Magic show as Porthcawl grab win

PORTHCAWL Town Athletic pulled a rabbit out of the hat to gain a magical win over Penrhiwceiber Con Athletic at Pentwyn Field, writes Tony Poole.

To say this victory for the Seasiders was much- needed would be understating things, as their position was becoming dire.

But with just two teams likely to be relegated and Cwmbach Royal Stars seemingly doomed, Porthcawl now only trail Cogan Coronation by three points with a massive five games in hand.

But games in hand are only handy when you win, and the Seasiders need many more to release the pressure valve.

Though missing the considerable presence of Thomas Warren and Andy Fisher, they introduced Jake Lane and Tom Davis. Hayden Lau also returned to the fray, and Porthcawl had much the better of the early exchanges without scoring. And true to recent form they fell behind when Danny Davies worked the left channel to drill the ball past Tom Booth.

But the Seasiders didn’t reach for the panic button and having seen an effort from Ben Davies hacked off the goal-line, they levelled just past the hour.

Matt Ellis and debutant Tom Davis began to impact in midfield, and room was created up top for Morgan Thomas. He maintained composure and slid the ball across the six-yard box for Lau to steal in and card a second goal of the campaign.

Thomas then missed a glorious chance to give Porthcawl the lead, but with just five minutes to go they carved out a winner. Tom Davis and Lau played in Jordan Marks, and the Porthcawl pop star got behind the defence to gain top marks for chipping a stranded goalkeeper from 20 metres.

That led to Con mounting a driving finish, and a tip-top Booth save thwarted what seemed like an impending equaliser.

Ultimately, they closed out only a third league win ahead of Cardiff Draconians away on Saturday.