After their midweek loss against UWIC Inter Cardiff things didn't get any better for Ton Pentre as Ely Rangers pulled off a magnificent win, scoring four goals to shock the reigning Welsh League champions.

It all started to go wrong when Graham Cummings did well to run around Jason Roberts and win a corner. Cummings took the corner and sent it into the near post where Richard Thomas tapped in a soft goal past John Howe.

Only 14 minutes had passed before Ely Rangers took a surprised 2-0 lead, giving them a shock breathing space after a move between Rhondda Bulldog's players Roberts and Craig Thomas broke down. Cummings was the player to pounce on the mistake, which opened up space for him to run into. He provided a low cross into the Ton area to Richards, who smashed the ball into the goal.

Eight minutes following this Carl Thomas saw his powerful strike somehow saved by David Boulton who couldn't hold onto the ball. James Cross attempted to head the ball back to his keeper but failed providing Lee Tapper with a chance. His shot painstakingly edged passed the far post.

Ely Rangers thought they had scored a third soon after when Richard Thomas's corner kick went straight in but the referee spotted an infringement on Howe in the Ton goals.

With two minutes left of the first half it looked as though Ton had equalised. When Craig Thomas was fouled on the edge of the area the referee awarded a freekick. Jamie Michaels took it and shot at the goals. Boulton could do nothing more than to palm the ball away as he fell back into his net. Roberts struck a good ball from point blank but somehow saw his effort denied by Boulton's extended leg to remarkably save Ely Rangers from conceding.

Ton made a half-time substitution bringing Tom Billings on for Mark Evans for a three pronged attack force as the Rhondda Bulldogs looked to get back into the match.

The home side started off the better team in the second half and Tapper should have scored after Billings rode a challenge to pass to Carl Thomas, who beat the offside trap to pass deep into the box. Tapper was unchallenged but hit his shot straight at the keeper missing an excellent opportunity to get Ton back in the game.

The Rhondda Bulldogs finally scored after an excellent ball was sent over the top by Roberts into Michaels who won Ton a corner. Roberts headed in the goal from the corner that started a comeback.

Kevin Richards replaced Craig Thomas a minute before Ton scored an equaliser to make it 2-2. Tapper sent a cross into the box from out wide on the right. Carl Thomas was at the far post to meet it with his head.

Ton then looked as though they could go on and win the match applying more pressure on Ely Rangers. Kevin Richards hit a sleek shot goalwards that at first looked as though it would cause some damage but it eventually went just wide.

With eight minutes of the match remaining the referee blew for a foul on Ely's James Cross by Ton's Kevin Richards 20 yards away from goal. The ball was sent deep into the box and Cross scored to put Ely Rangers back in the lead.

This sucker punch inevitably saw Ton throwing everything forward looking to equalise once again, however, it left the defence diluted and Ely scored a fourth as they broke away from a Ton corner. Cross was the scorer once again.

It was impossible for Ton to come back from this and the loss sees the Rhondda teams grip on the championship well and truly diminished. For the next two weeks the Rhondda Bulldogs can turn their attention away from the league to concentrate on cup matches. Saturday 1 February it's away to Garw for the third round of the Cynfig Motor Factors League Cup with a 2.00pm start. The following week sees Ton welcoming their North Wales visitors to Ynys Park for the Welsh Cup Round Four. This match against Flexys Cefn Druids (8 February) will kick off at 2.30pm.

Ton Pentre: John Howe; Lee Tapper; Jason Roberts; Neil Davies; Nathan Prygodzicz; Andrew Hughes; Mark Evans (Tom Billings, 45mins); Craig Thomas (Kevin Richards, 68mins); Carl Thomas; Jamie Michaels; Ceri Harding.

Match report by Rob Dowling.