TOWN MAKE IT HARD FOR THEMSELVES
CARMARTHEN opened their JD Cymru South contest with their visitors from Gwent brightly, with some flowing football which often left Cwmbran clutching at straws.
It was from one of those moves that Town took the lead in the fifth minute when a curling cross from Sam Parsons was powerfully headed into the roof of the net by Matthew Delaney from eight yards, giving keeper Lewis Watkins no chance.
But Town were made to pay for some wasted opportunities when Cwmbran drew level from a breakaway attack down their right, an angled shot by Thomas Meechan seeing Scott James stranded as it flew in off the far post.
This setback only drove Town on, and when the dangerous Liam Thomas broke down the right wing and crossed low into the box, defender Harrison Lewis could only turn the ball into his own goal as Noah Daley was about to score anyway.
The rest of the first half saw Town mainly in the ascendancy but with some woeful finishing after some excellent approach work by Greg Walters and Tom Dyson.
The second half continued in the same vein, with Town keeping possession and territorial advantage for long periods, though the home supporters were getting frustrated with the number of missed chances, with Daley, Delaney and Bradley Gibbings all guilty.
Town’s defence of Jordan Vickers, Trystan Jones, Lee Surman and Sam Parsons were proving an insurmountable obstacle for Cwmbran as their physical challenges were dispatched soundly.
But home supporters’ nerves were getting fraught by Town’s failure to kill the game off and it came as a great sense of relief in the 82nd minute when Daley’s goal-bound shot looped over the stranded keeper to make it 3-1.
And three minutes later he headed home another following a deep diagonal cross when he got behind the static defence to head home from close range.
Credit must be given to Watkins in the Cwmbran goal, who denied Town with some stunning full-length saves to keep his side in the game.
Town made several substitutions after the fourth goal, which appeared to unsettle the team defensively.
Luke Archer scored for Cwmbran in the 88th minute after taking advantage of some slack defending, and in the 93rd minute Town were looking decidedly wobbly as a stunning shot from the edge of the box from Jordan Meaney flew into the far top
corner of the net to make it 4-3.
Fortunately for Town they managed the game well after this, keeping possession and their composure as they ran the clock down for a deserved win despite the closeness of the scoreline.
CARMARTHEN TOWN: Scott James, Jordan Vickers, Lee Surman, Trystan Jones (Ben Erickson 85), Sam Parsons, Bradley Gibbings (Will Rickard 87), Greg Walters (capt), Tom Dyson, Matthew Delaney, Noah Daley (Efu Kazadi 87), Liam Thomas. Unused subs: Nick Jones, Scott Tancock.