Two second half goals secured a second derby win and our place in the Cymru South League with other results also going our way. Lido welcomed back Ioan Evans following a few weeks on the injured list and he set up the first opportunity after 2 minutes when he crossed the ball in to Sean Hanbury whose flick was well saved by James Donnelly in the Port Talbot goal. Port Talbot then created a golden opportunity when Liam Reed shot from close range only for Aaron Jones to make a save the ball rebounding to Jenson Cory but Aaron closed him down and the ball squirmed away. Another chance for Lido on 8 minutes when Chris Jones played Sean Hanbury in, he toe pocked it under Donnelly but Garrett gets back to clear off the line. Aaron Jones was again in action on 12 minutes with a fantastic save off Liam Reed managing to turn the ball behind for a corner. On 23 minutes Sean Hanbury headed wide following a Chris Jones free kick. Josh Webber replaced the injured Owen Williams on 26 minutes and took his place wide right. On 41 minutes Sean Hanbury picked up a through ball and shot from distance but the ball went just wide. A goalless first half but plenty of action. The early chances in the second half fell to the Lido with Matthew Beynon heading a corner wide, and Liam Griffiths firing over the bar from distance after spotting Donnelly of his line. For some reason around the hour mark the Port Talbot defence started panicking and played themselves into trouble. Ioan Evans had just put a chance into the side netting before Lido scored, an Evans close range volley was brilliantly saved by James Donnelly but the ball fell to Sean Hanbury and he netted from close range. Worse was to follow for the home side when they needlessly gave away a penalty which Chris Jones blasted in. It went from bad to worse for Port Talbot when Logan Bowkett was shown a second yellow and so they had to play the final 23 minutes with 10 men. Ioan Evans forced another save from Donnelly who again excelled saving from Chris Jones from close range. This win ensured we remain in the Cymru South and leaves four teams still in the mix for the final relegation spot.

A good holiday crowd saw Lido pick up all three points in their efforts to remain in the Cymru South League. Results earlier in the day were mixed so nothing short of three points was acceptable. Despite Port Talbot being without a point they gave a good account of themselves except in the final third where their finishing let them down. Matthew Beynon had the chance to open the scoring in the third minute but he scooped his shot over the bar. Lido took the lead on 13 minutes following a Chris Jones free kick. He found Matthew Beynon but his header was saved by goalkeeper James Donnelly, Liam Griffiths reacted quickest and tapped in the rebound off Donnelly. Griffiths on 18 minutes almost doubled the lead when he beat his defender and shot but it went narrowly wide. Griffiths was again in the action on 21 minutes when he pounced on a defensive error but his shot lacked power and was saved by Donnelly. Lido continued in the ascendancy with Port Talbot relying on the long ball forward which was usually dealt with by the Lido defence. Although Lido went in ahead at the break several decent opportunities had been squandered, hopefully they wouldn’t come back to haunt us. Port Talbot created the first opportunity of the second half but Sion Williams fired over from close range. Chris Jones should have made it 2-0 on 65 minutes; Sam Baker played a great ball though for Chris who only had Donnelly to beat. He tried chipping the keeper but he manged to turn it behind for a corner. Donnelly was certainly on form tonight. Ioan Evans who has missed several weeks through injury had come on as a sub early in the second half and he got on the end of a  Sean Hanbury cross but he could only head it into the side netting. Lido wrapped up the three points on 90 minutes, the Port Talbot defence waited in vain for an offside against Chris Jones. He went into the area, drew the keeper and squared the ball for the supporting Michael McCalmon who calmly sidefooted the ball into the empty net for his first senior goal for the Lido.

Afan Lido Ladies defeated Aberaman 4-0 this afternoon to complete the double over them. Jenna Clark scored her first goal for the club to give the Girls a 13th minute lead. Zoe Parfitt doubled the lead on 29 minutes and the result was settled by Georgia Thorne who netted in the 62nd and 67th minutes to secure the win.

After a disappointing 0-0 draw against Llanelli last time out the Reserves travelled to Cwmamman United on Saturday. They attacked from the off with Michael McCalmon racing down the right wing but his cross was too long but the ball went out for a corner which was taken short to Chris Jones but his cross was cleared. The ball was played back in and Lido had yet another corner which Michael McCalmon headed goalwards forcing the Cwmamman keeper into a fine save. From the clearance the ball was played over the Lido defence but the Cwmamman player snatched at the shot and the ball went well wide. From the goal kick Lido won yet another corner and this led to the opening goal. Chris Jones sent in a deep cross which went over the keeper and Callum Dougal bundled the ball into the net for his first goal for the club. Cwmamman were awarded a free kick on half way which we headed out only for a Cwmamman player to attempt a first time shot which almost hit the corner flag! A bobbly pitch was making control and passing difficult with both sides resorting to the long ball. One such ball found Owen Williams wide left in space, he spotted the keeper way off his line and tried to lob him, unluckily for Owen the ball went inches wide of the empty goal. Luke McDonald beat several players in a good run down the right, his cross was perfect for Liam Griffiths but he wasn’t able to keep his header down and the ball went over the crossbar. Liam then fired wide following a Michael McCalmon cross. The second was all down to Sean Hanbury, a Cwmamman defender failed to control and clear the ball some 40 yards out Sean seeing the keeper on the penalty spot area chipped him to double the score.  Cwmamman pushed forward at the start of the second half winning a free kick but Gareth Couch was out to punch the ball away. Cwmamman pressured the Lido defence with a string of corners but Lido’s third goal was scored on 71 minutes and it followed yet another Cwmamman corner which was cleared to Chris Jones, he beat the defender and squared the ball for Sean Hanbury to score his second. We then had a goal disallowed for offside when the ball was played back to Sean for him to score and we were also penalised several times with some odd offside decisions. Play in the final twenty minutes was disrupted by numerous petty free kicks but Sean Hanbury netted his third in added time when he hit a rocket from all of 30 yards which gave the keeper no chance.

The best crowd in some time saw Lido battle it out with top of the table Llantwit Major on a bitterly cold night. Lido created the first opportunity when Michael McCalmon crossed for Sean Hanbury but he couldn’t keep his shot down. Minutes later he hit the crossbar, he received the ball from a Chris Jones free kick and his shot rattled the crossbar and rebounded to McCalmon who tried to chip the keeper but he saved well. Llantwit responded with Tom Walters beating the offside trap and firing in a shot which Aaron Jones did brilliantly to keep the point blank shot out.  Walters was again in the thick of the action minutes later beating a couple of defenders and rounding Aaron Jones but his shot was cleared off the line by Carlos Indjai. On 37 minutes it was Llantwit’s turn to hit the bar Josh Jones fired in a shot which Aaron Jones blocked and the ball ran loose, Josh Jones was first to react but his shot hit the crossbar. The first half flew by with plenty of open play and both sides hitting the crossbar but it remained goalless at the break.

Lido had the edge in the opening minutes of the second half without creating any real opportunities then on 58 minutes Llantwit took the lead. Conner Goldsworthy netted with a volley from just inside the box. Ben Keen tried his luck with a shot from distance but he couldn’t keep it down. Llantwit almost doubled their lead on 69 minutes when Cripps volleyed the ball from outside the area and it sailed just wide of the goal. Goal scorer  Goldsworthy tried his luck with a long range effort which went narrowly wide as the visitors looked for a second to seal the result. Llantwit pushed forward in the final minutes putting the Lido under pressure but they defended well to deny the visitors a second.

A goal in each half saw us successfully claim the three points at Undy Athletic. Lido played with a breeze at their backs in the first half and we tended to overhit a number of passes which ran out for goal kicks. Also, a number of last ditch tackles and interceptions kept the score sheet blank until we finally broke through with an attack down the left with the ball being crossed to the unmarked Sean Hanbury who had all the time in the world to pick his spot to put us ahead. We were generally the better side but we were unable to find another breakthrough before the interval. Undy found the same problem after the break with a number of promising attacks being thwarted by overhit passes. On 50 minutes Undy were dealt a blow when defender P Clayton was sent off for two yellow cards. Worse was to follow on 59 minutes when another defender C Parry was shown a second yellow leaving Undy with 9 players. Liam Griffiths then added a second for Lido on 63 minutes when a Sean Hanbury pass to the far post found Liam in space. Despite our numerical advantage we weren’t able to add to our score, often taking the wrong option. Undy had their moments but failed miserably in front of goal, missing several gilt edged chances.  To their credit they never gave up but Lido saw out the game to earn 3 valuable points in the fight to stay up in Cymru South.

Carlos Indjai equalised in the seventh minute of added on time to secure a vital point. We were behind to a first half penalty given when the ball was driven at Cai Owens and he was adjudged to have handled the ball. Modern rules perhaps but how is he supposed to react quickly enough to get his hands out of the firing line?

With Aaron Jones suspended Paul Holmes deputised in goal for his first game of the season and he can be pleased with his performance. However, he almost gifted Llanelli the lead in the first minute with a poor kick out which went straight to a Llanelli player whose shot went inches wide. Llanelli dominated the early stages helped by some poor distribution by several Lido players. Finally, after 12 minutes Lido created a half chance when Sean Hanbury shot from distance and it landed on the roof of the net. Lido were putting Llanelli under pressure from Cai Owens long throws, Carlos Indjai flicked on one to the far post but Harry Davies was unable to turn the ball in. On the half hour Llanelli went ahead vis the penalty, Paul Holmes guessed correctly and almost made the save, spurred on by this Llanelli surged forward and Paul Holmes made a fine save turning the ball away for a corner. Another Cai Owens throw caused problems for the Llanelli defence but this time there was no one on the far post to convert the chance. Lido replaced Ben Keen with Josh Webber at half time, Sean Hanbury was unlucky when he chipped the keeper but the ball drifted just wide. On 57 minutes he was again unlucky when his goalbound header from a corner was headed off the line. A minute later Carlos Indjai fired in a shot which the Llanelli keeper did well to hold. Lido continued to dominate the game but just couldn’t find an equaliser, A Cai Owens cross was headed goalwards by Carlos Indjai but it could only find the side netting. Into the last 10 minutes and Josh Webber fired just wide having been played in by Carlos Indjai. After all that pressure Llanelli broke and should have made it 2-0, Paul Holmes did well to parry a shot which rebounded for a Llanelli player who with a gaping goal could only scoop the ball over the bar. It was a costly miss as Lido went back down into the Llanelli area and won a corner which  landed at the feet of Carlos Indjai and he hooked the ball in to great celebrations as he secured a vital point.