Despite producing a dominant display against Bettws the Rhondda Bulldogs of Ton Pentre lost to a solitary first half goal scored against the run of play.
The Bulldogs swiftly took control of this match to cause the Bettws defence multiple problems in the first 20 minutes of play.
Ian Jones should have given Ton the lead in the sixth minute when he ran onto a through ball that was well executed by Alyn Jones. The former Afan Lido hotshot was one-on-one with experienced goalkeeper Mark Elliott and decided to strike low. Elliott denied the effort with an outstretched leg for an excellent save.
Completely against the run of play Bettws won a corner following a rare first half attack in the 20th minute. An in swinging ball was sent to the near post where a Bettws player took full advantage of being unmarked to head the ball into the net.
Bettws should have doubled their lead three minutes later when one of their midfielders ran onto a loose ball in the Ton defence. The Bettws midfielder played the ball around Bulldogs goalkeeper Richard Jeffries to present himself with a completely open goal. With no danger of being caught the player ran the ball into the six-yard box where he astonishingly managed to hit the ball wide of the left hand goal post before suffering complete embarrassment in front of his contemporaries.
Another fantastic chance befell Ton’s Ian Jones before half time when good build-up play ended with Alyn Jones sending a sublime pinpoint cross into the box for the Ton striker. Ian Jones was presented with a free header but his targeting was not in sync as he sent the ball wide of the right post much to the keeper’s relief.
Bettws were again put under considerable pressure at the start of the second half as Ton looked to pull themselves level with their hosts.
Once again Ian Jones was presented with a mouth-watering opportunity to score on 55 minutes as he found himself in another glorious one-on-one situation with the keeper. To the striker’s dismay Elliott pulled off another first-rate save to maintain Bettws’ slim lead.
On the hour Ton Pentre were very unlucky not to have been awarded a penalty when during one of their attacks the ball bounced awkwardly in the Bettws box. In order to control the ball Bettws Captain Paul Evans used his arm to help bring the ball into his possession. Ton’s strong penalty claims were waved away by the Referee much to the Bettws Captain’s relief as he cleared the ball from danger.
With four minutes of the match remaining a long throw from Adam Lewis into the Bettws penalty area found Ian Jones who was quick to twist on the spot and shoot. The strike looked likely to pull the Bulldogs level but Elliott reacted incredibly quickly to dive low to his left and scoop the ball off line for a terrific save.
During the final minute of the match the Bulldogs were reduced to 10 men when Alyn Jones was red carded for swearing in frustration to a 50/50 throw-in decision. The normal punishment for such an offence is a two match suspension; however, as this is Jones’s second dismissal of the season he will be forced to sit out Ton’s next three matches.
The Bulldogs will be disappointed not to have won this match as they put in a good performance and on another day Ian Jones could have bagged himself a hat-trick, but matches like this is what makes the game of football so appealing as the sport is so unpredictable.
In their next match Ton face a difficult trip to Jenner Park to face Barry Town on Saturday 11th April 2009. Kick off is at 2.30pm.
Match report © Ton Pentre AFC Press
