Author: Peter Reynolds

Ton Pentre 2 Afan Lido 2

Several players were unavailable for this game  against the team at the bottom of the table. Ynys Park is never an easy place to go and with Ton looking for a first home win of the season we needed to be up for the game. We had an early goal disallowed for offside before Andre Griffiths scored against his former side to give us an interval lead. Sean Hanbury made it 2 early in the second half and we looked relatively comfortable but a poor goal kick by Steve Cann saw Ton score and give them some belief. Spurred on by the bench they continually hit long balls in the direction of the penalty area which Cai Owens in particular dealt with. However they had their reward when for once we failed to deal with a free kick and they levelled with a shot that should have been cleared. On now to Wednesday and the final game of a long long season.

Taffs Well 1 Afan Lido 4

Credit to Taffs Well who gave the players a guard of honour as the entered the field. In weather conditions more akin to winter than summer both sides contributed to a competitive match despite the final score. We took the lead on 15 minutes, centre back Luke Evans played a great diagonal ball down the left. Jack Fleming hit a first time cross in for Jack Hurley. He immediately had the ball under control, beat a couple of defenders, took it around the keeper and slotted the ball into the net. Sean Hanbury made it 2-0 on 23 minutes when his  header from a Jack Hurley corner was too powerful for the keeper to save. Taffs Well came out in the second half and put us under a lot of pressure but generally their final ball let them down. They did however pull a goal back on 63 minutes when their centre back powered in a header from a corner. Spurred on by this they pushed forward looking for the equaliser and left gaps at the back but we couldn’t take advantage. Then on 83 minutes Connor Thomas dispossed a defender near the corner flag passed it inside to Sean Hanbury who played it forward to Jack Hurley. He took the ball in his stride and as the keeper closed him down he dinked it over him for another quality goal. Jake Simeone rounded things off when from just outside the area he fired a right footed shot over the keeper. The end of a great season for these lads only losing 2 matches, the league table will tell you in 18 games but 5 teams withdrew and none of those had beaten us. The encouraging thing is a number of these players are eligible again next season.

 

 

Under 19s League Champions

The under 19’s beat Ton Pentre tonight to clinch the championship. Jake Simeone gave us the lead on 53 minutes. Ton equalised with a penalty on 67 minutes. With 5 minutes to Sean Hanbury scored from the penalty spot to seal the win and the championship.

PTL side are CHAMPIONS

The PTL side beat Cwmafan 5-1 to clinch the championship. Jamie Jones, Richard Cooling, Thomas Hughes, Liam Partridge and Sean Kennedy scored the goals which ensured they completed the league and cup double.

Pontardawe Youth 1 Afan Lido Youth 4

The under 19’s beat Pontardawe 4-1, Jack Hurley opened the scoring on 18 minutes, Evan Daley added a second just before the interval. Jack Todd added a third on 47 minutes, Pontardawe pulled a goal back from the penalty spot. Sean Hanbury sealed the three points with the fourth a couple of minutes from time.

Afan Lido 1 Penybont 2

The first half was tight with few chances at either end. However, on 35 minutes the referee awarded Penybont a penalty, he was possibly the only one in the ground who thought it and once it was scored it changed the game. In the second half we pushed forward looking for an equaliser and we were forced to take chances at the back. That said the second goal came from a corner with 12 minutes to go with Josh Webber pulling a goal back in the 90th minute. We had a few chances to level but failed to hit the target.

We had a penalty shout of our own on 8 minutes when Sean Hanbury went down in the box but the referee waved play on for what seemed a valid penalty. Both Sean Hanbury and Jack Todd had chances but failed to get in a shot. Carlos Indjai headed the ball clear and set Shane Williams off on a run down the left, he found Sean Hanbury who set up a chance for Elliot Thomas but his shot from just outside the area was saved by the keeper. Josh Webber had a great cross headed clear with Jack Todd just beaten to it. Early in the second half Shane Williams was fouled but no free kick was given allowing Penybont to attack but Josh Webber got back to tackle the forward and Carlos Indjai brought the ball out running about 50 yards with it. Jack Fleming replaced Jack Todd and his cross appeared to be handled in the area but again no penalty was the decision. Some poor defending by us allowed Penybont to get in a shot which Steve Cann turned behind for a corner from which they had a free header to score. We pushed forward looking to get back into the game and following a free kick Liam McCreesh shot wide. Elliot Thomas and Carlos Indjai combined to set up a shooting chance for Elliot but once again the keeper saved the shot. We pulled a goal back in the 90th minute when Josh Doyle played the ball through for Josh Webber who scored with a right footed shot. We still had time for another attack but from a decent position Liam McCreesh shot over the bar.

A disappointing final home game, a typical end of season game but our cause wasn’t helped by some inconsistent refereeing.

Cwmbran Celtic 1 Afan Lido 2

We recovered from being a goal down at the interval to score two goals in five minutes and complete the double over the home side. Elliot Thomas and Carlos Indjai returned to the side having been unavailable last week.

Celtic had an early corner which was headed wide. Liam McCreesh then found Jack Todd wide right, his cross took a deflection and was claimed by the keeper just ahead of Sean Hanbury. Steve Cann came 10 yards out of his area to clear the ball but passed it straight to a Celtic player 40 yards out. His first time effort at the empty goal sailed high and wide. We responded with Sean Hanbury firing a right footed shot against the keeper. On 19 minutes the Celtic keeper did well to dive to his right to turn a Jack Todd header behind for a corner. Somehow, we failed to take the lead from the corner, from a mass of bodies in the 6 yard box the ball was cleared off the line and eventually out to Josh Doyle just outside the area, his first time shot went over the bar to give Celtic a big let off. An Elliot Thomas clearance hit Sean Hanbury and rebounded towards the corner flag, the ball was played into the area and Celtic were unlucky when a bicycle kick effort went inches wide. Celtic took the lead on the half hour when the referee awarded a penalty for a high foot Just before the interval Sean Hanbury was just wide with a right footed shot.

We won an early corner in the second half before Andre Griffiths almost presented Celtic with a second, his pass back to Steve Cann was underhit and a Celtic player latched on to it but Steve was out quickly and cleared the ball. We drew level on 70 minutes with a penalty of our own, we had been awarded a free kick on half way and when the ball was played into the area Carlos Indjai was fouled. Sean Hanbury stepped up to score and 5 minutes later a header at the far post was blocked, the ball was played across for Liam McCreesh to score from a couple of yards. Celtic now were forced into attacking and having wasted as much time as they could during the game suddenly we had a multi ball system and the keeper showed he had another speed rather than snail. However despite one attack down the left that produced a great cross which no-one could turn in we defended comfortably and saw out the game without too much difficulty