AVAFL DIVISION ONE
CWMBACH ROYAL STARS ............................. 1 AFC ABERCYNON ........ 2
THIRD met fifth in the table as AFC Abercynon made the short trip up the Cardiff Road to face Cwmbach Royal Stars in this Division One clash at the Recreation Ground.
And it was the home side who made most of the early running with Corey Burke and former Abercynon midfielder Joe Meeke both highly prominent as their side went looking to break the deadlock. However, AFC remained compact in the defensive third with centre halves Geraint Winder and Tom Edwards both in fine form.
On 25 minutes Cynon right-back Geraint Brown conceded a free kick fully 30 yards from goal. And as a consequence the home side were unlucky in the extreme not to go in front as Corey Burke saw his thunderous free kick crash on to the AFC crossbar with keeper Matthew Griffiths a helpless spectator.
Then, just before the half-time break, the visitors were awarded a penalty by match official Ian Thornton after winger Tom Spruce was felled inside the Cwmbach 18yard area. And midfielder Kieran Greenaway made no mistake from the spot kick to score for the third game on the bounce. The home side then responded well but when the half-time whistle blew, the score remained 0-1 to Abercynon.
Following the turnaround the visitors went looking to consolidate their lead with Kieran Greenaway and MOM Gareth Davies putting out all the fires in the central third and David Lloyd and Tom Spruce both making great inroads down their respective flanks. However, Cwmbach proved a tough nut to crack and came back strongly as the second half opened out. And after introducing a flurry of substitutes, they really took the game to Abercynon, putting the back four under intense pressure going into the latter stages of the match.
But on 75 minutes the visitors counter-attacked via a great pass out of defence from Tom Edwards who found David Lloyd with a raking ball. Lloyd then drew the advancing keeper and fired home to make it 0-2. Striker Graham Randell then went close after he shot from an acute angle. The ball did beat Carwyn Jones but the frame of the goal denied Randell his fourth goal of the season.
With the clock rapidly running down Cwmbach launched one final attack and this time their endeavour was rewarded when Jordan Thomas headed home to give the visitors a fright. However, AFC were able to dig in to claim all three points.