GRANGE PAY THE PENALTY

GRANGE ALBION 0 PONTYCLUN 2

Pontyclun travelled to Grangetown on Saturday to take on Grange Albion in a South Wales Alliance League Premier Division fixture.

The home team got proceedings underway on a cold and showery afternoon. As early as the third minute Pontyclun had a chance to open the scoring when Jordan Lawrence played the ball through to Craig Williams on the right hand edge of the Grange Albion penalty area but his low shot was easily gathered by the home goalkeeper.

A minute later Pontyclun had another chance to open their account when Chris Bullock latched onto a stray Grange Albion pass on the edge of the area but his shot on the turn went just over the bar.

The home team had to wait until the 10th minute for their first real chance of the match when they were awarded a free kick thirty yards from goal. However, the low effort went straight into the Pontyclun wall and the danger was cleared.

The game then entered a very sterile period with very little of note being created by either side, the only incident of note was Clun centre-back Kieran Lawrence being yellow carded for holding back an advancing Grange player.

In the 26th minute Pontyclun were awarded a penalty. The ball was played into Chris Darlington in the Albion area. The Clun winger mis-controlled the ball and in the ensuing scramble the ball eventually broke to Chris Bullock with his back to goal. Before the Pontyclun centre-forward could do anything with the ball he was brought down by the home goalkeeper and referee Graham Evans had no hesitation in pointing to the spot. The same player stepped up to take the kick and although the home goalkeeper managed to get his body to the kick he could not prevent the ball from crossing the line to give Pontyclun the lead.

Five minutes later Pontyclun might have doubled their lead. Good work by Jamie Williams down the right led him to feed the ball to Chris Bullock in the Grange area but his firm shot was cleared by a home defender. This proved to be the last significant action of the half and the interval arrived with Pontyclun leading by a goal to nil.

After a very quiet opening to the second half the first real opportunity did not come until the hour mark when a header from Matthew Trigg went just wide of the post. As the half entered its final third Pontyclun began to enjoy more and more of the play and both Tom Tweedy and Joel Woodington came close to extending their lead.

In the 74th minute Pontyclun were given a golden opportunity double their lead when substitute Joel Woodington was taken out in the Grange Albion area. Shaun Moss stepped up to take the kick and made no mistake from the spot smashing the ball into the net.

With Pontyclun now with a two goal cushion the fight seemed to go out of the home team and the game petered out as a contest in the final minutes and full-time arrived with Pontyclun winners by two goals to nil.