Ton Pentre kept their cool in a match that turned out to be a fiercely contested encounter by playing entertaining football to beat Division One rivals Briton Ferry.

A good movement starting from the left side of defence by Jason Roberts saw the ball reaching Lee Tapper running up the right wing. His well executed pass into Carl Thomas, in the Briton Ferry box, provided the striker with a chance to shoot. The home team's goalkeeper done well to hold onto Thomas's fourth minute strike signaling that something special would be needed to beat him.

Ton's new striker Alyn Jones came close for the Rhondda Bulldogs after 20 minutes when he ran onto a ball that was sent over the top of the Briton Ferry defence by the midfield. His pace and timing helped him to outrun the defenders and stay onside. He was unlucky to see his shot sweep wide of the left goal post.

Sixteen minutes later Briton Ferry broke free with their winger on the left who had a clear run on goal. Mike Jones did fantastically well to catch up with the player to strongly slide tackle him making full contact with the ball in the box to avert a goal. From the corner John Howe had to punch the ball away twice from the goalmouth. Briton Ferry still attempted to score but Ton twice more cleared off the line.

The 0-0 scoreline at half time was an accurate reflection on the entertaining first half. The second half saw Ton begin to command the match.

The Rhondda Bulldogs were fired into the lead in the 52nd minute with a wonderful Carl Thomas strike from a free-kick. Thomas was fouled 25 yards out from the goal and elected to take the kick himself. The ball drifted into the net to produce the something special that was needed to beat the Briton Ferry 'keeper.

The lead was doubled seven minutes later when Alyn Jones did well to keep possession of the ball away from Briton Ferry tackles. His through ball sliced right through the centre of the defence to reach Thomas who made sure that his strike crossed the goal line to make it 2-0.

Briton Ferry then reverted to unsporting tactics as two players saw red within the space of three minutes. Ugly challenges saw the Briton Ferry players clatter into Ton Pentre players as temperatures soared.

However, the Rhondda Bulldogs remained calm and collected and continued to play football. This coolness won the game for the Rhondda outfit as Ton collected all three points.

Gwynfi United travel to Ynys Park for a league match on Tuesday 4 March for a 7.30pm kick off.

The Rhondda Bulldogs then turn their concentration towards the Welsh Cup Quarter Final clash with a home match against Welsh Premier team Oswestry Town. This game kicks off at 2.30pm. Finally, Ton Pentre's away game to Neath in the League Cup on 15 March has now been switched to Ynys Park. You can check tonpentreafc.com for all these details and more.

Ton Pentre: John Howe; Lee Tapper; Neil Davies; Ian Davies; Mike Jones; Jason Roberts; Dean Morris; Andrew Hughes; Carl Thomas; Alyn Jones; Ceri Harding.

Subs not used: Tom Billings, Mark Evans & Nathan Prygodzicz.

Match report by Rob Dowling.