Saturday took Ton Pentre to Ely Rangers, a Welsh League Division One team from outside Cardiff, and the Rhondda Bulldogs made sure that they stayed in the winning mould after this heated encounter.

Ely Rangers took the first chance of the game when Graham Cummings broke away down the wing and ran in the direction of goal, however, Ceri Harding met him at the near post and his sliding tackle was just enough to stop the player advancing any further.

In reply Ton created their first opening after six minutes when the referee played advantage after Paul Parker was pulled back by an Ely defender. Jamie Michaels ran the ball deeper into the opposition box and shot, unfortunately for Ton it was cleared from the goal line.

Paul Parker was once again fouled outside the Ely box winning the Rhondda Bulldogs, sponsored by Futureglaze Windows, a free kick with 24 minutes of play passed. Harding knocked the ball into the danger area and Andrew Hughes leaped to head towards goal, his effort was cleared from the line. By this point in the match Ton Pentre were putting the home team under excruciating pressure. Two minutes later a splendid shimmy from Michaels saw him bypass the defence and creating a chance for himself. His shot rebounded to Parker who struck straight at David Boulton in the Ely goals.

The remaining 10 minutes of the half saw the home team press forward to put the Rhondda Bulldogs under pressure. Neil Davies dealt with this pressure when a superb sliding tackle put a halt to Cummings effective attack. Ely's best chance of the match came on the stroke of half-time when John Howe pulled off a good save to stop Ton conceding a goal after the defence had failed to clear.

Ton immediately put Ely Rangers under pressure in the opening stages of the second half. Inspired play from Hughes saw him battle for the ball and cross into Harding who passed forward to Tapper in the Ely box in the 55th minute. The player ran forward and appeared to be hacked down before he could make full contact with the ball; the referee overlooked the incident and waved play on.

It took Ton just three minutes to create another chance. Craig Thomas attained possession of the ball and assisted Parker to his first goal for the Rhondda outfit. Thomas had run the ball into the box and instead of shooting he crossed to Parker which enabled the player to unleash a shot giving Ton a 1-0 lead.

The Division One encounter then started to get very heated with the game slipping away from the referee's hands. Jamie Michaels was shown the yellow card in the 63rd minute for a two footed challenge and it was undoubtedly deserved, however, Ely Rangers were also culprits of some over ambitious tackles but the referee unfairly wavered any punishment for the home team.

Good play from Parker saw him produce a chance for Hughes but the player was unfortunate not to get a good bounce from the ball and was unable to control it. This play from Parker, the Ton goalscorer, would be his last after picking up an injury in the 65th minute and was replaced by Dean Lewis, a newcomer from Newport County, five minutes later.

The game failed to cool down at any point in the second half and it resulted in Michaels being given his marching orders after receiving a second yellow card consequently culminating in a red card. It looked to be harsh decision by the referee, as there appeared to be no malicious intent in Michaels challenge on the Ely defender.

With the Bulldogs down to ten men it was important that they kept possession. Harding had the ball at his feet in the 82nd minute deep in the Ely half but was unable to hold onto possession and Ely broke away. Richard Jargo came close with his shot after the resulting Ely Rangers attack.

Alex Lawless replaced Craig Thomas in the 84th minute as Ton created a solid wall in defence not to allow Ely Rangers to pinch a goal. Ton eliminated all pressure in the final minute when they won a corner and strongly remained in possession of the ball keeping the scoreline at 1-0.

Ton pentre's season appears to be back on track after the heated win against Ely Rangers. You can have your say on the match and whether Jamie Michaels should have been sent off on the AiGN sponsored website at tonpentreafc.com.

The Rhondda Bulldogs play their next two league matches at Ynys Park with Maesteg on Wednesday 9 October, kick off 7.30pm and Cardiff Corries on Saturday 12 October with a 3.00pm start.

Ton Pentre: Howe; Tapper; Davies; Jones; Prygodzicz; Hughes; Craig Thomas (Lawless, 84mins); Morris; Michaels; Parker (Lewis, 70mins); Harding.

Sub not used: Skyrme.

Match report by Rob Dowling.