Two first half goals by Patrick Fineral was enough to beat Port Talbot at Victoria Road on Sunday. He scored after 35 and 40 minutes, both sides missed chances but the young Reds side picked up a deserved 3 points.

Debutant Neil Thomas gave us the lead on 6 minutes only for Luke Gullick to level on 10. Noah Daley restored the lead on 63 minutes and despite being without several first choice players we held on for another away win.

The youth led 1-0 at the interval thanks to a terrific shot from Noah Daley on 16 minutes. However we failed to capitalise with a strong wind at our backs. Pontardawe equalised on 70 minutes and both sides had chances to win the game. However once again we lacked a clinical finish in front of goal. The Pontardawe keeper made a couple of good saves but several chances went begging.

This was our sixth home defeat of the season with neither side playing any good football in a match spoilt by the strong wind blowing in off the sea. Once again, we failed to make use of it in a first half in which we didn’t manage a shot on target. The nearest was a long-range effort by Noah Daley which hit the crossbar with the keeper way off his line. Our second half performance again lacked any sort of continuity and we fell to two similar goals. Both were played in behind our back four for Anthony Rawlings to run on to.

Major attacked from the kick off and got in behind our back four and should have taken the lead but from a good position they shot over the bar. There were few chances in the first half with an Anthony Rawlings header on 28 minutes which went just wide was one of the few in a half easily forgotten.

We kicked off the second half and Chris Hartland found space on the right of the penalty area but like Major in the first half he couldn’t keep his shot down and it sailed over the bar. On 48 minutes following a Lido free kick Cai Owens from 15 yards shot over the bar. Any hopes that we’d get on top in the second half following this early pressure were soon shattered when a simple ball over the top of the back four saw Anthony Rawlings beat Rory McCreesh to the ball and he had the simple task of slotting the ball into the empty net. Straight from the kick off the visitors again attacked and from a good position shot wide. Around the hour mark we started to put pressure on the Major defence and we equalised on 64 minutes. Chris Hartland tried to play the ball through and there were appeals for a penalty, the ball broke loose and in the confusion Noah Daley netted his sixth goal of the season. In a repeat of their opening goal Major played the ball through the back four for Anthony Rawlings to shoot past Rory McCreesh for the winner on 73 minutes. McCreesh then made a fine save to prevent Kris Evans making it three. At no point in the final fifteen minutes did we look as though we’d salvage a point.

Rory McCreesh  2 Craig Jones  3 James Parry  4 Alex Gammond  5 Cai Owens  6 Ben Thomas  7 Chris Hartland  8 Jack Hurley 9 Mark Jones 10 Noah Daley 11 Jack Fleming

Subs  12 Jack Underwood  for Craig Jones 85 – 14 Patrick Finneral for Jack Fleming 79 – 15 Carlos Indjai for Jack Fleming 68 16 Taylor Evans

We gained a rare double over Taffs Well with first half goals from Jack Todd and a double from Chris Hartland all but settling the result before the interval. Alex Gammond and Cai Owens were unavailable so Carlos Indjai played alongside Jack Todd in the centre of defence and Chris Hartland came off the bench.

We took the lead on 6 minutes following a great run down the right by Noah Daley, he left his defender standing and delivered a cross for Chris Hartland to clip right footed over the Taffs keeper. On 15 minutes it looked as though Mark Jones would celebrate his 100th Welsh League start with a goal but having got in a decent position to shoot he was tackled at the last second. Taffs actually saw a lot of the ball but their possession was mainly in the middle of the park when they did penetrate the penalty area their shooting was poor. Jack Todd made it 2-0 on 27 minutes following a free kick on half way. Craig Jones kick found him on the edge of the box and he brought the ball down and fired a right footed shot just inside the post giving the keeper no chance. Taffs should have pulled a goal back on 30 minutes when the ball was played behind our defence but from a good position the striker shot wide.

Taffs pulled a goal back 3 minutes into the second half when an underhit back pass put us under pressure and we failed to clear the ball. Their striker scored with a shot from the edge of the area which went just inside the post. This  spurred the home side on but they lacked the necessary quality in front of goal. We again took the game to them and Noah Daley was played in but the Taffs keeper guessed right and saved his effort with his legs. We were content to see out the game but Jack Fleming with a good run shot wide from a good position and no matter how hard he tried nothing went right for Mark Jones. He had several opportunities you’d expect him to score from but it wasn’t his night. The one down side was the injury to Jack Todd well into added time when he was fouled and injured his shoulder.

Rory McCreesh  2 Craig Jones  3 James Parry  4 Carlos Indjai  5 Jack Todd  6 Ben Thomas  7 Chris Hartland  8 Noah Daley 9 Mark Jones 10 Jack Hurley 11 Jack Fleming

Subs  12 Kieran Howells – 14 Lewis Clement for Jack Todd 90 + 3 – 15 Patrick Finneral for Jack Fleming 86 — 16 Jack Underwood

We led 1-0 at half time through a first goal for Patrick Finerall. Jake Someone added a second on 57 minutes only for Risca to pull one back on 61. Daniel Merrick made it 3-1 with a header on 74 minutes only for Risca to immediately pull one back a minute later scoring directly from a corner. Seemingly Jamie Karsang made the game safe on 80 minutes only for Risca to add a third in the 90th minute. We survived 4 minutes of added time to secure all 3 points.

A good  performance by the reserves to beat Penydarren.  Connor Thomas  scored on 23 minutes and Kieran Parsons made it two on 38 minutes. Penydarren pulled a goal back on 48 but Jake Simeone restored the 2 goal advantage on 53 minutes