Motaquote Welsh League Division One
24/04/04: UWIC 2 - 3 Ton Pentre

TON PENTRE finished their Welsh League 2003/2004 season with a fine win over UWIC Inter Cardiff. A fantastic performance from player/assistant manager Richard Haig, helped guide the Rhondda Bulldogs to victory following a second half scare.

From kick-off Ton were looking to play slick football on a glorious sunny afternoon. When Carl Thomas took the ball forward he twisted and turned his marker to chip the ball into Raith Plant's run. He took it around Robin Hallam in the goals but the angle was too tight to score from.

On the half-hour mark Rob Blatchford lost marker Jason Roberts and as he turned to face the goal, he snapped at the ball and sent it wide of Marty Ellacott.

Ton took an early lead in the games second half after Paul Cochlin conceded a free kick in his own half. Kerry Harding showed awareness to take the kick quickly and lifted it into the box. UWIC showed a lack of concentration when Richard Haig was allowed to flick the ball over Hallam even though he had his back to goal.

It looked unlikely that UWIC were going to score in this match as the Ton defence looked capable of stopping their opponents attacks. Then, however, Ton fell apart over the space of two minutes that saw Ryan Jenkins score twice to give UWIC the lead.

Confusion between the defence and the goalkeeper allowed Jenkins to easily score into an open net for his first goal with Ellacott way off his line. For his second Jenkins sneaked in behind the defence when poor play from all over the pitch allowed UWIC to break through.

Ton got themselves organised again and drew level moments later. After Plant had sped up the right wing he got himself into a position to shoot. He fired a cracker and was unlucky to see his effort crash against the cross bar. Fortunately Haig was positioned well looking for the scraps and when the ball fell to his feet he tapped in the equaliser.

Haig was involved in the winning goal as well. The veteran brilliantly got round Ross Lloyd, who was struggling to deal him, to complete a pass to Thomas who had called for the ball in space. Thomas then played in Alyn Jones on his right who powerfully hit in the goal to make it 3-2 and to cap off a sublime passage of play.

When Haig was substituted in the final minute he received rapturous applause from around the Cyncoed ground in recognition of a fine performance.

The win finishes Ton's fixture's for this season's campaign, however, their final league position is yet to be decided with a majority of teams still having games to play.

Ton Pentre: Marty Ellacott; Jason Roberts (Lee Tapper, 80mins); Tom Billings; Kerry Harding (Ian Shepherd, 87mins); Raith Plant; Shaun Fackerel; Alyn Jones; Neil Davies; Carl Thomas; Nathan Prygodzicz; Richard Haig (Kristian Orchard, 90mins).

Match Report by Robert Dowling.