FAST START SETS TOWN UP FOR WIN
CARMARTHEN Town built on an explosive start as they saw off Cambrian & Clydach Vale at Richmond Park.
The Old Gold went ahead in the second minute as they recorded their second victory of the season in JD Cymru South.
It was a win that lifted them to 13th in the table.
This fast-paced, entertaining contest generated plenty of goalmouth action and was laced with moments of controversy as both teams had a player sent off in separate incidents.
Straight from kick-off, the visitors began to channel the ball backwards towards their own penalty area.
However, the final back pass was so poor that Town striker Ben Steele was able to intervene and block goalkeeper Cameron Clarke’s attempted clearance before steering the ball into an unguarded net.
Stung by that self-induced disaster, Vale pressed forward with a series of attacks which stretched the Old Gold defence.
And in the sixth minute, Cam Strinati fired a corner deep into a crowded area where striker Ryan Prosser, capitalising on some defensive indecision, struck a low angled drive beyond Scott James’s reach and into the corner of the goal.
The play continued to switch rapidly from end to end and after 20 minutes Town restored their lead.
Jordan Vickers burst forward along the right touchline before firing a cross into the area where Tom Dyson struck a fierce volley that was blocked by Clarke on the goal-line. The ball reached Steele, whose shot was cleared away, before this frantic passage of play ended with Dyson firing a 15-yard drive beyond Clarke’s reach and into the net.
The hosts continued to press and Vickers, from near the corner of the area, saw his fierce 20-yard free-kick kept out by Clarke with an impressive flying save.
The end-to-end pattern continued into the closing stages of the first half. In added time Noah Daley fired in a corner and Lee Surman sent a header narrowly over the bar.
Moments later the visitors threatened when a break along the right flank finished with Liam Reed sending an inviting cross into the area, where Prosser’s low drive was turned around the post by James.
Carmarthen were dealt a setback in the opening stages of the second period when Vickers was sent off following a challenge on his former team-mate Ceri Morgan.
But it became 10 against 10 in the 56th minute when the referee dismissed Cambrian’s Strinati for a similar challenge on Greg Walters.
This seemed to galvanise Town, and in the 63rd minute they extended their advantage.
Liam Thomas won the ball off a defender and sprinted into the area before sliding a pass to the betterplaced Steele, who from close range had the relatively easy task of stabbing it past the keeper and into the net.
Carmarthen continued to heap pressure on the visitors’ defence and Thomas surged down the right before firing a cross into the goalmouth, but neither Steele nor Daley could connect.
The visitors went close when Sam
Jones raced clear of the defence along the right before cutting into the area. But James swiftly advanced from his goal and did enough to force Jones to drive his shot into the sidenetting.
Morgan went near to scoring against his former club when his lob was spectacularly turned over the bar by James.
Cambrian continued to press in the closing stages but failed to penetrate the home defence and three more valuable league points were secured by the Old Gold.
Carmarthen’s next fixture is on Saturday (2.30pm) when they travel to Welsh Premier League side Newtown
for a Welsh Cup third-round match.
TOWN: S James; L Rocke (sub N Daley 21); S Tancock; L Surman; T Jones; J Vickers; G Walters; M Delaney; T Dyson; B Steele; L Thomas.