Adroddiadau
Mawrth 02 / March 02
Reports..............
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CARMARTHEN
TOWN
5 CAERNARFON TOWN 1 Carmarthen striker John Keaveny, in just his third game
for Town, set the Richmond Park crowd alight with a scintillating performance
as the home side completely outplayed visitors Caernarfon Town. This emphatic
win moves Town up two places to ninth position and keeps alive hopes of
gaining a FAW Premier Cup place for next season. Town started brightly and as early as the second minute
Steve Skupski in the Caernarfon goal was fortunate to see Neil O’Brien’s
first time shot hit the bar, but the keeper did well to save the follow up
header from O’Brien. However, the
away side could have taken the lead soon after when Scott Millington was put
clear on goal but pushed his shot wide of the post. New signing Keaveny then
became the focal point of the game and perhaps should have done better when,
having beaten the offside trap, he failed to take advantage of a one to one
situation with the Skupski in the Caernarfon goal. The breakthrough came from an unexpected source in the 11th
minute when a comparatively weak header by Wayne Jones eluded Skupski to find
the back of the net to give Town an early lead. A speculative shot from 25
yards by Lee Jones threatened to increase the lead but scraped over the bar
and with Carmarthen dominating proceedings Caernarfon were fortunate to see
their goal survive further efforts by Jones and Chris Miller. Keaveny opened his account with Town’s second goal. Having
been put clear by Ryan Nicholls he expertly placed the ball in the back of the
net. His second, and Carmarthen’s third, came two minutes later when he once
again beat the keeper from inside the penalty box to give Town a 3-0 lead at
the break. The second half at last saw the visitors make an impact on
the game as keeper Alex Davies was forced to make a fine one handed save from
Tommy Mutton. But there was little respite for the beleaguered Caernarfon
side as Keaveny rounded the keeper once again to slot the ball home to
complete his hat trick on 66’. Two minutes later Town’s new signing
capped a fine display with his best goal of the afternoon, a superlative shot
from the edge of the box that gave Skupski no chance. In the 89th.
minute Danny Barton secured a late consolation goal for the visitors. Today was John Keaveny’s day and his four goals have
quickly established him as the new goal-scoring hero of the Richmond Park
faithful. Commenting in today’s programme on Town’s recent lean spell of
results manager Tomi Morgan said, ‘Town
have been playing positively and creating plenty of chances but need to
capitalise on some gilt edged opportunities………the players want to right this
situation starting from this afternoon’. And right it they did, in the
best way possible. Today’s win will hopefully give Town the impetus needed
for a successful run to secure a FAW Premier Cup placing. Carmarthen Town A.Davies, Miller, W.Jones, W.Thomas, O'Brien,
Barnhouse, L.Jones, Johnstone, Keaveney (R.Thomas 84'), Nicholls (Fayers
70'), Hicks (Lloyd 79'). Red Cards: None.
Yellow Cards: Barnhouse 46' Caernarfon Town Skupski, E.Williams, Peters, Jellicoe, Antrobus,
Kilgannon (Smith 55'), Roberts, Baker, Barton, Mutton (Sadler 72'),
Millington (McGoona 64'). Red Cards: None.
Yellow Cards: Barton 48' Skupski 76' Attendance: 307 Referee: S C Hames. CARMARTHEN TOWN 0 PORT TALBOT TOWN 1 An 84’ minute goal by Port Talbot substitute Vince
Lewis secured three valuable points for the visitors and punished Town for
not converting their numerous chances. With referee
Nigel Richards passing the ground fit after heavy rain throughout the
afternoon his decision was vindicated by an exciting, open game played at a
fast pace to the background of the drums and bells of the Port Talbot fans. Town
dominated the initial period and there were early chances for Luke Fayers,
Lee Jones and John Keaveny who looked promising on his home debut. For Port
Talbot Mark Dodds was prominent with some strong positive runs. The visitors
came into the game strongly after 20 minutes with some sharp, confident
inter-passing to test a rearranged home defence. Town gave possession away
through the use of the long ball but as the half time approached they got
their act together again but were unable to break the deadlock. Following
the break Town dominated the game with several flowing movements and good
interpassing that put pressure on the Port Talbot defence. On the hour Port
Talbot survived three successive well targeted shots on goal with some
desperate defending. Dodds,
who was influential all night, and Murry combined well on a breakaway for
Port Talbot whilst at the other end Gary Wager who was a tower of strength
pulled off two point blank saves from Keaveny and second half substitute Ryan
Nicholls. Keaveny also blasted over for the miss of the match when totally
unmarked following a corner on 72'. Town were
stunned in the 84’ when, against the run of play, Port Talbot took the lead.
A long ball from the defence found second half substitute Vince Lewis who ran
strongly down the right to place his shot just inside the near post to give
Port Talbot an important win and a league double over Town. A good
following of Port Talbot fans, complete with drum and bell, added to the
atmosphere on a dull, wet evening that saw several other fixtures called off.
However, despite the entertaining game Town supporters will be bitterly
disappointed to have seen their side concede a result when having played well
and dominated the second period they once again failed to convert their
chances and claim the three points they deserved. Carmarthen TownA.Davies, Miller, L.Jones, W.Thomas, W.Jones,
Barnhouse, Fayers, Johnston, Keaveney, Chapple (Nicholls 51'), Hicks (Morgan
80'). Sub not used: R.Thomas Red Cards: None.
Yellow Cards:None Port Talbot Town Wager, Evans, Bird, Philpott, Davies, Cockings,
Wigley, Twyneham, Dodds (Regan 87'), Murray (Pockett 90'), Bartley (Lewis
82') Red Cards:None. Yellow Cards:Bird 20' Bartley 64' Lewis 90' Attendance: 361 Referee:N A
Richards CARMARTHEN
TOWN
0 CWMBRAN TOWN 0 (League Cup 1st. Semi Final ) A thoroughly entertaining game between two sides that
seemed determined to play positive football following their disappointing
results at the weekend. Both teams showed a few changes from their usual line
up, Cwmbran had a couple of youngsters, Mark Dunn and Jason Welsh, up front
whilst Town had several changes and a debutant goalkeeper in Alex Davies. Town enjoying the early possession but chances were few and
far between but as the sides settled they became committed to fast open
football that was allowed to flow by some sensible refereeing. The first couple clear-cut chances came after 20 minutes
when Ryan Nicholls and Wyn Thomas successively found themselves in good
positions only to be thwarted on both occasions by Pat O’Hagan in the Cwmbran
goal. At the other end Chris Watkins saw his shot glance the top
of the Town crossbar whilst debutant keeper Davies saved well with his feet
to deny Phillip James. Davies again made an excellent save some ten minutes
later to prevent the lively Chris Watkins from getting on the score sheet. The best chance of the half fell to Ryan Nicholls, just
after the half hour, when he found himself clear on the Cwmbran goal but
somehow put his shot wide with only the keeper to beat. For Cwmbran John Wile’s speculative shot
from 40 yards caught Davies napping. The shot appeared to be going over but
dipped suddenly to bounce off the top of the Town bar much to the relief of
the ‘spectating’ Davies. The second half continued in the same entertaining fashion
with both sides playing open attacking football. Cwmbran began to force the
pace and take the game to Town. As the game progressed it became very open,
end-to-end play with plenty of entertainment value. Late in the game Cwmbran had the best chances when Davies
saved well from the advancing Dunn who also in the dying moments of the game
fired a thundering shot from the edge of the box that hit the underneath of
the bar and bounced out for an ‘edgy' Town defence to clear to safety. There was plenty to hearten the Town faithful and clearly
Tomi intends to make a few changes following some disappointing results. Carmarthen Town A.Davies, W.Jones, L.Jones (James 65'), Thomas, O'Brien,
Barnhouse, Fayers, Rossiter, Nicholls, Chapple (Gornall 75'), Hicks. Sub not
used: R.Thomas Red Cards: None. Yellow Cards: O'Brien 51' Cwmbran Town O'Hagan, Carter, Wile, Pattimore, Wharton, Moore (Smothers
64'), Watkins, James, Dunn, Welsh, Mainwaring. Subs not used: Cotterrell,
Wigg. Red Cards: None. Yellow Cards: None Attendance: 212 Referee:
P R Southall
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