Ton into second round

TON PENTRE................... 4 ABERGAVENNY T .......... 2

Ton Pentre are through to Round 2 of the JD Welsh Cup following an entertaining tie with Abergavenny Town at Ynys Park.

Welsh League Division Two club Abergavenny had already played two matches in the JD Welsh Cup to reach Round 1.

But Ton Pentre made the perfect start just 55 seconds in, Leon Jacka firing the ball past Tom Indge.

The Bulldogs’ Welsh Cup form in recent seasons has been poor, particularly against lower ranked teams, and they thought it may have been history reoccurring when Abergavenny equalised.

Having lost possession in midfield, Ton Pentre’s defence failed to clear the ball before Craig Norman slotted past Joe Massaro.

The ball was again moved up the pitch through Jacka and Sam Small and ended up at the feet of Lewis Hitchcock. After cutting inside, the Bulldogs winger struck across the face of goal to make it 2-1.

Shortly before half-time, Jacka found himself on the edge of the box and fired in his second and Ton Pentre’s third.

During the opening 10 minutes of the restart Abergavenny created several chances. Were it not for Thomas Davies in the 47th minute, there would have been a certain goal but his expertly timed sliding tackle cleared the danger.

Moments later Massaro was on hand to deny Abergavenny after he saved well with agility to keep the score at 3-1.

Abergavenny eventually found the back of the net through Norman once again after Davies was adjudged to have made a foul tackle in the Ton Pentre box.

The decision appeared harsh, the successful spotkick making it 3-2. But the Bulldogs responded.

In the 76th minute they sealed the win, a superb ball into the box from Liam Reed accurately picking out Small, who brought the ball under his control with his chest before shooting it into the net for 4-2.

Ton Pentre’s next match is on Saturday at leaders Goytre (Gwent) at Ynys Park (2.30pm).