Ton Pentre suffered a disappointing home defeat as visiting Afan Lido gained their first win of the season after Sam McCoy opened the scoring in the first half before Nathan White bagged a brace.
The Rhondda Bulldogs were lucky not to find themselves a goal down during the first minute of play when Gavin Jones set off on a dazzling run down the right wing. After crossing the ball into the box Carl Payne headed it down for Nathan White to take a strike at goal. His shot was blocked by goalkeeper Richard Jeffries before a Ton defender hit the ball long and out of danger.
The first half was proving to be an open encounter as Alyn Jones took the ball on a run before threading a pass into Dominic Broad’s path. Broad offloaded a shot that Lido keeper, Brendan Cropley, struggled to hold on to. As the ball broke Broad was presented with another chance but the midfielder saw his effort cleared from inside the six-yard box.
Afan Lido took the lead in the 31st minute when Daniel Lancey supplied the pass from which Sam McCoy gained possession. McCoy, who was making his debut following a transfer from Monmouth Town, was fouled on the edge of the box but Referee Tony Williams played an advantage from which the Lido player chipped Jeffries to score.
Eight minutes later Afan Lido found the back of the net again to give themselves some breathing space when Nathan White ran through the defence to score from a tight angle.
Ton pulled a goal back moments later when Chris Jones saw his shot well saved but parried back to the ground by Cropley. When the follow-up shot was blocked by a defender the ball broke to Jordan Branch 20-yards out on the right. He hit a sweet shot using the outside of his boot that curled into the top left hand corner for a wonderful goal.
After getting a goal back before half time Ton were expected to come out in the second half and apply serious pressure to Afan Lido, however, it was the visitors who enjoyed most of the early possession.
Ton struggled to create any clear chances as Carl Evans bossed the Afan Lido defence winning everything that came at him in the air.
With an hour played the Bulldogs were awarded a free kick but as the ball entered the box Evans was on hand again to clear via a header. The ball went out of play for a throw-in near the corner flag. The ball was immediately flung back into the box where Andrew Hughes looked odds on to score but he misguided it past the post.
Afan Lido wrapped the game up in the 75th minute when Chris Pridham won the ball in midfield and passed it out wide to Payne on the right. After running down the line past Shane Brewer he crossed for White to score his second to make it 3-1.
The win gave Lido their first points of the season.
Ton will go in search of their first win of the season against newly promoted West End on Saturday 22nd August (2.30pm) but they should expect a stern test against the Pri Deri Park outfit.
Ton Pentre: 1. Richard Jeffries; 2. Jordan Branch; 3. Phil Clarke; 4. Adam Lewis; 5. Jamie Thomas; 6. Andrew Hughes;
7. Leon Young; 8. Alyn Jones; 9. Chris Jones; 10. Shane Brewer; 11. Dominic Broad.
Substitutes: 12. Dan Morris; 14. Shay Everson; 15. P-Gi Pascal
Goal: Branch 41
Booked: None
Referee: Tony Williams (Merthyr Tydfil)
Match report © Ton Pentre AFC Press
