Ton Pentre suffered an abysmal time at Ynys Park as Swansea outfit West End visited for the second round of the Nathaniel Car Sales League Cup. The Rhondda Bulldogs had goalkeeper Richard Jeffries sent off within a minute of the second half leaving the Rhondda based club to put an outfield player in goals.
Ton were uninspiring in the first half of this match and a miserable defensive display had seen West End take a 2-0 lead into the half time break.
The match had started promisingly for the Bulldogs as straight from kick off Ton went on the attack and a nice move completely split the West End defence. However, this early scare for the visitors seemed to be the catalyst for their fine performance as they tightened up at the back and started the probe the Ton defence for frailties.
Such frailties were discovered in the 17th minute when Darren Griffiths found his way into the 18-yard box unchallenged. With just Richard Jeffries to beat the West End attacker flashed his effort across the front of the goalmouth before going wide of the far post.
West End continued to have the upper hand in this cup fixture and their hard work paid off when in the 23rd minute the Bulldogs failed to clear the ball from the visitors’ first attempt. As a result Kieran Cullen had the chance to shoot, an opportunity that he did not waste.
Six minutes later Ton conceded a free kick on the edge of the box from where Griffiths heaped more despair on the home team as he blasted the ball into the back of the Bulldogs net for a great goal.
With half time approaching Ton wasted an excellent opportunity to get a goal back after debutante Calvin McLaggon won a corner following his run up the left. After the ball had been whipped into the box a shot was blocked on the goal line and McLaggon was unable to get the touch needed from the rebound to make sure the ball ended up in the net.
Despite their poor first half performance the Rhondda Bulldogs came out at half time believing that they were capable of pegging back West End, however, after Gavin Rodgers had conceded a free kick within a minute of the restart on the edge of the 18-yard box, the Referee took exception a comment made by the Bulldogs goalkeeper. For his outburst he was dismissed from the field forcing Ton to play 44 minutes with a man down and without a keeper.
An injured Adam Lewis was substituted for Matthew O’Keefe who took up a position in between the posts. O’Keefe was making his debut for Ton after joining the Bulldogs from Tredegar Town as a midfielder.
West End took full advantage of Ton’s misfortune as O’Keefe was beaten five minutes later as the visitors went 3-0 up.
A 62nd minute shot from just inside the box made it 4-0 before West End grabbed their fifth from a corner in the 76th minute. This goal was particularly harsh as the Referee failed to spot a push in the back on O’Keefe as jumped for the ball.
Ton pulled a goal back on 82 minutes after Leon Young was upended in the box just as he was about to score resulting in a penalty. No card was shown to the culprit but Andrew Hughes stepped up to score from the spot with the ball going in off the left post.
From the restart of play West End immediately went on the attack and scored their sixth goal of the match to complete their rout and consign Ton to their heaviest defeat this decade.
The Bulldogs will be without Jeffries for their next two matches against Goytre United on Wednesday 11th November at 7.30pm and Cambrian & Clydach Vale on Wednesday 18th November at 7.15pm. Both matches are at Ynys Park.
Ton Pentre: 1.Richard Jeffries; 2.Jamie Thomas; 3.Gavin Rodgers; 4.Adam Lewis; 5.Ryan Morgan (Captain); 6.Andrew Hughes; 7.Martyn Phillips; 8.Leon Young; 9.Chris Jones; 10.Calvin McLaggon; 11.Alyn Jones
Substitutes: 12.Dominic Broad (for 10 on 45mins); 14. Matthew O’Keefe (for 4 on 48mins); 15. Wayne Savage
Goal: Hughes 82 (Pen)
Sent Off: Jeffries 46
Referee: Alun Boore (Cardiff)
Match report © Ton Pentre AFC Press
|