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Ton Pentre 2 - 1 Taffs Well
MacWhirter Welsh Football League Division One
Saturday 18th October 2008
Despite putting in a poor performance against Division One strugglers Taffs Well, the Rhondda Bulldogs of Ton Pentre somehow managed to scrape a win at Ynys Park late in the second half.
Most of Ton Pentre’s chances were created in the first half of play where they should have quashed Taffs Wells hopes.
Andrew Pearson set off on an amazing run after 11 minutes of play and as he got inside the Taffs Well 18-yard box a defender brought him down from behind. Penalty appeals were turned down and to his credit Pearson was quick to get back on his feet to take a strike at goal. Jon Howe was equal to Pearson’s well hit shot and pulled off a brilliant save.
The Bulldogs took the lead in the 26th minute when Ton Captain Mark Crutch played a stunning ball up the field for Shane Brewer to run onto. Brewer brought the ball down well with exceptional ability and ran into the Taffs Well box. The former Newport County player finished well to make it 1-0.
Taffs Well could not have hoped for a better start to the second half as they were awarded a penalty inside the first 5 minutes following Scott Hayward’s slide tackle that brought his opponent down.
Taffs Well scored from the spot kick and the goal spurred them on to believing that they could get something from the match. Meanwhile Ton’s level of performance plummeted.
The Bulldogs were lucky not to be behind moments after the penalty as Bulldogs keeper Keiron Blackburn was forced into making three consecutive close range saves from shots inside the Ton box.
As the hour approached Ton created a rare second half chance when the ball broke for Chris Jones on the edge of the box. He saw his shot saved well by Howe but the Taffs Well goalkeeper was unable to hold onto the ball and Pearson was lurking on the edge of the 6-yard box. Pearson scuffed his follow-up wide of the goalpost.
This match appeared to be heading for a stalemate and a disappointing result for Ton but fortune favoured the Bulldogs in the 82nd minute as Hayward broke into the box from the right wing, his low cross along the front of the goal was turned in by a Taffs Well defender who was under pressure from the Ton attackers.
It was a disappointing Ton performance and they were fortunate to win all three points. The Bulldogs will be looking to do better in their next match away to Cardiff Corinthians on Saturday 25th October at 2.30pm.
Match report © Ton Pentre AFC Press
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