown defence and from one such move Ryan Nicholls was presented with a good chance but Withington did well to deny the Carmarthen player with a fine save. At the other end, Fitzgerald was dealing with the slippery ball with consummate ease and the half time whistle came with both teams evenly balanced.

The second half saw the home side stepping up a gear and some slick passing in the Newtown midfield was now stretching Town’s defence who were fortunate to survive on one occasion when Wickham hit the outside of Carmarthen’s upright from point blank range. Fitzgerald then produced two superb saves, one from Romilly Brown’s free kick which was heading for the top corner of the net, and another from a close range header by Williams.

Town’s defence, however, was playing with a great deal of confidence, and when Withington was forced to turn over Malcolm Vaughan’s nonchalant left foot drive from 25 yards, Town scored from the resultant corner. Nicholl’s corner kick was headed back across goal by Matthew Cable and Thomas, crowning a superb display, headed past the startled Withington.

This goal came after 63 minutes and, despite the spirited performance by Newtown, they were unable to beat Fitzgerald and Town’s delight was compounded two minutes from time when Matthew Delicate, who had come on as substitute, broke down the middle, and holding off a strong physical challenge from Robins’ centre half, Paul Bywater, fired the ball past Whittington from 12 yards to put the issue beyond doubt.

Town’s coach on the way home faced a hazardous journey in severe snow bound conditions but players and spectators were nevertheless in good spirits after this win which takes Town into third place in the League Table.

Return to Reports page

After an uneventful first half, Carmarthen Town came to life in the second half to gain a convincing win against their visitors from Cefn Mawr, near Wrexham in North Wales.

Assistant manager Ray Davies said ‘Our side has lost a certain amount of confidence during the last few weeks but once Siôn Meredith found the net to give Carmarthen a 54th minute lead the confidence came flooding back as we were all able to see’.

Town had welcomed back David Barnhouse following suspension to display a solid performance at the back and set up Town for this victory which now pushes them up to third place in the League of Wales Table behind Barry and TNS, although Llanelli in fourth place, just one point behind, do have two games in hand.

Following persistent rain during the previous 48 hours, the Richmond Park pitch was in remarkably good condition for this fixture, which says a lot for the excellent preparation work by the Town’s Operations Manager and his staff in ensuring the match was on.

Some beefy showers and strong winds in the first half hampered both sets of players, although the visitors, belying their lowly position in the League and fielding a youthful line-up, may have edged a first half in which Town could be thankful for some good saves by keeper Robert Fitzgerald to keep out Phil Jones and Ross Jeffries.

In fact Jeffries did find the net in the first half only to be adjudged off-side by Ebbw Vale referee Mark Sansom, although shortly after Town’s Ryan Nicholls also had a goal disallowed for off-side.

The second half saw a transformation in Town’s fortunes when Meredith, to the delight of the rain soaked crowd, picked up Gavin Rees’ corner kick and his shot found the top corner of the net from 15 yards giving the 'Ancients’' goalkeeper, Leigh Edwards, little chance. After Rene Bruce Pinard had shot weakly at Fitzgerald from a good position Town now had their tails up.

Richard Parker, picking up a through ball, did well to break through the visiting defence in 73minute to slot the ball past Edwards to give Town a 2-0 cushion. The youthful visitors had now dropped their heads and it was no surprise, with Town now brimming with confidence that the third goal eventually arrived, when after another fine break by Parker he released the ball to mid-field player Malcolm Vaughan who slammed the ball into the back of the net with the Cefn Druids defence in disarray.

Manager Tomi Morgan told the Journal ‘ After the disappointments of the Llanelli, Barry and Bangor matches, this was a welcome result which hopefully will have restored confidence for the two demanding fixtures ahead this month.’

THE LEAGUE of Wales was hit by the rough end of stormy weather with only three games going ahead.Connah's Quay Nomads were all washed out so their game didn't go ahead but Flexys Cefn Druids crashed 3-0 to Camarthen Town away in one of the few matches that were played.

The pitch was in excellent condition until the kick off when the heavens opened up but that didn't some of the players producing some superb football.Cefn played a solid first half and they were unlucky not to go ahead on several occasions.

They caused the home side all sorts of problems early on as Rennie Penard put Phil Jones through on goal but keeper Rob Fitzgerald made a good save with his legs.A few minutes later Alan Williams came charging forward with a goal bound effort which was kicked off the line. Camarthen had no reply as Cefn piled on the pressure through Simon Richards who cruelly had his headed attempt on goal which was touched in by Ross Jeffies, ruled out after Jeffries was judged to be offside.

The home had no real attempts on goal in the first half but Cefn were made to pay for their lack of finishing in the second half.Camarthen came out more positively in the second half and they started to turn things around. They broke the deadlock on the 65th minute when Siôn Meredith picked up the ball from 15 yards out and struck the ball past a crowd of defenders into the top left hand corner of the net. It was the first real attempt that keeper Lee Edwards was faced with in the match and there was nothing he could do to stop the goal.

Earlier he tipped one effort over the bar and when manager Gareth Powell made three substitutions with 20 minutes to go it had a telling effect on Cefn.Before they even had chance to settle in Camarthen extended their lead. A defensive error by Paul Morris allowed Richard Parker to brush past him and put the ball safely in the net. That killed Cefn off as they had no real reply after that.

The home side continued to put the pressure on and a few minutes later Parker went clear and he made a similar goal which was disallowed in the first half for Cefn.He put the ball across for Malcolm Vaughn to tap in the net to make it 3-0.Cefn pressed with two late attempts from Lee Phelan who struck a deadly free kick which just went wide of the post and Penard who went through two men and scampered into the box only to have his shot blocked by Fitzgerald.

Powell said: "If we'd have put away the chances we had in the first half we would have won comfortably. "But we didn't and they did and that cost us the match ."We played some excellent football in the first half and we were unlucky not to go two or three goals ahead. "Their second goal came when we were close to equalising and that killed us off. "Siôn Meredith was by far their best player but Alan Williams had an excellent game for us in midfield."

Return to Reports page