30/08/03: Ton Pentre 4 - 0 Llanwern

TON PENTRE'S excellent start to the season continued as they beat Llanwern 4-0 in their first home game of the campaign at Ynys Park. With sixteen goals scored and only one conceded, the Rhondda Bulldogs are looking solid at the back and dangerous up front.

The in form Carl Thomas opened up the scoring in this encounter within the first ten minutes. He unleashed a shot from just outside the box that surprised both the Llanwern defence and goalkeeper, Marc Porter.

Ton Pentre then raced into a 2-0 lead when Jason Roberts ran the ball forward from defence. With no Llanwern player committing themselves into a tackle Roberts eventually found Andrew Hughes, who turned his marker to gracefully slot the ball just inside the left post.

Llanwern didn't create a chance on goal until the 40th minute when Alex Lee saw his plucky chance headed off the goal line by Mike Jones.

From the resulting corner Llanwern came close again. With Jon Howe beaten it was down to Craig Morgan to clear from the line after Lee sent a fantastic swinging ball into the box.

The Rhondda Bulldogs sat back for 20 minutes of the second half eliminating any danger that Llanwern could muster up.

They finally pulled the trigger again in the 69th minute when Shaun Fackrell played the ball wide on the left to Hughes. The Ton captain rode a defender's challenge and squared the ball back to Fackrell in the five-yard box. Fackrell tapped in the home side's third goal at the back post.

The fourth and final goal came on the 90-minute mark. Alyn Jones pre-empted the bounce of the ball over the Llanwern back line and ran clear into the box to place the ball in the net.

This season has seen a much better start than that of the previous, and with some of Ton's title rivals dropping points in their opening games, the Bulldogs are more than happy with their nine points. Most pleasing for Ton manager Kevin Richards, who completed his three match touchline ban against Llanwern, is the impeccable form of strikers Alyn Jones and Carl Thomas, who have scored 11 goals between them in three games.

Ton Pentre: Jon Howe; Mike Jones; Jason Roberts; Neil Davies; Dean Morris; Andrew Hughes; Craig Morgan (Ian Shepherd, 63mins); Shaun Fackrell (Lee Tapper, 75mins); Carl Thomas (Tom Billings, 79mins); Alyn Jones; Kerry Harding.

• Ton News: Admission prices for this season have increased due to the work on Ynys Park: Adult - 3 pounds, Children & OAP's - 2 pounds.

Match Report by Robert Dowling.