Pontyclun FC 2 1 Llantwit Fardre
29th Mar 2017 - 18.15
Ivor Park
South Wales Alliance League

TWEEDY STRIKE LIGHTS UP THE EVENING 

PONTYCLUN FC   2    LLANTWIT FARDRE   1

  Local rivals Llantwit Fardre were the visitors to a grey and damp Ivor Park on Wednesday evening for a South Wales Alliance League Premier Division fixture.

Pontyclun got proceedings underway kicking towards the village end of the ground. After having the better of the early exchanges it was Pontyclun who opened the scoring in the 4th minute. Good work down the right wing by Joel Woodington saw him advance towards the Llantwit by-line before pulling the ball back to an unmarked Craig Williams on the left hand edge of the area. The Pontyclun player steadied himself before gratefully firing the ball into the far corner of the net.

The home side continued to keep up the pressure and in the 10th minute the Llantwit goal had a close escape when Craig Williams was played through one-on-one with the Llantwit keeper. However, the visiting custodian did well to block the ball with his foot but could only deflect the ball into the path of Tom Haley but his goal-bound effort was blocked by a Llantwit defender.

After a relatively quiet period Pontyclun had another good chance to extend their lead in the 31st minute. Craig Williams fed Joel Woodington on the right hand corner of the area. The Pontyclun centre-forward swiftly brought the ball under control before firing in a firm low diagonal shot which the visiting keeper did well to get a hand to and deflect the ball to safety.

This proved to be the last real significant action of the half and the interval arrived with Pontyclun leading by a goal to nil.

With the gathering gloom necessitating a shortened half-time it was the visitors who got things underway in the second half. The opening phases of the second period belonged to Pontyclun who, despite putting their opponents under pressure, were unable to add to their lead.

Pontyclun were made to pay for this wastefulness when, very much against the run of play, the visitors drew level in the 51st minute. Terrible defending and indecision in their own area by the home side eventually led to the ball looping over the head of James Billington and into the net.

Spurred on by this equaliser Llantwit began to take the game to Pontyclun and two minutes later they squandered a glorious chance to take the lead. The ball was crossed to a Llantwit player in acres of space on the left hand side of the Clun area and his firm low shot went just wide of the far post with James Billington watching on helplessly.

Pontyclun managed to weather this storm and on the hour they had strong appeals for a penalty turned down when Tom Tweedy looked to be brought down in the Llantwit area. Five minutes later the visitor’s goal had a charmed escape when both Joel Woodington and Tom Tweedy were unable to turn the ball into the net from close range.

In the 70th minute Pontyclun once again thought they might have had a penalty when Tom Tweedy looked to have been upended by a Llantwit defender in the area but once again the referee was unimpressed.

After all their pressure throughout the game Pontyclun finally went back in front in the 73rd minute. Joel Woodington crossed the ball into the Llantwit area from the right. After a couple of Llantwit defenders had missed their clearances the ball found its way to Tom Tweedy on the left 15 yards from goal and the Pontyclun forward gratefully smashed the ball into the roof of the net much to the delight of the vast majority of the very large crowd.

The visitors were far from finished though and in the 83rd minute came close to drawing level. After the home side had been caught on the break a long diagonal ball from the right played in a Llantwit forward who advanced into the Pontyclun area before scuffing his shot just wide of the near post.

As the light began to fade many in the crowd began to anxiously look at their watches. Although both sides created the odd half chance they were unable to capitalise on them and as the remaining light rapidly began to disappear the final whistle sounded with Pontyclun winners by 2 goals to 1.