TWO EASY FOR WOODY

PONTYCLUN   4   LLANGYNWYD RGRS  1

Lowly Llangynwyd Rangers BGC were the visitors to a bright and pleasant Ivor Park on Wednesday evening for a South Wales Alliance League Premier Division fixture.

Pontyclun in their change strip of navy and red got proceedings underway kicking towards the village end of the ground. After a relatively quiet opening the first real chance of the game fell to Pontyclun in the 5th minute. Joel Woodington broke down the left before feeding Tom Tweedy who brought the ball under control and passed to Jamie Williams on the right hand edge of the area but the Pontyclun forward could only send his effort high over the bar.

As the half progressed Pontyclun began to enjoy more and more of the possession and territorial advantage without managing to convert this into clear goalscoring opportunities. However, Llangynwyd’s stubborn resistance was finally broken in the 19th minute as Pontyclun took the lead. A corner on the left was flicked on by Joel Woodington towards the unmarked Matthew Trigg in the area and the Pontyclun full-back sneaked in to head the ball into the far corner of the net.

Boosted by this goal Pontyclun continued to enjoy more and more of the play and Tom Tweedy came close on a couple of occasions to extending their lead. In the 35th minute though Pontyclun were rewarded for their endeavours when they doubled their lead.

Jamie Williams intercepted a loose Llangynwyd pass on the edge of the area and advanced on goal. As the Llangynwyd custodian advanced the Pontyclun player could only send his low effort against the post. As the ball rebounded back to the Pontyclun player from close range it looked as if he had spurned the opportunity as he could only send his effort across the face of the goal but fortunately the predatory Joel Woodington was on hand to turn the ball into the net from close range.

Two minutes later Pontyclun came close to extending their lead still further. Good battling by young Jordan Lawrence saw him power past several Llangynwyd players as he advanced upfield where he looked to play in James Gronow with a low pass. However, the Llangynwyd keeper was alert to the danger and was on hand to gather the ball just before the Pontyclun player.

The visitors had to wait until the 43rd minute for their first real opportunity of the match but their speculative effort from 40 yards floated high over the Pontyclun bar. Right on the stroke of half time Pontyclun had another opportunity to extend their lead. Good battling once again down the left by Joel Woodington resulted in him centring the ball to the unmarked James Gronow 15 yards from goal. However, the latter player could only slice his effort wide of the far post. This proved to be the last significant action of the half and the interval arrived with Pontyclun in total control of proceedings leading by two goals to nil.

The visitors got the second half underway but the game soon fell into the same pattern as the first half. In the 49th minute Pontyclun thought they had scored a third goal. Good battling in the Llangynwyd box by Jamie Williams resulted in him squaring the ball the Joel Woodington who turned the ball into the net from close range but referee Steve Davies ruled out the effort for offside.

After Jamie Williams had spurned a chance in the 53rd minute Matthew Trigg thought he had scored his second of the game when he swivelled in the Llangynwyd area and put in a firm shot which crashed against the angle of post and crossbar before rebounding to safety.

Two minutes later though Pontyclun finally made the score 3-0. Shaun Moss won the ball in midfield and advanced forward before sliding the ball into the path of Jamie Williams who slotted the ball past the advancing Llangynwyd goalkeeper into the net.

With Pontyclun now in total control it seemed only a matter of time before they extended their lead still further and in the 58th minute they were awarded a penalty when Joel Woodington was fouled in the area. With Shaun Moss having being unsuccessful with a couple of recent efforts from the spot Woodington took responsibility for the kick and made no mistake from the spot sending the keeper the wrong way in the process.

For the second game in succession scoring a goal proved to be the last contribution for the Pontyclun forward as, with Saturday’s key fixture against Penydarren in mind, he and James Gronow were replaced by Chris Bullock and Oli James respectively.

With the game now effectively over as a contest Pontyclun were content to maintain possession. Once again with Saturday in mind Shaun Moss was withdrawn for Harry Flint. The visitors did manage to secure a consolation effort when slack marking from a corner allowed a Llangynwyd player to head in from close range but this proved to be their only real effort of the half and the final whistle sounded with Pontyclun, much to the delight of the vast majority of the large crowd, worthy winners by 4 goals to 1.