Our disappointing run continues with a 1-0 defeat at Llanelli

Three home games and three defeats to start the season. Add this to last year when we lost 6 home games is poor to say the least by contrast, away last season we won 10 of our 15 games only losing 3 and our 3 points to date were picked up on the road.

We kept the same side that won 2-0 at Caerau Ely except Gareth Couch started in goal as Steve Cann was delayed returning from Bath. In the time he was on Couchie made an outstanding save diving to his right to turn a goalbound shot away.

We had the first chance of the game on 5 minutes when the ball was diverted in the path of Kaid Mohamed 40 yards out. He sped towards the goal but he shot at the Pontypridd keeper and the chance was lost. Two minutes later Jack Hurley’s pass found Kaid Mohamed who shot first time, again it was saved and played wide to Kaid who crossed low for Jack Hurley whose touch took the ball just wide. On 11 minutes saw Pontypridd break and Couchie make his fine save at the expense of a corner. Ben Symons then played the ball down the line for Noah Daley, he beat his marker but his cross was too long for Kaid Mohamed and the chance was lost. On 19 minutes we lost the ball in attack, Pontypridd hit a long ball forward and their player went around Gareth Couch but somehow faced with an open goal they only managed to hit the post! They didn’t have long to wait for a goal and it came via the penalty spot for an alleged foul by Alex Gammond on his 100th Tier 2 start. We went straight back on the attack played the ball into the box and there were huge calls for a hand ball which the referee failed to see and a chance of an immediate reply was gone. On the half hour some great blocking by a couple of our defenders cleared a dangerous attack. On 35 minutes we cleared a corner and Noah Daley made ground and reached halfway before he was taken out by a dreadful challenge. Our players were outraged by it and responded, resulting in two bookings for us and also two for Pontypridd. Disappointingly there was no red card for the challenge. We continued to push forward looking for an equaliser an just before the interval a second shout for a penalty fell on deaf ears, not our night so far.

We had an early chance to level in the second half but a header from a free kick went wide. We continued to press for an equaliser, Pontypridd’s game plan was to hit a long ball from defence at every opportunity. It paid off for them when they scored a second goal, Steve Cann made a save but the ball was played back in and despite Ben Symons efforts to clear the ball just went over the line. Finally, we were awarded a penalty on 58 minutes thanks to the assistant who was flagging furiously. Kaid Mohamed scored from the spot to get us back into the game. The remainder of the game saw a lot of Lido pressure but Pontypridd defended well to deny any real clear chances. Pontypridd went 3-1 up on 76 minutes in a rare attack  and for a couple of minutes from time they had a player sent off for a far less dangerous challenge than the one in the first half. We move on to Friday and a game at Llanelli which starts a run of three away games.

Two new signings, Ben Symons at full back and the much travelled Kaid Mohamed up front. Caerau Ely lost 5-0 away at Haverfordwest on the opening day and have a relatively young side but they started on the attack with a shot from the edge of the area going just wide. Ben Symons headed a free kick clear but it was picked up by the Caerau midfield and played back into the box for a Caerau player to head the ball goalwards but it lacked power and was straight Steve Cann who easily gathered the ball. Noah Daley went on a run down the left wind but his cross was cut out and cleared. Caerau broke quickly but Lewis Holmes stood strong and held up the attack. Ben Symons played a good ball down the right touchline for Bradley Flay and he won a corner. From a planned move the ball was played into the area and a couple of players tried to turn the ball in but the successful one was Steve Morris for his first goal. Liam McCreesh then played a great ball into the box for Noah Daley to head in but he had drifted offside. Another McCreesh ball found Kaid Mohamed in the area, he rounded the keeper but again the offside flag was up. Caerau Ely were awarded a free kick 40 yards out, it was played into the box and we blocked a shot, the rebound went to another Caerau player but he hooked the ball over the crossbar from close range. On the half hour we coolly played the ball out of defence with several players involved but it ended with an overhit pass resulting in another Caerau attack which we again cleared. Ben Symons was combining well with Bradley Flay down the right wing and several dangerous crosses were cleared by the Caerau defence. Late in the first half Caerau played a free kick short went down the right but from a good position shot wide.

The early minutes of the second half was almost a repeat of the first. Caerau attacked and had plenty of possession. Steve Cann came out to punch a corner clear and a Caerau player tried his luck from distance but his shot went wide. Kaid Mohamed then got to the bye line and this time it was the Caerau keeper’s turn to punch away his cross. Just after the hour Kaid picked up the ball, made ground but was tackled on the edge of the area the ball went was played wide to Sacha Walters who crossed in for Liam McCreesh but his header went over the bar. At this point around 65 minutes play was end to end with neither side taking control of the game. Then Sean Hanbury found Bradley Flay wide, he cut inside and the ball went out for a Lido throw. We put in a couple of crosses but the Caerau defence held firm. Kaid Mohamed received the ball on the left, cut inside and looked dangerous but his touch let him down and the ball went through to the keeper. With 15 minutes to go Steve Cann saved a Caerau shot but the ball rebounded to another Caerau player, his goalbound shot was blocked by Ben Symons and cleared. Liam McCreesh picked up the clearance and played the ball in for Kaid Mohamed but the keeper was quickly out to save. With 9 minutes to go we scored the second to almost make the 3 points safe. A Caerau defender had the ball forty yards from goal with no-one behind him, he dwelt on the ball and Bradley Flay nipped in to steal it Kaid Mohamed then took the ball into the area and slotted it low to the keeper’s left.

With 5 minutes to go Liam McCreesh again found Kaid Mohamed wide left, he in turn crossed the ball in for Alex Gammond but his shot from a reasonable position went wide. Kaid was seeing a lot of the ball at this stage of the game and he hit the ball wide for Sacha Walters but he was flagged offside. In the closing stages the ball was crossed in for Bradley Flay but his first time effort went wide.

This was a disappointing performance against a poor Undy Athletic side. We failed to seriously test their keeper and persisted in knocking high balls forward which were easily claimed by the visitor’s defence. Once again, the defence played solidly and Undy scored with one of the few chances they created. They missed several other chances as we pushed forward looking for an equaliser We now move on to Caerau Ely next Saturday with hopefully a better performance.

We were unlucky to lose by the only goal scored 5 minutes from time. Our back four saw 3 players make their debuts, Lewis Clement, Steve Morris and Rowan Gammond and they all played well alongside Lewis Holmes. They restricted the Celtic attack to only a few chances. Up front Morgan Freeman also made his full debut.

This was a game of few chances and it looked odds on to be a draw and go to penalties but Celtic put Tom Neville on and his running with the ball caused us some problems and it was following one of his runs that Steve Cann made a save but couldn’t prevent Zac Osbourne from forcing the ball over the line. We pushed forward and Alex Gammond just failed to get a touch on a cross that should have led to an equaliser while Sean Hanbury shot over the bar with minutes remaining. During the second half we gave as good as we got and it was probably our lack of experience in the box that denied us a win. This in general was an encouraging performance against one of the bigger sides in the league.

Steve Cann  2 Lewis Clement  3 Rowan Gammond  4 Steve Morris  5 Lewis Holmes  6 Alex Gammond  7 Liam McCreesh

8 Jack Hurley  9 Noah Daley 10 Sean Hanbury 11 Morgan Freeman

Subs  12 Craig Lewis  – 14 Adam Llewellyn -15 Neil Thomas – 16 Jay Thomas -17 Morgan Gardner