A first win at Goytre by an emphatic 4-1 scoreline. Young Kieran Burridge made his first team debut in goal and was impressive  making a number of vital saves. The only down side to the result was we had yet another sending off, this time Cai Owens on 50 minutes with the score at 1-1.

Kieran Burridge made an early diving save to boost his confidence then in the fifth minute there was a terrible tackle on Sacha Walters which somehow only resulted in a yellow car. Kieran Burridge then held a header following a Goytre corner and quickly found Sacha Walters who made a fine run before cutting in and shooting but unfortunately it was straight at the keeper. On 14 minutes Craig Jones put an inviting cross into the area and it was headed behind for a corner. Mark Jones slightly off balance at the far post could only shoot over the bar from inside the 6 yard box with the goal gaping. Goytre could have taken the lead on 19 minutes but from a good position the player could only shoot wide. However two minutes later they took the lead when a left wing attack saw the player cut in and from 10 yards gave Kieran Burridge no chance. 3 minutes later it could have been 2-0 as they worked the ball left and Kieran was out quickly to deny the Goytre player blocking his shot. Another good Craig Jones cross saw Cai Owens head wide but two minutes later (31) we were level. We attacked down the right with Craig Jones and Sacha Walters combining well then from another Craig Jones cross Mark Jones was in position to head in the equaliser. Chris Hartland was unlucky on 33 minutes when he received the ball from a James Parry free kick, he turned and shot from the edge of the area but it was straight at the keeper.  Sacha Walters then sped down the right, cut in and his shot was just wide of the target. As the half was coming to an end we continued to push forward and won a series of free kicks but we were unable to find a goal that our play deserved.

Goytre started the second half on the front foot and Kieran Burridge was quickly out to punch a dangerous ball away. Then he held a header from a corner before the game changed on 50 minutes, Cai Owens went in to challenge a Goytre player near the half way line and was deemed to have stamped on him and he received a straight red. Compared to the early Goytre challenge it didn’t seem as bad but perhaps the Goytre player got away with it as it was so early in the game. From the resultant free kick which was played deep into our penalty area Kieran Burridge made a great save diving to his let to turn a close range shot around the post. In their next attack, for once Lewis Holmes missed the ball and Kieran was again out to force the Goytre player wide, Jack Hurley, another who was having a good game was back to clear. Then on the hour we appealed for a penalty for hand ball which wasn’t given but we won the ball back and our next shot was again handled and this time the penalty was awarded and Mark Jones put us in front. Almost immediately he could have made it three but he dragged his shot just wide of the post. Despite being a man down we were in control of the game but it nearly changed on 73 minutes when Goytre were awarded a penalty for hand ball. However the spot kick was sent wide of the post with Kieran guessing correctly. 3 minutes later Chris Hartland made it 3-1, he took the ball off a Goytre midfield player 40 yards from goal. He sped towards the Goytre goal with the defence back tracking, once he got to the edge of the area he shot and scored. This completely deflated the home side who ran out of ideas and the icing on the cake came in the 89th minute with Ben Thomas scoring. He doesn’t score many, but this is his second at Goytre. From a Lido free kick in the centre circle the ball was played to Mark Jones he and Chris Hartland then played a 1-2 before Mark played it wide for Ben Thomas who took aim and drilled in a low shot to seal a fine win.

Kieran Burridge  2 Craig Jones  3 James Parry  4 Alex Gammond  5 Lewis Holmes  6 Cai Owens  7 Chris Hartland 8 Jack Hurley  9 Mark Jones 10 Jack Todd  11 Sacha Walters

Subs  12 Noah Daley – 14 Jack Fleming for James Parry 87 – 15 Ben Thomas for Jack Todd 55  – 16 Luke Evans – 17 Gareth Couch