Welsh League Cup Round Two
15/11/03: Llanelli 3 - 1 Ton Pentre

A STUNNING first half performance from Llanelli saw them lead Ton Pentre 2-0 at the interval with the Bulldogs reduced to ten men. Although Ton put up a valiant fight in the second half it wasn't enough to stop them from crashing out of the League Cup in the second round and finishing the game with just nine men.

The home side took an early lead when Steve Devonald took the ball around Kerry Harding on the wing deep in the Ton half during the seventh minute of play. He then cut back inside the box and sent the ball to the far post. The stretching leg of Ryan Fahey made sure John Howe had no chance of saving.

Moments later Ton had their first proper attempt on goal when Harding passed to Shaun Fackerel who played the ball across pitch into Jamie Michaels possession. With a dummy and side step the defender in his way went to ground. Michaels took a shot that Huw Liddell watched go over his cross bar.

Llanelli captain Gary Davies nearly increased his teams lead in the 21st minute, when from a series of crosses into the Ton box, Llanelli finally made contact with the ball. Lee Tapper cleared the shot from the line and eased the pressure.

Four minutes later and Llanelli were in the Ton box yet again with Devonald in possession. As he was running towards the five yard box Harding crossed the player forcing him to loose balance and fall to the floor. The referee pointed to the penalty spot and booked Harding. Chris Thomas stepped up and made it 2-0.

Shaun Fackerel was then shown a straight red card 12 minutes later when it appeared that he made no attempt for the ball when running into a challenge on Phil Davidson.

The last chance of the first half fell to Ton through Richard Ryan. He found himself through on goal alone with the Llanelli defence desperately backtracking in an attempt to catch him. As Ryan approached the edge of the box he was unable to keep his pace and turned back to look for support. He supplied a pass to Harding whose cross headed for Andrew Hughes in the Llanelli box. The Ton captain was, however, beaten to the ball by Liddell.

Mark Evans replaced Harding at the interval in what looked like a tactical change to seal the midfield.

After an early threat from Fahey who headed over a Mike Smith cross, the Rhondda Bulldogs fought back hard and scored after 10 minutes of the second half.

Davies fouled Richard Ryan in the area and Carl Thomas confidently converted the penalty.

The 64th minute saw another penalty awarded by the referee with Llanelli being given their second chance to score from the spot. Nathan Prygodzicz totally miss-timed his tackle on a Llanelli forward to bring him down in the box. John Howe saved the penalty kick from Chris Thomas much to Prygodzicz's relief as he ran up to Howe to thank him.

In the space of five minutes Michaels appeared to loose discipline and was booked twice for two late challenges. The second booking however, did appear to be a little harsh as player/manager Neil O'Brien used his experience to help persuade the referee's decision.

With the Bulldogs now down to nine men there was certainly no way back in this cup-tie and Llanelli sealed their progress to the third round with a goal from Smith eight minutes from time.

It's back to Welsh League action on Saturday November 22 as top of the table Goytre United travel to Ynys Park for a 3pm kick off.

• The injury incurred to Alyn Jones in Ton Pentre's 4-1 win over Neath in the Welsh Cup was not as serious as first thought and he should return to the team for the Goytre game. Meanwhile, Ton Pentre were drawn out of the hat at home to Welsh Premier outfit Port Talbot Town in the Fourth Round of the Welsh Cup that will be played on February 7 2004.

Ton Pentre: John Howe; Lee Tapper; Ian Shepherd; Jason Roberts; Nathan Prygodzicz; Andrew Hughes; Shaun Fackerel; Jamie Michaels; Carl Thomas; Richard Ryan; Kerry Harding (Mark Evans, 45mins). Subs not used: Richard Haig & Kevin Richards. Sent Off: Shaun Fackerel, 37mins; Jamie Michaels, 77mins.

Match Report by Robert Dowling.