CLUN CAUGHT COLD!
SULLY 1 PONTYCLUN 0
Pontyclun travelled to the picturesque, but windswept, Sully ground on Tuesday for a South Wales Alliance League fixture.
With the heavy rain which had fallen for much of the day thankfully having abated it was Sully who got the game underway in bright and blustery conditions and in the second minute shocked Pontyclun by taking the lead. A cross in from the left was misjudged by goalkeeper Andrew Ringsell in the strong wind and an unmarked Sully player was on hand to head the ball in to the net.
A few minutes later the home team almost went further in front when a ball out of the Sully defence found their forward one-on-one with Lewis Miller. The home player outpaced the Clun centre back but fortunately for Pontyclun his firm effort flew over the bar.
Pontyclun’s first real opportunity came in the 12th minute. The ball was played in from the left to Kieran Hodgkin. However, his shot caught on the extremely strong wind and flew harmlessly wide of the Sully goal.
With both sides struggling to come to terms with the conditions chances were very few and far between and the accuracy of many passes fell victim to the conditions. In the 27th minute Sully were almost gifted a goal by the elements when Matthew Trigg’s attempted clearance looped up into the air and Andrew Ringsell was grateful to get his hand to the ball and palm it over for a corner.
The home team though continued to fashion the more promising opportunities. In the 35th minute Oli James lost the ball in the centre circle. Sully again played the ball through to their pacy forward but thankfully for Pontyclun his shot went just wide of the post. Four minutes later Clun had another let off. The ball once again was played into the Pontyclun area. After a scramble involving several players from both sides the ball broke to a Sully player 8 yards out who crashed his effort against the Pontyclun crossbar.
HALF TIME: SULLY 1 PONTYCLUN 0
Despite now playing with the strong wind against their backs the second half followed a similar pattern to the first and Pontyclun had to wait until the 53rd minute for their first real opportunity of the period when a well struck shot by Kieran Hodgkin 25 yards from goal was deflected behind for a corner.
Three minutes later Jamie Williams was unfortunate not to equalise when his firm shot from 30 yards flew straight into the hands of a grateful Sully goalkeeper. Chances continued to be very few and far between although in the 71st minute Andrew Ringsell did well to get down low to palm away a Sully shot to safety.
In the 79th minute Pontyclun once again came close to drawing level. Tom Tweedy was fed the ball on the left hand side of the Sully box. After holding off the challenge of two Sully defenders the Pontyclun forward managed to send in a cross cum shot right across the face of the Sully goal. However, no Pontyclun player was on hand to turn the ball into the net.
Despite half chances falling to both Kieran Hodgkin and substitute Chris Darlington in the closing stages neither was able to capitalise on them and the final whistle sounded with Sully victors by a goal to nil.
PONTYCLUN; A. RINGSELL, K. LAWRENCE, M. TRIGG, O. JAMES (S. SHILTON), L. MILLER, K. HODGKIN, H. FLINT, A. DAVIES (C. DARLINGTON), T. TWEEDY, E. JONES, J. WILLIAMS