Despite going a goal down inside the first 15 minutes of this match, Ton Pentre recovered to record an excellent result against a battling Dinas Powys at Ynys Park.
It was Mark Greedy who put the visitors into the lead with a goal scored from out wide on the wing.
Ton had unconvincingly cleared the ball from the edge of the box and as a result Greedy gained ownership and decided to try his luck with Richard Jeffries off his goal line. His lobbed effort looked as though it was going high and wide but the ball dipped sharply at the very last moment to snuggle inside the far post.
The Rhondda Bulldogs responded well with several waves of attacks, one of which in the 28th minute, saw Phil Clarke’s shot cleared off the line by the Dinas Powys defence.
Dinas Powys gifted Ton with a chance to equalise during the 34th minute of play when during another Bulldogs attack Sami Misbah handled the ball inside the box when attempting to clear and Referee Lee James pointed to the spot.
Former Afan Lido hotshot, Ian Jones, stepped up to take the penalty for Ton and he sent goalkeeper Chris Goulton the wrong way to pull the Bulldogs level.
Moments later Ryan Morgan nearly gave Ton the lead when his head connected with Liam Hutchinson’s ball into the box from a free kick. Morgan’s header had beaten Goulton but the ball hit the post and rolled along the goal line before getting cleared.
Ton maintained their pressure and as Alyn Jones was running towards goal he was fouled by Ashton Turner on the edge of the box.
Hutchinson took a powerful shot from the resulting free kick and Goulton could only palm the ball directly into Chris Jones’ path and he slotted in his 7th goal of the season.
In the second half Ton continued to probe the Dinas Powys defence and had it not been for a man of the match performance by defender Chris Ashley the Bulldogs may have raced away with the match. His last ditch defending denied Ton twice on the hour mark from increasing their lead.
In the 77th minute Alyn Jones lay the ball off for Adam Lewis to strike from outside the box. Despite defender Lewis being in unfamiliar territory he unleashed a fierce shot that forced Goulton into tipping the ball over the crossbar.
Seven minutes later Alyn Jones was involved in setting up another chance as he ran down the left touchline before cutting inside at the by-line, where he picked out a pass to Ian Jones who finished well to bag his brace and Ton’s third goal of the match to secure the victory.
As full time approached Dinas Powys player Richard Lane was guilty of a horrific challenge when, probably through frustration, he flung himself through the air at Ton’s Liam Hutchinson. With both his legs outstretched he went in two footed on the Ton midfielder and had Lane made full contact with the Bulldogs player he could have caused a serious injury. Sadly Referee Lee James extraordinarily felt that a yellow card was sufficient for the horrendous tackle but luckily Hutchinson escaped unscathed following treatment by Ton physio Billy Young.
Next match: Ton Pentre v Goytre United, Wednesday 4th March 2009. Kick off 7.30pm.
Match report © Ton Pentre AFC Press
